Business Journal: a place to celebrate wins & reflect - 38th Edition

February’s highlights included trips to Mexico City, Peoria, and South Carolina, getting 16 students in cohort five of Self-Made Artist Academy, sharing a new promotional video for the Artist Trade Program, and making progress on some fun clients projects behind the scenes.

The Big Wins

• Soaked up the sun and vibrant inspiration in Mexico City. Highlights of the trip included eating all of the tacos, admiring countless handmade goods, lots of walking, tasty cocktails from top bars, and coffee-shop work sessions filled with focused sketching and iPad work. Check out the blog recap I did on the trip here.

• Enrolled 16 students in the fifth cohort of Self-Made Artist Academy. A good amount of students in this cohort took advantage of our new pay-what-you-can options as well as our Artist Trade Program.

• Recorded and shared a promotional video for the Artist Trade Program, which was produced by program participant Korrigan Agen of ENRG Films and featured our first official trade with Meghan Gallagher of Bridging Canvas. Learn more about the program here.

General Updates + Accomplishments:

• Celebrated Black History Month by featuring a favorite client, Always on Q, on the blog. I created a fun portrait for Quinessa (‘Q’) as we worked on brand strategy together. You can learn more about her in her interview here.

• Made lots of progress on client projects, which included eight custom stickers for an ed-tech company, two custom merchandise designs for a new museum opening later this year, and initial ideation and strategy for a couple of branding projects.

• Took a trip to Peoria for the Business of Art Conference where I presented a new session on How to Show Up Online as an Artist (and Sell Your Art Too!) and shared insights on the Pricing Lunch Panel. I’m considering recording a version of this presentation and sharing it virtually. If that would be of interest to you, let me know!

• Celebrated six years of dating Daniel. We celebrated extra this year with a special dinner in Mexico City as well as finally going to Mott St here in Chicago. This month, we also enjoyed attending Les Misérables.

• Visited my friend Casey in Port Royal, South Carolina. It was nice to spend time together, escape the Chicago winter for a week, and explore Port Royal, Beaufort, Charleston, Hunting Island, and Savannah together. We even got to meet up with one of my AMAC Emerging Leaders friends, Kerry, for dinner and drinks.

• Released a new Navy Pier sticker (from a Top Shop request) and sent our first Top Shop email newsletter to some of our biggest wholesale and consignment accounts.

• Got an initial wholesale order from Hoypoloi Gallery (an eclectic, upscale gift shop at O’Hare Airport) which has been a goal of mine since 2019! I also restocked favorite shops like Garfield Park Conservatory, Foursided, Souvenir City Chicago, and more.

February was filled with fun travel adventures, drawing and client work, and getting a new group of students into Self-Made Artist Academy alongside generating excitement around the Artist Trade Program. It felt packed, productive, and relaxing all at the same time. Projects are currently booking out further than usual, so if you’d like to work together in the coming months, please reach out soon!

In March, I’m most looking forward to continuing work on some really fun branding projects I started this month, connecting with SMAA students as they work through all their lessons, and prepping for our vacation to Italy in April.

Thank you for being here, for supporting me, and for following along with my entrepreneurial journey.

PS - Have a project you’d like to chat about? Send me the details now to ensure your project gets on my calendar in 2023. Bring on all the logos, branded merchandise, + brand identity projects… let’s make some beautiful + impactful things together.