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When Louisa Elizabeth was fresh out of art school, her dream was simple: to create art that had meaning. She made her first personalized map as a gift, and that thoughtful gift sparked something much bigger: a flourishing business.
“My very first design was a world map that could be customized and pinned, and things snowballed from there,” Louisa recalls.
That map soon became the foundation for a business built on personal connections and custom artwork. Combining her love for illustration and travel, Louisa began creating bespoke pin board maps, letting people chart their own adventures and relive their favorite memories.
A decade later, Louisa now ships her maps worldwide, working with clients ranging from individual customers to major brands she once only dreamed of collaborating with.
Trade shows, fairs, and pop-up markets have always been more than just sales opportunities for Louisa. They’re where the magic happens. “Events give me the chance to meet customers face-to-face, hear about their favourite holidays, and understand which places mean the most to them.”
But behind the scenes, those events could be a logistical challenge. “Selling in person can be a juggling act,” she admits. Between hauling display samples, answering questions, and trying to connect in a busy environment, there was always the added pressure of managing payments.
“I bring product samples, but the finished maps have to be shipped later. So I needed a way to take payments on the spot—without the baggage.”
For Louisa, that “baggage” was both literal and figurative: tangled cables, forgotten card readers, dead batteries, and the kind of tech hiccups that could stall a great conversation.
She needed a solution that let her focus on the people in front of her, not the payment tools in her bag.
That’s why Louisa turned to Tap to Pay on iPhone, one of PayPal’s point-of-sale solutions. As a long-time PayPal user, it felt like a natural next step. No extra gear to haul around, no time lost setting up. Just her phone, the PayPal POS app, and the space to carry less and connect more.
“The last thing I wanted to do was carry cash or remember extra devices. Being able to take payments with just my mobile was a total no-brainer,” she says.
With Tap to Pay, checkout became as seamless as the conversations around it. Customers can use their contactless cards and digital wallet payments—including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay to pay quickly and easily.
Even better, it preserves the personal rhythm Louisa works so hard to create. “The payment process is so smooth now, I don’t have to pause the conversation to sort it out,” she says. “It’s helped me give customers my full attention.”
Whether she’s chatting with a newly engaged couple about their honeymoon or helping a parent pick out a map to commemorate a family road trip, Louisa can stay fully present without being pulled away by tech.
With the payment process out of the way, Louisa can focus on the joy of the moment. “It’s really important to me that they leave feeling excited about their order, like they’ve had a lovely, personal experience,” she says.
And that experience starts with the atmosphere she creates: thoughtful conversation, shared laughter over travel tales, hands tracing routes on the map as memories unfold. What once felt like a transaction now feels like storytelling.
Switching to Tap to Pay has also taken a weight off her mind. “I used to double-check battery packs, Bluetooth settings, and worry about whether I’d packed everything I needed. Now, I just bring my phone. That mental load being gone is such a relief.”
As she looks ahead, Louisa’s vision is clear: keep growing, keep evolving, and keep creating meaningful moments through art. “I want to continue finding ways to bring a bit of travel-inspired magic into people’s homes.”
And with tools that help her stay grounded in what matters, she’s ready for wherever the journey leads next.
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