November’s highlights included making it through a stressful election (wasn’t that kind of the worst?), graduating from ScaleUp, applying to some exciting opportunities, getting my first tattoo (from a favorite local artist), onboarding Judy (my new VA), creating new designs, and launching a shop local Chicago campaign.

If you’re new here, welcome to my business journal. This eleventh edition of the monthly business journal blog post celebrates the wins and serves as a space of reflection of this business journey.

The Big Wins

• I graduated from ScaleUp! ScaleUp is a nine-week, cohort-based program that is designed to assist established, Chicagoland businesses grow and scale. I completed the program alongside five other inspiring female entrepreneurs. You can read more about my experience here.

• I applied for consideration for the City of Chicago Aviation Artist Pool. This opportunity aligns so perfectly with my goal of getting my artwork into Chicago airports, so I am extra hopeful that I will be accepted so I can be one of the artists invited to future requests for proposals.

• I launched a successful Shop Local Chicago campaign via Instagram with a variety of story templates to help everyone share their favorite local businesses to support this holiday season. They’ve been a huge hit so far and are still available for use via my story highlights. I also created one for my neighborhood (Avondale) and Peoria, IL.

General Updates:

• I presented at two webinars hosted by the WBDC: We Are Still Standing Despite COVID-19: Three Entrepreneurs Share Their Story and Are You On Brand During COVID-19? | Part 1 - Branding Basics. I’ll be hosting part two of the branding webinar series: A Good Time to Consider a Brand Refresh on Wednesday, December 2nd at 10am. You can register to attend for free here.

• I onboarded my new virtual assistant, Judy Krukoff! I’m so excited to be working with Judy for the next three months (hopefully longer) to support me in research and outreach efforts as well as process development. ScaleUp really pushed me to think about how I can grow and I think this will be the first step of many.

• I shared about passion projects with the AIGA Mentor Program. The program wrapped up as a whole in November as well. I really enjoyed diving deeper into portfolio theory with Tom and Ananta. I’ll be speaking on passion projects again virtually on December 16th at Roundable (a Chicago networking group).

• I wrote my first guest blog post. Honestly Unfiltered asked me to share about my experiences with chronic illness and small business ownership, so I wrote “Defying Limitations.” I also shared more about my scoliosis-inspired artwork in this blog post.

• I made some new designs! They span themes of women’s rights and shopping local, as well as a couple special designs for my fellow artists. I made the “I drew something today” ribbon in celebration in getting back into the creative groove and know that other artists can relate to the pride and happiness that comes with successfully pursuing your creative passion and putting pen to paper. Limited quantities of all new designs are available via the shop.

• I submitted to two pitch competitions (and didn’t get accepted to either). It was a lot of work and pushed me to get into recording some videos. Ultimately, this application process yielded a one-minute commercial, which you can now find on my new YouTube Channel.

• I attended seven advising sessions with WBDC advisors. These advisors have helped me in all areas of my business from grant applications to capabilities statements to financial planning to strategic growth planning. The Women’s Business Development Center is filled with incredible and free resources.

• I connected virtually with other women business owners through a mix of one-on-one Zoom calls, Digital Course Academy accountability calls, and attending a few Femmebought and WESOS meetings. Social distancing can be isolating, so I appreciate being able to continue to connect even if it sometimes leads to Zoom fatigue.

• The Six-Figure Arts Business Facebook group reached over 100 members! The group is for artists interested in making a sustainable living from their art. You can request to join the group or share with a friend who might be interested.

• I participated in Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. I ran a special for my new artist coaching sessions, you can learn more here. And while I didn’t offer a discount code for SBS, I’m adding a special gift (I like to pick what I think the purchaser would like based on their order) to each order placed. Shop for the happy mail lover on your list.

• I received some gorgeous new product photos from my favorite photographer Sarah Waldo of Violet and Ivy Photography. She captured the new Lettering Works signature greeting cards as well as the embroidered pizza patches. All now available via the shop!

• I was so busy learning that I hardly took on any client work. I’ll be honest and say that it scared me a bit at first as I was wrapping up my books for the month, but seeing how much I invested in to my future has me still feeling optimistic overall.

Newest Products from Lettering Works:

Let’s finish out the year strong by continuing to shop small and local. Pro tip: if you are considering hiring a local business in the near future (i.e. early 2021) consider reaching out now to see if there are any end of year booking deals. This is great for you (hello savings!) and wonderful for business owners too (hello job security in the new year).

After a month filled with more learning than I could fully comprehend, I’m still so grateful for this small business of mine and this journey I’ve been on.

If you or someone you know would like to work on a project with me, send me a message via the website contact form and I’ll get back to you promptly. I have some availability in December and am already booking 2021 projects. Specifically, I’m open for custom brand development projects… bring on all of the logos, branded merchandise, and full brand identity projects.

PS - I listened to Dopamine by BØRNS for the entire duration of writing this blog post and have been really enjoying their music lately.