April’s highlights included launching an event rebrand with the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, graduating from the GovCon-Airports Program, leading a successful webinar on pricing with confidence, and becoming fully vaccinated.

If you’re new here, welcome to my business journal. This sixteenth edition of the monthly business journal blog post celebrates the wins and serves as a space of reflection of this business journey, which has been such an important practice for me since January 2020.

The Big Wins

• I graduated from the GovCon-Airports program. The eight-week program taught participants about opportunities and best practices around doing business with Chicago airports and the government in general. If you know someone in the airport space, feel free to pass along this link to a landing page I created specific for airports. We learned about submitting to RFPs in class which led to me submitting my first RFP for a logo design opportunity for Oak Park Township.

• We unveiled the new branding for Living with Kidney Disease and Transplantation! Working with the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois has been nothing short of a dream come true after launching Cool Beans in March 2020. We wrapped up our first project in April and are already working on another fun one. Learn more about the full rebrand here.

• I got my second Covid-19 vaccine shot! The second dose hit me pretty hard, but was well worth the minor side effects and discomfort. It’s been exciting to be able to see other vaccinated friends and enjoy a drinks and a meal out on a patio again. If you are as excited as I am about being vaccinated, you can purchase your own sticker or button via my shop.

General Updates:

• I celebrated five years in business! As part of the celebration, I ran a special for my two mini courses Are You on Brand? and The Power of Passion Projects. These are two of my favorite topics to speak on and teach about as they have truly been my secrets to success in business.

• I recorded a couple podcast episodes that will be coming out next month. My episode with The Journey Continues Podcast where I’ll be talking about my personal history with PKD and work with NKFI will air on May 11th and an episode on How To Take a Break will air later in May.

• I taught a webinar on pricing with confidence in partnership with the WBDC. I presented on money mindset blocks, common pricing mistakes, and necessary mindset shifts to over 80 attendees. I also presented on Building a Passion and Purpose-Filled Brand to the WESOS Naperville Chapter.

• I read Becoming by Michelle Obama, Disability Visibility by Alice Wong, and The 12 Week Year by Brian P, Moran and Michael Lennington. I made reading daily a goal for 2021 and have been making a strong habit of reading each morning as part of my routine.

• I created a five-minute pitch for a CDA (Chicago Department of Aviation) event. This was in addition to the four-minute pitch I created for the GovCon-Airports program.

• Lettering Works’ Vendor Registration was approved by the State of Illinois Chief Procurement Office. This registration opens up new opportunities for me to bid on government contract projects.

• I fulfilled several wholesale orders. This included orders from the Chicago History Museum, Sacred Art, and new shops via Faire and Abound.

• I geeked out over type design. I attended an amazing talk about Big Shoulders (created for the Chicago Design System) through the Chicago Graphic Design Club Office Hours event. I also attended a Sunnyside Chats workshop on boundaries and set up a small handful of 1:1 meetings with business owners.

• I created a logo for a local woman-owned business. Sarah came to me needing a designer to pick up where another designer left off and it’s been fun to work on such a playful, dog-walking and pet care brand. I also wrapped up the expanded branding project for Hoop House Creative.

• I did some reflecting on the first quarter of 2021. I saw over a 120% increase in revenue when comparing to Q1 of 2020 and have learned so much already through the launch of my first online course and participation in programs and workshops that keep my business moving forward.

Thank you for being here, for supporting me, and for following along with this beautiful journey entrepreneurship has taken me on.

PS - Have a project you’d like to chat about? Book your 2021 project today! Bring on all the logos, branded merchandise, and brand identity projects… let’s make some beautiful and impactful things together.