The Story

Family of five sitting on the grass outdoors, smiling and enjoying each other's company in a park or natural setting during daytime.

It turns out, I was just dreaming of a place built around stories.

I thought the dream was a bookshop.

View of a cozy bookstore interior at dusk, with warm lighting, wooden bookshelves filled with books, and a lamp on a desk.

The dream changed shape.

THE DREAM

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to own a little bookshop—the kind that felt warm, thoughtful and full of stories.

But as life unfolded, I realized a retail storefront wasn’t the life I wanted for my family.

The dream of creating something meaningful though didn’t go away—it just needed a truer shape.

OUR ORIGIN

Then I became the keeper of our family’s story.

I started gathering everything—photos, letters, drawings, voice memos, recipes, the little notes and traditions.

There were thousands of photos. But I learned that wasn’t enough. The pictures don’t hold the words. Or the voices. Or the ordinary routines that make this life ours.

Having the picture isn’t the same as keeping the story.

THE PLACE WE BUILT

So I began building the place I needed.

Black and white photograph of a family outdoors, with two adults and three children, smiling and interacting happily on a grassy area with trees in the background.

A place to capture memories.

A vintage photo album with black and white photographs, a small brass binder clip on top, and a wooden box in the background, placed on a light-colored fabric surface.

A place to hold chapters of our lives.

A closed dark green hardcover book with a minimalist line drawing on the cover, placed on a beige tablecloth. Surrounding it are vintage black-and-white photographs, some placed on wooden trays.

A place to create heirlooms.

A NEW KIND OF BOOKSHOP

Not a storefront, but a place families can enter.

Not shelves with stories written by strangers, but the stories only you can tell.

My version of the bookshop.

A collection of vintage-style stationery and photos, including a white book titled 'The Fold Press', handwritten notes, photographs of mountain scenery, a pen, and various paperclips and stamps, arranged on a cream-colored surface.

Even the initials came to hold more meaning than I expected. FP—the initials of The Fold Press—are also the initials of my grandmothers. Frances and Peggy. Two women whose lives are folded into mine and whose stories helped shape my own. It feels fitting that their initials now sit at the heart of something created to keep family stories from being lost.

WHAT WE VALUE

What I want The Fold Press to feel like.

A private space for your family’s voice—created to be lived, not posted.

Quiet, not social

Thoughtful guidance that fits into the in-between hours we all have.

Simple enough for real life

An experience and book that feel as good as the memories inside.

Beautiful enough to return to

Heirloom quality, so the story of this life becomes part of what we leave.

Made to last beyond us

A handwritten note on a piece of paper that reads: "I'm building The Fold Press in the in-between hours—after work, after bedtime, and in the middle of the family life that inspired it." The note is secured to a surface with a gold paperclip.
A handwritten note on a piece of paper that reads: "I'm building The Fold Press in the in-between hours—after work, after bedtime, and in the middle of the family life that inspired it." The note is secured to a surface with a gold paperclip.

For Frances and Peggy— and for the stories that live on through us.

Chelsea Menjivar, Founder

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