Quitting My Job to Run My Calligraphy Business Full-Time: 2019 Year in Review
I really don’t know where to start.
It’s hard for me to process everything that has happened in 2019 because it was so crazy! The huge thing was that I quit my 9-5 job to pursue my calligraphy business full-time.
A little background: I started learning calligraphy in August 2018. I remember practicing brush lettering and then pointed pen every single day for a couple of months so that I could get “good enough” to be a legit calligrapher—haha yes, those were my exact thoughts. In December 2018, I started my calligraphy business by selling holiday cards that I designed with my mom.
So in January this year, I was absolutely ecstatic at all the opportunities that lie ahead of me. I had never made a couple hundreds bucks on the side before. So going into 2019, I felt like the world was my oyster. Now… what did I REALLY want?
In January this year, I decided that I wanted to be a travel blogger.
Yes, you heard me right—a travel blogger. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for the past five years. I went so far as to buy a domain and a blogging course from two travel bloggers I admired.
That was pretty short lived—after about three weeks of planning out my travel blog, I thought, “What the heck am I doing? I already gained so much traction with this calligraphy thing—it only makes sense to continue it!” I realized the only reason why I wanted to be a travel blogger was so I could work and travel. But I can do my calligraphy thing and travel too right?
Scrap the travel blog idea. I started to teach calligraphy workshops.
So in February, I decided that I would focus on calligraphy, starting with teaching a brush lettering calligraphy workshop. I made some worksheets with the help of my talented graphic designer friend Sam, and I taught two beta workshops at a cafe at a whopping price of $15 per person. I was honestly so nervous for my first two workshops, but I’m so glad I did them. They went well, so I decided to continue. I also went to Beijing for two weeks to visit my grandparents.
In March and April, I did a couple workshops while I was still working full-time at my 9-5 job. My teaching improved gradually.
In May, I wanted to work part-time at my 9-5 job.
Long story short, it didn’t work out with my employer, so I resigned—oh man, I was so scared and so excited at the same time.
In June, I became my own boss and I was soooooooo incredibly happy.
I experimented a bit with different calligraphy revenue streams, including trying to teach three workshops back-to-back in one day—holy cow I will never do that again because I died. It was an awesome time of experimenting. (I was making about a third of my old salary in revenue). Whenever I talked to friends, I would be so excited to tell them that I quit my job to pursue my dreams.
But then two months later in August, it finally hit me. Shoot, I’m not making money.
I haven’t replaced my old salary. My dad is going to kill me if I don’t do it soon.
Panic!!!
I frantically tried to make money: I started doing pointed pen workshops, I made a corporate package so I could cold-email and cold-call companies in Vancouver for team-building events, I went to networking events, I did calligraphy at a ton of events for free to build my portfolio.
I was stressed. I don’t like to admit it, but I was burnt out.
In September, I got a really sore neck and shoulder from using the computer, not sleeping enough, not exercising enough, and just being stressed in general. I also got headaches all the time, maybe 4-5 times a week.
My wrists also started aching from using the mouse and writing a lot. It was bad. I never felt this bad before in my life.
I needed to take it easy, and most importantly, focus.
My top priority was to make money so I could replace my old salary—and calm my dad down—so I just replicated what was working well in my business: workshops.
I tried doing a million workshops all over metro Vancouver (Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond—I even tried doing Victoria and Kelowna workshops, but ended up cancelling those ones).
Okay, not a million workshops. In October and November, I did about 10 workshops each month, which was crazy.
But I did finally manage to hit my old salary in terms of revenue. Woohoo!
The past month, December, has been my best month in terms of revenue but it was also my busiest month ever. I taught 10 public workshops, 4 corporate workshops, and got two live on-site calligraphy gigs. I also sold holiday cards again.
I felt like my hard work was finally paying off.
Victor from @victorliphotography helped me capture many of the moments along my business journey this year. Thank you!
That was a quick summary of what happened in my business this year—I go into a lot more detail in the live video I did in my free Facebook Group Calligraphy Business Bosses (Welcome to join if you’re a calligrapher!)
I think I’m still trying to process everything that happened.
Did I really quit my job this year to be an entrepreneur?
Did I really go into uncharted waters and survive?
My life is so different than one year ago: Last year at this time, I had just sold some holiday cards and I had no idea what was going to happen in the new year.
It’s different, but it’s also similar in the sense that right now, I have no idea what’s going to happen in 2020.
Obviously I can plan some things, but sometimes we need to enjoy life as it comes.
2019 was a crazy rollercoaster of quitting my job, having the worst health I’ve had in my life, teaching over 60 workshops, burning out from stress, and connecting with amazing people.
Phew! It was hella fun and I’m so excited for this new year.
OTHER 2019 HIGHLIGHTS
A huge Hong Kong actress/celebrity came to one of my workshops
I started a new hobby: making kombucha at home, thanks to my friend Cammy
I worked at a WeWork (coworking space) for two months and met some awesome people
Work trips to LA and Denver in the spring before I quit my job
Started the Facebook group Calligraphy Business Bosses, which has grown to 80+ calligraphers supporting each other in their businesses
Reconnected with old friends and made new friends
Started doing my own shellac nails (I bought a nail lamp in China in February)
IN 2020, I PLAN TO:
Get back into my 4-5 times/week running routine and maintain a good sleep schedule
Continue doing public workshops (4-6 workshops a month)
Ramp up on my corporate team-building workshops, with a goal of doing 4 workshops a month
Develop new online revenue streams in my calligraphy business
Manage my finances better
Replace my old salary consistently in terms of profit and make 6-figures in my business
Go to China for one month (flight in January already booked!) and go somewhere else for a month in the fall to work remotely
In 2019, I also created the Facebook group Calligraphy Business Bosses | Biz Community for Creative Entrepreneurs. If you’re interested in starting or building up your calligraphy business, join the 180+ calligraphers in the group here! (Don’t miss out on the live trainings about how to host your own workshop, how to grow your Instagram, and more!)