SAYREVILLE-There's no telling
whether Alyssa Charles gets mad, but she
certainly does get even. After a divorce, a series
of failed relationships and some jobs that she says
provided alot of inspiration, Charles formed Get
Even!, a greeting-card company for people whose
messages aren't exactly the warm-and-fuzzy stuff of
Hallmark fame. While much of the humor in
Get Even! cards can't be printed here,suffice
it to say these greetings tend toward insult humor
and cover occasions such as an ex-spouse's wedding
and the loss of a loved one's hair. The cards are
not subtle, and Charles admits to keeping her samples
out of reach of her twin sons, who will be 6 years
old next month. How does a former fashion model
with a degree in Asian studies from Columbia
University and a job translating from Japanese become
a greeting-card mogul? "I'm a card person,"
Charles explains. Alot of cards say what you're
supposed to say. I wanted to make cards say what you
want to say. This was no frivolous enterprise,
however. Charles researched the card business, went
to trade shows, subscribed to trade publications. She
sought out a free-lance artist to do the art work.
She contacted card representitives who encouraged her
to produce the line. And she had ideas. Plenty of
ideas. "I drew inspiration from past
relationships," she says. Her Web site -
www.getevennow.com - contains a philosophy
that goes into greater detail describing Charles as a
former victim of verbal and physical abuse who now
donates a portion of her profits to the National
Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Still, she
says, her cards are not, in her view, mean-spirited
or vengeful. "this is considered alternative
humor," she says. Revenge or expressing the truth
or insult humor is a growing niche. "If you're
getting too raw, it's not funny anymore," says
Charles. "These cards aren't meant to be sent to
someone you despise and make them feel bad. It's in
good fun." Also, Chales is quick to add, basing the
business from her home makes it possible for her to
spend time with her twins. She left their father
when the boys were 18 months old and was earning
money as a free-lance Japanese translator in New York
City. The hours were long, and she ended up hiring
a nanny and saw her sons almost exclusively on
week-ends. That wasn't acceptable, so she started
Get Even! in summer 1998. "I like the
flexibility of having a home business," Charles says.
"If I want to work after I put (the twins) to bed, I
can work till 12 or 1 in the morning if I want to.
When I was working in the city, I saw my children on
Saturday and Sunday, and it was really sad." The
change in careers wasn't just motivated by the desire
to be a more available mother; there were other
concerns. "I enjoy translating), and it's quite
lucrative, but it's really not my passion," Charles
says. "I still do some work with patent attorneys in
New York, but it's not what I do most of the time. I
wanted o express my creativity, and ths is the way it
came out. Get Even! is the marriage of
Charles' ideas, most of which consist of innocuous
messages on the front followed by the zinger inside,
with illustrations by Bruce Lennon, an artist
from New York's Long Island who answered her ad for a
free-lancer. "His style and mine just clicked," she
says. The drawings are rough and definitely aimed
at adults, something that will come into play when
Charles unveils the next Get Even! product, a
line of wrapping paper. The illustrations on
the paper are also not meant for children or those
easily offended. "It's not something you'd use to
wrap a gift for your grandmother," Charles
says. Also in the works are a line of adult
toys meant to be a humorous counterpart to
Beanie Babies, and a line of Valentine's
Day and Christmas cards. The Web site
gives Charles an outlet for opinions as well as a
marketing tool. It offers, in addition to the
philosophy statement, a contest for best
revenge story, a look at the Get Even!
products and the ability to order certain items
online.
