In this episode, Alex and Cat discuss Cat's recent adventure providing live event calligraphy at a destination wedding in Spain. Listen in to hear how she landed the client, the logistics that went into the client experience, and the creative and intricate process of curating the wedding favors. And as always, nothing will ever go as planned. Cat goes into some of the obstacles that came up (expected and unexpected) -- including going through customs with 100s of wedding favors, languag...
Alex, Hannah, AND Cat discuss the nuances of working with luxury brands in the creative industry, particularly as event calligraphers. Booking that household name can be a huge business milestone! AND there are some factors you may want to consider before working with your next luxury brand. Do the values align? What’s the pay rate? The payment terms are what now?! You want me to sign a who what? As always, there are pros and cons to each side of the conversation, helping you determine what y...
The episode you’ve all been waiting for… In response to a recent Instagram post 👀, Alex of Signs of our Lives and Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy chat with their guest Sylvia of Via Calligraphy about the nuances of professionalism, dress codes, and client communication. They discuss a brief history of “professionalism” in work places, the inclusivity (or lack thereof) of dress codes at retail and brand events, and how to balance personal style with client expectations, through curating the piec...
Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy and Alex of Signs of our Lives chat with Paige Griffith of The Legal Paige, contract lawyer and legal expert, about the importance of contracts for small business owners, particularly in the creative industry. Paiges emphasizes the need for clear, legally binding contracts to protect both the business and the client. The discussion covers when to implement contracts, how to modify them, and the role of AI in contract creation. Additionally, Paige shares resources...
“YoU nEeD to NiChE.” 🙅🏻♀️ NURRR. We’re sick of hearing this advice! When you’re first starting out, or when you’re ready to add or pivot your services, the whole “you need to be niching” thing is just NOT gonna work. You’re a multi-faceted artist and business owner! You owe it to yourself to create what you want to create, and explore what you’re curious about. You deserve the opportunity to have multiple streams of income. You and your art should be able to reach new audiences. Alex and Han...
Thinking about hiring other artists or being hired for events? Alex + Cat dive deep into this controversial topic that's buzzing through the event artist / calligraphy industry right now - examining the honest pros and cons of both hiring other artists and being hired yourself. From what makes someone totally rehire-able (or not), to the weird gray areas around pay rates and social media posting, they share their experiences from both sides of the subcontracting relationship. Plus hear abou...
In this new episode series, Alex Hirsch of Signs of our Lives and Hannah Holt of Tally Mark Calligraphy share their hot takes on sharing your income online. With the underlying principles of “a rising tide lifts all ships,” they discuss how sharing your income online can be beneficial AND how it could be misleading to other business owners and artists (or give people the ick). Alex and Hannah talk about price transparency, revenue versus profit, and the nuances of why and how you should...
Live art isn't just for brand, corporate, and retail events, folks! It's coming in hot at weddings, and we're here to tell you all about it. Cat, resident expert on bringing calligraphy experiences at weddings, shares how weddings can be similar to brand events, but more importantly, how they can be entirely different from start to finish. Alex and Cat discuss expectations, client education, pricing, timeline, and other important considerations when working with the timeline of a wedding. Lea...
In this mini solo episode, Alex shares their point of view of attending retail events... well, solo! Whether you're engraving fragrances at a retailer, or lettering on champagne bottles at a liquor store - communication and adaptability are key when you're by yourself! She shares her insights on what questions to ask beforehand, what to do when you're at your event, and what to follow up with afterwards to build on client relationships. Send us a text Support the show Follow us in all t...
Cat and Alex are two tired girlies trying to figure out what’s next in their businesses. After spending a summer working hard to continue elevating guest experience for clients while still showing up authentically (and chaotically) as themselves, they put down their engravers and picked up their mics to debrief together. Join them as they reflect on things they’d like to stop doing, start doing, and continue doing in life and in their calligraphy businesses. Will Cat stay part ti...
We're back from summer break and kicking off the fall season with a special collaboration episode with Shaochen and Alane from the Calligraphy Biz Corner podcast, where we chat about the diverse, in-demand live event calligraphy industry. Join us for this exciting conversation where Cat Brown of Cat Lauren Calligraphy and Alex Hirsch of Signs of Our Lives share their experiences of growing their calligraphy businesses, niching down within the live event space, and the importance of staying au...
Having an efficient workflow cultivates a better experience for you, for your client, and for event attendees — so let’s do something about it! In this episode, Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy + Alex of Signs of our Lives discuss: -strategies for figuring out how to determine your production rate -some differences between in studio work versus on site work -setting up your event space -how and what to educate your clients and event attendees about -different types of order forms, and how they c...
In this mini episode, Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy shares her experience of going to her first networking event. Join us as Alex and Cat answer: How do you know what networking events to go to? WTF is an elevator pitch? How does an introvert get themselves through a networking event? Do you bring business cards? And some of the other intricacies of attending a networking event solo. Send us a text Support the show Follow us in all the places! Podcast, Keeping Up with the Calligraphers...
Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy and Alex of Signs of Our Lives share how they price their services as event artists, and some other pricing structures that you can utilize in your art businesses. They share the considerations to take into account when pricing, and how pricing for events can be different than in-studio commissions or product-based business models. They also touch on how being transparent with your pricing benefits everyone, and how having a pricing structure helps you understand...
Feeling the burnout of balancing your personal life, entrepreneurship, and being an artist? This episode has exactly what you need. Alex of Signs of our Lives and Cat of Cat Lauren calligraphy interview Amanda Reid of Amanda Reid Designs. She teaches us about the realities of burnout and reminds us that our bodies are our most precious tools—and it's about time we started treating them as such! Reignite your creativity with practical tips about avoiding burnout, addressing it when it ...
In this episode, we discuss Alex’s journey going from full time business owner to part time, and then back to full time, and Cat’s journey managing being a full time career-girlie, mom, and part-time business owner. While their journeys and their days are vastly different from each other, both of their businesses are successful in their own way. Let this episode serve as a reminder that success doesn’t need to be measured by someone else’s metrics, and most business journeys aren’t linear. Se...
Clickbait, oo ha ha! Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy and Alex of Signs of Our Lives chat about their experiences working for “exposure” in the events industry: when they’ve said “f%k no,” when they’ve said “h#LL yes” and negotiated terms, and when they were down for a trade. Send us a text Support the show Follow us in all the places! Podcast, Keeping Up with the Calligraphers IG: https://www.instagram.com/keepingupwiththecalligs/ Alex Hirsch, Signs of Our Lives IG: https://www.instagra...
So you’ve decided that event artistry is for you – now what? Alex of Signs of Our Lives and Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy give you a mini masterclass outlining exactly what they do to help you market yourself to potential clients in order to book events as an artist. Whether you’re just starting out or have been doing events for a while, this episode is packed with helpful insights to help you build your book of business. As always, not one size fits all, so listen in to figure out what...
In this episode, Alex of Signs of Our Lives and Cat of Cat Lauren Calligraphy come together to answer your most burning question – “Is being an event artist for me?” Alex + Cat tell us about the different types of events that could incorporate on site personalization, sharing examples straight from their own experiences. They discuss some of the “soft” skills, professional skills, and artistry needed in order to provide the most value to your clients, while reminding you to stay true to your...
Get in, friends, we're building a community. In this episode, we get to hear about the history behind #CommunityOverCompetition, what it really means, and how we can apply it to our business and our lives. Moral of the story – you can never have enough ice cream shops in the world. Alex tells us about her new journey with tattooing, and Cat tells us about her trip to Paris to do calligraphy for Hannah Godwin + Dylan Barbour of Bachelor Nation’s wedding.* *Skip to 12:55 to head straigh...