An Interview with Entrepreneur Darissa Mertici
"Making a starter pack is so simple," says entrepreneur Darissa Mertici. "You take the four things that are essential to a person, thing or situation, and create an accurately labelled collage. So simple, yet so effective."
Mertici is referring to the recently popular internet fad: starter packs. Starter packs are created just as described above. For those of you unfamiliar with the various trends that traverse the internet highway, google 'starter packs'*. Starter packs can be made for any person, thing or situation - once there are defining characteristics that are essential to its functioning or existence.
Mertici gives us a little more detail about the makings of a starter pack: "Here's an example. Say you've got a friend who eats Nutella for all three meals, can't go anywhere without a book, wears Converse sneakers as if they're going out of style, and doesn't go a day without surfing Facebook, then their starter pack is simple. Source pictures of a jar of Nutella, an arbitrary book, a Converse sneaker - the specific type your friend always wears - and the signature Facebook "F". Get the best free photo-editing app you can find and your job is halfway done. Create the four-pic collage, label it and voila. The science behind starter packs is so simple, because there is none."
It's hard for us to imagine that this slight, demure young woman has created an actual business out of the starter pack trend. It's a spectacular venture, and this is why I've chosen to speak with her at her modest home in Cherry Parks. Looking around at the minimalist furniture and homely family photos, you'll never be able to tell that this humble abode houses one of the most successful entrepreneurs to date.
So how exactly did Mertici turn an internet fad into a growing business? She tells us her secrets to success and more, starting with the origins of her business idea.
Mertici sips her tea Kermit-style as she begins: "I've always been fascinated by the idea of starter packs. It may seem like a silly internet trend, but their meaning goes deeper for me. Starter packs are outright labelling and stereotyping of certain people and situations. The fact is that they speak the truth about a thing."
I asked her to explain what she meant. It's not readily apparent how a four-picture collage could reveal so much about something, but Mertici seems to have the answers.
"These starter packs show you how something or someone is viewed by the general public, and perpetuates stereotypes, whether good or bad. It sends a simple message: 'This is what it takes to become this, that or the other.' It is a stamp of criteria telling you what defines a person or thing. As with everything that finds popularity on the internet nowadays, there are people who take it too far and use it as an avenue for insult. However, I've focused on the positive aspects of starter packs, and have maximised on these."
So what drove her to create a business out of these starter packs? It all started one dull Tuesday at the office, when she noticed - for the umpteenth time - that one of her coworkers couldn't go a day without a Subway sandwich.
"I thought to myself, 'If Charla had a starter pack, a Subway sandwich would definitely be in there somewhere.' Then I thought, 'What if Charla did have a starter pack? How hard could it be to make one?' You could say that the rest is history. I created a starter pack for Charla and whatsapped it to her that very night. Her response was overwhelmingly positive, and this motivated me."
Apparently, Coworker Charla loved her starter pack so much, she sent it to all her friends and even posted it on Facebook for everyone to see. She received a total of 103 likes and 26 comments - the most likes and comments she'd ever received on a Facebook post.
Mertici then proceeded to make starter packs for several of her other friends, who had similar reactions. They shared their starter packs on various social media with pride, because these simple pictures represented such crucial facets of their identity.
"I think this is where the appeal of starter packs lie," Mertici elaborates. "We are all searching for purpose and identity, and starter packs somehow satisfy that need to some extent - they show us, in four simple pictures, the essence of who we are. They are like name-tags. Let's go back to Coworker Charla; anyone who knows Charla well will look at her starter pack and immediately think 'Charla', because it so accurately depicts her personality and characteristics."
Nowadays, it seems like originality has finally seen it's limit. There are only so many business ideas already out there, and it seems like new ideas aren't really new at all, but mere versions of old ones. However, Mertici deserves a cookie or more for her unique spin on traditional entrepreneurship - who would've thought that starter packs could be turned into an actual business?
"I started by offering some of my other acquaintances a small fee to create their starter pack. They didn't mind paying $5 to get a starter pack dedicated to them. The only thing was that I had to get to know them a little better in order to know what items their starter packs would consist of. So I organised lunch meetings and dinner dates with all my clients. And by the end of a week-long courting period, I knew enough about a person to create their starter pack. When I finally sent it to them, they loved it so much that they recommended me to their other friends and family. And that's when my services went viral."
Mertici hands me a business card and a flyer with an ad for her services. Her basic package includes a free 10-day getting-to-know-you-period and accompanying starter pack for just $10. Advanced packages cost $20 and include additional printed copies of the starter pack photo.
Her business, however, is about more than giving people concrete evidence of their identity. She seeks to outline the value of human interaction, and does so with her free 10-day getting-to-know-you periods.
"I give my clients the opportunity to interact with another human being and form a relationship the old-fashioned way - the healthy way. Back in my parents' days, there were no smart phones or chatting apps. It took face-to-face interaction to get to know a person through and through. I'm trying to bring this back. After all, starter packs can't be all fluff. They've got to really speak the truth about a person. And the only way to discover the truth about a person is to spend time with them."
I wanted to really get the feel of Mertici's business, so I'd asked her to create a starter pack for me weeks before the interview. She'd sent it to me a couple days ago, and I've been feeling good about myself ever since, especially when I sent it to my friends, and they seemed more than impressed. It dawned on me then that there was an added bonus to having your starter pack created: ego-boosting.
I ask Mertici about this aspect of her product, and her face lights up with a smile as she answers.
"Humans have an ego to feed," she states matter-of-factly. By now, her tea is done and she sets her mug down on the water-stained coffee table with vigour as she continues. "Having your own starter pack says 'Look at me, I'm important enough for my own starter pack'. So by posting your starter pack on your Facebook wall or Instagram feed, it's a billboard sign to the social world that speaks of your importance."
I wonder what will happen when her business becomes so successful that everyone has a starter pack. So I ask her about it.
"When everyone has their own starter pack, then the appeal of having your very own starter pack will be gone, won't it? What will you do then?" I raise my eyebrows in anticipation of her answer.
Mertici is not fazed. She's already got a plan.
"Eventually, I will branch off into bigger, better things. When everyone seems to have had enough of the starter packs, they'll be hunting for more ego-fodder, and I'll be ready with a supply. I'll be offering them their very own memes* for a starting price of $30. It would require an additional 10-day interaction period for me to discern what is a person's trademark meme-worthy expression, but of course, it'll be free. What you will be paying for is a timeless expression of your individuality. The internet has always proved to be adept at spreading gossip and memes, and I trust that it won't fail me as I seek to create popular memes from regular folks."
For right now, Mertici's business doesn't have an official name. If you're seeking her starter pack creation services, find her on Facebook and send her a message. It's that simple.
As I get up to thank her for the time spent chatting with me, she hands me a printed version of a starter pack she did.
"Remember that 'friend' I mentioned earlier with the Nutella,
Trends aren't just trends for no reason. Mertici figured out the underlying appeal of the starter pack, and commercialised it - a venture unheard of in internet-trend history. So if you haven't had your starter pack created yet, what are you waiting on?
*The truth is that many starter packs have been created to mock people and situations. I do not subscribe to perpetuating negative stereotypes and openly insulting persons and things and neither should you. Hence, you will find many of these starter packs outright offensive and/or crude. Google at your own risk.
*A meme is a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users - definition taken from Google.com. Each meme is usually representative of a particular notion, expression or feeling, and can be used in various situations. Do a google image search for 'memes' if you're unfamiliar. Remember, google at your own risk.