Lettering Works Business Journal - October in Review

October’s highlights included turning 27, making great progress on the development of my online course, lots of learning, taking a short (and socially distanced) trip to Austin, Texas, and some exciting client launches.

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

A newly 27-year-old me in sunny Austin, Texas in front of a cool mural by artist @sieben_up

Women Owned in Retail was a virtual event sponsored by WBENC and Target that shed light on the process of small businesses getting their products into big retailers

The Big Wins

• I turned 27 and took a short trip to Austin, Texas. Despite the conference I was going for being cancelled, I opted to take the trip anyway. Not an easy decision with anxiety around social distancing, but it was just what I needed to reset creatively. I enjoyed the heat, admired the abundance of murals, and ate too much queso, breakfast tacos, and Texas BBQ.

• I made progress on the online course I’m developing. I shared last month that I invested in my business and am enrolled in Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy. I am excited to share that it will be starting on February 1st, 2021. The topic will be earning your first $100K as an artist. Leading up to the official launch, anyone interested can request to join the Six-Figure Arts Business group.

• I attended Women Owned in Retail and learned about what it takes to get your products into Target. I tuned into the four-hour webinar and managed to take nine pages of typed notes. In short, I learned that getting into a big box store like Target is no small feat and one that a small business truly needs to be ready for.

Melik Nightcat is available for pre-order!

• Six years in the army

• An Associates in Criminal Justice

• A Bachelors in Administration of Justice

• A Juris Doctorate

• 30 years in the State Police

As a retiring State Police intelligence analyst, Kirk Perry can now add "Fantasy Author" to his list of accomplishments as he shares his first book.

Mid-Century Aloha T-Shirt Design

Mid-Century Aloha T-Shirt Design

General Updates:

• I helped Kirk Perry launch his first book! Over the past six months, I worked with Kirk and Barbie Perry to prepare Melik Nightcat and The Elven Prince for purchase. Our work together spanned from technical advising to creative brand strategy, you can read more here. And be sure to pre-order your copy on Amazon.

• I collaborated with the Avondale Neighborhood Association to create fun community-focused merchandise. We turned my existing Hello Avondale designs into an embroidered patch and sticker! Community members who register for the free community event will get a patch and sticker to show their neighborhood pride. The Chicago Style Pizza patch is still in production and will be ready soon as well!

• We launched Mid-Century Aloha’s new branding and t-shirt collection. You can see the beautiful result in our recent blog post. Bringing Rachael’s vision to life and creating fun designs that reflect her passion for all things Hawaii and Mid-Century was such a joy.

• I’ve continued to show up and learn from ScaleUp, the AIGA Mentor Program, and Digital Course Academy. These programs are helping me prepare my business to scale and grow in new ways. I am looking forward to being a guest presenter for the Mentor Program next month to share how I leverage passion projects to build my business with other mentees.

• I wrapped up work on the Annual Report and a facilitator guide for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. While I often wish my days were filled with only lettering projects, I do appreciate some old-fashioned type setting and giving my hand a break.

• I worked on a handful of smaller client projects. These spanned from a custom thank you card for Bradley University’s American Marketing Association chapter to a new poster for the upcoming Marty Monologues to a new color scheme for CandleTit to raise awareness for breast cancer to branding for MK Virtual Services.

• I cut down my time on Zoom. Spending some time in Wisconsin with my parents for my birthday and traveling to Texas helped make it easier to say no to additional meetings and professional development workshops. I did attend a Sunnyside Chats and Bossy Chicago Meetup in addition to the Women Owned in Retail event and my standing commitments for my classes.

• I researched COVID’s impact on the travel industry. The most shocking statistic I came across? The Hudson Group has experienced a gross profit decrease of $289.5 million or 88.4% to $38.0 million. Despite my learnings, I’m remaining optimistic about potential opportunities to sell my work in airport gift shops, even if that means waiting until the predicted return to pre-COVID travel numbers (which they estimate will be 2023).

• I made a commitment to myself to show up better (and follow up better) to fewer things. This month, that meant signing up for one-on-one appointments with three advisors from the ScaleUp program.

• I’ve continued to grow my Facebook group for artists interested in making a sustainable living from their art. Request to join the Six-Figure Arts Business group or share with a friend who might be interested.

The weight of 2020 will continue to be a lot to bear as a small business owner. I’m concerned for all struggling small businesses, nervous about the future of our country, and saddened by the lasting impact of COVID on so many. Amid this stress, I can’t help but remain grateful for opportunities to learn and grow in new ways. I am excited to share that I’ll be onboarding my first virtual assistant next month and hope it is the first step in scalable growth for Lettering Works.

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 immediate availability in November and am specifically ready to take on some new custom brand development projects as well as stock new retailers for holiday shopping.