August’s highlights included seeing my work at the Field Museum, pitching to my first mass retailer, working hard behind the scenes, and enjoying summer in Chicago (and Milwaukee).

If you’re new here, welcome to my business journal. This twentieth 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 saw my products at the Field Museum for the first time! You can find three of my Chicago postcard designs and four enamel pins - including two from my Chicago series and another two custom created for the Field - in the Museum Store.

• I pitched to my first mass retailer! The Top Shelf Retail Program provided me with an opportunity to share my work with a mass retailer and I am excited to continue to explore this opportunity and dream up ways to make an even larger impact on Chicago and beyond. Learn more about my souvenir offerings here.

• We launched the new Live Learn Dream branding! Cee shared that she “was able to put [her] full trust in [Lettering Works], and allowed [Chelsie] to run with [the design], which in turn, helped [Cee] greatly as an entrepreneur to focus on other areas of [her] business!” See the full rebrand and interview with Cee here.

General Updates:

• I read eight books: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson, I Might Regret This by Abbi Jacobson, It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton, You Lost Me @ Hello by Donna Smith-Bellinger, Being Heumann by Judith Heumann, Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, Dear Girls by Ali Wong, and Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas.

• I continued work on some new collections behind the scenes. The behind-the-scenes work continues and I hope to have some big wins to share in the coming months.

• Sunnyside Chats returned in person, allowing me to connect with some of my favorite business owners in Chicago. I also attended my first Ladies Wine & Design meetup at a local brewery and a couple virtual Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) events.

• I enjoyed an art-filled “Staycation Day.” First, we went to the Art Institute and got to see the Obama portraits as well as Bisa Butler’s incredible quilt work. After that, we headed to Pilsen to visit my friend Natalia Villanueva-Linares’ studio and headed to Chinatown for dinner. I sort of got a bonus Staycation Day this month as I took half a day to explore my products in the Field Museum and do a little research at Navy Pier.

• I visited family in Milwaukee and attended the Wisconsin State Fair. The most interesting thing I ate was Cinnamon Roll and Bacon Cheese Curds. I also got to visit with some Peoria friends who came to town for the “Moments Like This” opening at Woman Made Gallery in Pilsen.

• I created a design for the Demand Accessible Space initiative. I was asked by People Love Art to create a t-shirt design with the phrase: “Make Space for Everyone” and will be included in a campaign advocating for more accessibility in the design of space programs, as well as here on earth. I also created a custom “Embrace Change” postcard for The Nora Project that will be given to their VIP attendees of their annual fundraiser.

• I got my bookkeeping in order. Knowing your numbers is something I teach about, so it felt good to get my QuickBooks account extra organized, ensure that everything was documented correctly, and observe the trends in my own income and expenses.

• I finalized launch plans for Self-Made Artist Academy and worked behind the scenes to prep for the second cohort of students. This included preparing to bring back my popular webinar: 3 Most Common Pricing Mistakes Artists Make (and how to fix them.). The official launch is happening this week and the six-week program will begin on September 13th! Learn more and enroll in SMAA here.

In September, I am most looking forward to continued progress on the many projects I’m working on behind the scenes as well as welcoming a new group of artists into Self-Made Artist Academy.

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.