~ NOW BOOKING PROJECTS FOR AUGUST & BEYOND ~ If you are interested in working together, I’d be happy to start the conversation and share more about how I can help you with your branding, design, and custom merchandise needs.

BUSINESS JOURNAL: A PLACE TO CELEBRATE WINS & REFLECT - 55TH EDITION

July’s highlights included designing an African travel themed promotional postcard, being on The Savvy Session podcast, participating in the Faire Summer Market and restocking several retailers, as well as preparing for three speaking engagements in August.

The Big Wins

1. Designed a custom promotional card for Acacia Holidays, a tour operator focused on African adventures. I also created some fun lettering for a birth announcement. 

2. Featured on The Savvy Session podcast where I talked with Kirsten and Paula about my unconventional career path, the importance of pursuing work that aligns with your personal values and passion, the power of design, direct outreach strategies, and the need to hold yourself accountable in a way that is true to you. Find all my press features and podcast episodes here.

General Updates + Accomplishments:

• Presented to the Lifestyle Business League on passion projects and multiple revenue streams in business. I also prepared for several upcoming speaking engagements in August including a presentation on Charging Your Worth for the Warrenville Public Library (it’s virtual on August 5th and free to attend), the Typism Summit, and the Insure Equality Summit (happening in-person in Chicago on August 26th + 27th).

• Supplied pride stickers to Peoria Proud for their annual RiverCity PrideFest event.

• Celebrated Daniel’s birthday and had a nice celebratory wedding lunch with Daniel’s family in Decatur. We look forward to keeping the wedding celebrations going with a visit to friends in Portland in August and friends and family in England in September.

• Restocked many top retailers including Flyover Chicago, Milwaukee Art Museum, The Mütter Museum, Neighborly, and Souvenir City Chicago.

• Enjoyed summertime in Chicago by attending several concerts in the parks, seeing SIX The Musical and Vampire Weekend with friends, and catching the fireworks from a friend’s rooftop. Daniel had his third Sound Collective Concert at Beat Kitchen and dedicated a song to me.

• Attended Field Day at Navy Pier as an Ambassador for Makers United. On August 22nd at Foxsy’s space in the Kimball Arts Center, I’ll be co-hosting the next Chicago Maker Meetup.

• Interviewed Talayah on the blog and officially shared the logo I created for Sunnyfest. Sunnyfest is coming to Chicago’s Southside on Saturday, August 3rd.

• Researched and started working with a few new sticker vendors after one of my current vendors unfortunately brought politics into their business.

• Participated in the Faire Wholesale Market. While it was a bit quieter than previous markets, many of my Chicago retailers took the opportunity to restock some of my best-selling Chicago stickers.

• Ideated on a new resource that I am excited to put together. If you have any questions about working with a designer for the first time or around best practices, please send them my way! I also revisited an abandoned passion project that I hope to finish reviving and share soon.

July is peak summertime in Chicago and it’s always a fun challenge to balance work with all of the exciting festivals, concerts, and events throughout the city. When July 1st hit, I finally felt like I got back into the swing of work after taking time off to get married and it felt so good. I attended a workshop recently where I learned how to chart my personal seasons based on my astrological chart and it has me really excited to further explore and implement a few new ideas that I’ve had in the back of my mind.

In August, I am looking forward to continuing to enjoy summertime in Chicago, spending a weekend at the lake with family in Wisconsin, visiting friends in Portland, presenting to the library and at both the virtual Typism Summit and in-person Insure Equality Summit, as well as co-hosting the next Makers United Chicago Meetup. Reach out if you’d like to work together!

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 2024. Bring on all the logos, branded merchandise, + brand identity projects… let’s make some beautiful + impactful things together.

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