Calligraphy Biz Corner

14. We're Back! Summer Highlights and Podcast Plans

• Alane Gianetti, Shaochen Wu • Season 1 • Episode 14

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We're baaaaaack! After a two-month hiatus, we're so excited to share what we've been up to this summer. Tune in to hear our favorite summer activities, new services, and updates on our business and podcast projects. 

Thank you to everyone who shared your thoughts in our six-month podcast survey! Tune in to hear how we're using your feedback to shape the future of Calligraphy Biz Corner! 

🔗 Links to resources mentioned in this episode:


🎙️ In this Episode:

  • 00:00 Introduction 
  • 01:23 Summer Recap 
  • 09:33 What's in Store for the Podcast 
  • 15:42 New Website!

Text us a question to answer on a future episode!

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alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Hello. We are back. It's so hard to believe that two months have already gone by since our last episode. Like I don't even know where the summer went.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

it really flew by and our last episode was at the beginning of July where we talked about slowing down to speed up and how we were taking a break from our regular every other week episodes to work on some bigger projects like our website for the podcast. So we thought we'd jump back in by giving you a quick update of what we've been up to this summer, both with the podcast and also a little bit of our individual lives and our businesses, since they're all intertwined. And of course, we're going to give you a preview of what's to come with the podcast based on the feedback you shared with us. So Elaine, why don't you kick us off? How has your summer been?

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah. I mean, it's been good. I think. I just feel like it's gone by so fast. Like I literally don't know where the time went. I feel like it was just. Memorial Day weekend and now it's Labor Day and kids are back in school. Like it's wild. When I'm looking back, I feel like I didn't take as much. downtime as I would have liked, even though this was actually like the least amount of weddings I've ever had in a summer. But, and that's because like, I was really intentional just about how many I took on this year and like the types of couples and, you know, creative visions that I work with. I really wanted to make sure that everything was really aligned with what My larger vision. I feel like we talk about that a lot, but when I wasn't working on weddings, I was really prioritizing growing the education side of things in my business. And because that's so new, I just feel like it sucked. Well, sucked is the wrong word, but like, it just, it required a lot of my energy and my focus and like. Creativity just in this new way. So I just feel like I was constantly either like thinking about something or working on something and wasn't just like turning off too much. I was just trying to like lean into the idea of experimenting and playing and having fun. So like I decided to offer. 90 minute clarity calls in July. That was the very first time that I tried something like that and that worked out really well and was just super fun to connect with new calligraphers in that way. I also, I did finally package up like all of my email templates. I'd been meaning to do that for probably at least a year. So I did check off like something that has been lingering on my to do list and finally said like, yeah, I did it. I got it done. I posted those for sale. Like, Check. Um, And then in August I focused on hosting a webinar for other calligraphers around like rocking the inquiry process since I feel like inquiry season is coming up. And then I opened up some mentoring spots for the fall. So I feel like that kind of took up a lot, a lot

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Yeah, it sounds like you were busy.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

I mean, it's so true to when you're working on something new, how you're just so much of your energy is just dedicated to ideating and thinking and brainstorming that a lot of times you don't necessarily have a ton to show for it, but you feel like you're constantly on. Like I know sometimes I'll like get ideas as I'm going to bed and then I'll send myself a quick email about whatever I was thinking. And the next morning I'll look at the email, either be like, what was that about? Or I just now have a whole inbox of emails to myself that I'm like, I should probably go through and categorize all these ideas that I had in the middle

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yep. Exactly. And then like, and when you're working on new things, it's also then. Taking the time to go through, like, is this worth my time? Is it not? Is it going to work out? Is it not? Should I try it? Should I not? Which also just drains a lot of time out of it. But I am, I'm proud of the progress that I made. It was definitely nice to have the summer space to kind of like, Actually start to try experiment, implement things, play around, see what's working, see what's not. And then I also tried to, I feel like you did this too. I was trying to learn as much as possible. I was just really in like this absorption mode this summer. Like I was devouring podcast episodes and I signed up for multiple webinars. And just. Try to like learn and kind of expand my way of thinking as much as possible. Personally, I did get to the shore a few times, which is nice. And I spent some quality time with my family and friends and, you know, walks outside with Oliver and things like that. And then I did finally catch up on my 2024 reading goal. So I got through eight books. So I can't say that I didn't have any downtime because I definitely carved out time to like read. But then even that, I was like, you're trying to catch up on your reading goal. Like go sit and read.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

right. Even that was a goal that you were working towards.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

I know. I think I just need to like chill out for a minute, but it's fine. Um, A couple of my favorite books, cause I, we were chatting about like what we were reading to earlier this summer, but I read this time tomorrow by Emma Straub. I really liked that one. It was like very unexpected cause it's also not usually what I like to read. And then. A good, like, just summer mindless breach read was every summer after. For book club, we read homecoming, which I really enjoyed. And then I got back into a John Mars book called the marriage act, which is just like, I don't know if it's a psychological thriller, but it's definitely a page turner.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

like dystopian, like Black Mirror kind of stuff. Yeah. I was gonna say that I'm like, In Elaine's book club, a member of one, I guess, because I know I'm sure you have a lot of fans, but I'm literally following whatever Elaine reads. I add to my library hold list because I realized that we have very similar tastes in books, which I think is rare. Like I,, for a long time, I just didn't read at all because I didn't know what to read. And then I would ask my sister for recommendations and they were always like either. A little too sci fi or too dark or whatever. And then I started reading what you read and I'm like, Oh, perfect. I'll just like take all your book recs. So now I've also read this time tomorrow, the marriage act and like several other John Mars books, because I find them super interesting.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Nice. I love it. We can start a little calligraphy biz corner book club.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

know that would actually be really cute. I let

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

It would be really cute.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

interested,

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

we will provide all the book recommendations. So so my summer flew by. Yeah. And honestly, I did, I focused a lot more on like my personal life than I did in my business this summer. I will say ever since I moved to Colorado in 2020, I felt like summer is just over before I have a chance to plan anything. And so this year I was actually more intentional about planning ahead. And we mostly kind of took trips around Colorado to explore our state. So I've been to Rocky mountain national park, but we went back there to do a hike that I have been wanting to do. We went to Crested Butte for the first time, which is Colorado's wildflower capital, and we got to go during peak wildflower season. So that was just like an incredible experience for any, like. Plant nature flower lovers. Like it was amazing. We went camping a couple of times and then we just got back from a week in Michigan up north with my husband, Joe's family. So that was basically my whole summer.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Love that you were intentional though, about like carving out time for yourself. I feel like Like I'm, I feel like I'm usually good about that, but I don't know, for some reason this summer, it just like, it didn't happen. And it's like, I already have time carved out for fall,

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Oh God.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

summer's my favorite season and I'm kind of like, why didn't I do that? But I love that you were able to do that and take advantage of it and like really spend time doing the things you love and just like kind of getting rejuvenated. I feel like for the fall. Right.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Well, it took me like three seasons. Like I said, of being here before I was able to plan ahead. Cause it always just flies right by, you know, but really this summer, I felt like there wasn't one full week where I was like working Monday through Friday. For better or worse. I mean, honestly, it was a lot of fun, but also really busy in its own way. Cause then you're trying to slot everything else you want to do within the days that you have in the studio or in the office. But it was just like really precious to be able to spend that time with family, friends with Emmett, who is almost two years old now, he'll be two in December. Again, just always talking about that balance of like, what's the most important things in your life right now. And trying to find that balance of still making enough money while still enjoying your life. Cause you want to live to wait, you want to work to live, not live to work or something that.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

that's it.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

but, and then I did squeeze in some wedding work, a few corporate client projects, and then obviously Emma is a baby, a toddler. So he also got sick in there. And then I brainstormed some new mentoring offerings. So all of that just made it feel really like packed and busy, kind of similar to what you were saying. Which is why one of the episodes we're working on right now, it's really similar to what you were saying. is about staying sane during busy season But enough about us. Let's talk about what's in store for the podcast.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah. So we sent out a feedback poll when we went on our break and we really appreciate all of your input because it definitely helps us shape the podcast going forward. So we just wanted to share a little bit about what you said, what you're looking for and how we're going to take this feedback and actually like bring it to life over the next few months and into 2025.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Yeah, so the 1st topic we wanted to ask you about was about episode length it was split between people who wanted episodes that were 30 to 45 minutes and people who wanted to see a mix of episodes. So longer than 45 minutes or shorter, like 20 minute episodes.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah. So what we are hoping to do is to introduce a few shorter episodes. We were thinking we could use those to answer some of the questions that you've been submitting to us. If you aren't familiar or didn't know, you can actually submit questions by commenting on the very top. I think it's the top left pinned post on our calligraphy biz corner Instagram account. It'll be like the very first one you see when you go into our feed. So you can comment your question there. We are collecting all of those questions. We're dumping it into a task list. That way we can keep track. You can also text us by using the link in the show notes. So two different ways that you can submit questions. And then we also have some ideas for introducing short yet like Super actionable mini episodes. So things like three tips for enhancing your Instagram bio, or like, you know, five ways to create more engagement on your Instagram stories. I don't know. I'm spitballing ideas here, but let us know if that would also be something that you would be interested in basically like 10 to 15 minute, like bite size, listen and go implement type episodes.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

And then when it came to the show notes and links, all of you said that you use those, which I was kind of surprised that all of you use those, but it's amazing because we do spend a lot of time curating those. So thank you so much for taking the time to look at them.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah, we'll definitely continue providing those, so always check the show notes if you are looking for, you know, a link or resource or something that we mentioned in an episode.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

And then when it came to your favorite episodes, you really liked the ones where we teach how to do something like a specific topic. For example, episode three, where we talk about mistakes to avoid when starting your calligraphy business. And then the second. Second category you enjoyed the most was expert guest episodes.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah, so we will continue having guests on the show as we're like, kicking off the season with them. Um, And we're going to keep providing you with those actionable strategies that you can really implement right away. In fact, if you have something that you would like to teach or share with your fellow calligraphers, we have our brand new website. Up and running. Hopefully it's up and running by the time this comes out, but it should be, that's our goal. And that includes a form on it where you can actually apply to be a guest now. So if you are an expert in something specific whether or not you're in the calligraphy industry, honestly, if we have somebody else who's listening, that's like an Instagram expert, like please

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Please reach out because we want you on the show.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah. Um, But yeah, we would love to see you apply and share your knowledge or your story with us.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

You also shared with us some of the reasons that you love this podcast. And you also sent us some notes about how you couldn't wait for us to come back, which is really heartwarming to see.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah, so we were asking like specifically, you know, you would recommend calligraphy biz corner because you're like, why do you love our podcast? Some of the things that you guys said was just so like, nice to hear. it's so reaffirming, right? Cause it's stuff that we. Had originally set out, like, this is our goal for the podcast. And then to see our goal kind of mimicked or like repeated back to us in your own words, with your like feedback is just really awesome. So you guys are loving it because we give you actionable steps with personal experiences involved. The episodes are super informative and it feels like a really supportive community, which. Makes me so happy.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Yeah,

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

I love this one. It's like a sneak peek at a, at a successful calligrapher's day to day life mixed with industry professionals, best tips and tricks.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

I love that.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Me too. Your podcast helps me feel more connected again, like that has always been one of our top goals and why we named it calligraphy biz corner, because we wanted you to feel like you're we're in your corner. You're in our corner. So that's awesome. And then another person said, creatives need to hear different viewpoints and experiences. I don't have any calligraphy friends in my area and I like listening in to feel connection.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

I love that one. I feel like that's exactly who we created this podcast for because I remember feeling that way. And I remember telling my friends that, like very shyly telling my friends I was going to have a calligraphy business only if they pressed me. Because I was like, nobody I know is doing this. What are people going to think of me doing this, you

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Yeah. And even still, like, it doesn't matter where you are in your journey, like, whether it's that day one where you really are feeling like you don't have anybody, or it's, you know, year seven and year, what year are you on? Five, six?

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Five.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

Like it doesn't matter, like we, Shao Chan and I have been voxering a lot lately, which is like a voice messaging app, but like both of us are making some really exciting decisions in our business right now. And just to have that person that we can rely on and like turn to, or even just to share wins with, like I messaged you the other day to share like a really exciting win in my business because I know that you would get it. And I know that you would be there to support me. Whereas like texting my friends just doesn't. It doesn't hit the same.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

You're bright. so thank you so much for sharing all these insights with us. We love hearing from you and we can't do this without you. So please keep those feedback, comments, suggestions coming. You can DM us. You can text us. And we mentioned earlier in this episode that we were creating a podcast website during the break. So, let's talk a little bit about how that process went.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

So honestly, I know I said this before, like summer went by so fast, but I was shocked at how little time I felt like I had this summer, even with us taking a break, like I was looking back and like reflecting on January through June. And I was like, how have I been able to create for weddings, mentor calligraphers and create, produce, and edit a podcast over the last six months? Because. We at least cut down the podcast workload a bit because we weren't recording and editing, but I somehow still feel like I had less time in the day. But what I did learn about myself is that I am much better when I have very clear deadlines that I'm working on. So like, When we record and we edit our episodes, we have our whole workflow mapped out and we're working, you know, according to a deadline, which is going to be our episode release date. So it's like, we know exactly when we need to record by, when we need to edit by, when we need to publish by, and that keeps me so on top of things. I feel like the website, while we did try to create a structure, because it was something new, kind of like going back to what we were saying earlier, because it was something that's new, we didn't really have a super clear workflow or outline for it. We were just kind of like, Learning as we were going. And so I feel like it was easier to either let it fall by the wayside because I have these other things with deadlines on my plate, or I didn't have the very clear, like to do list and the workflow to follow and like check things off step by step. So I was just like, ah, that feels overwhelming. I'm not going to touch it right

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Mm hmm. Yeah.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

So I feel like, you know, having that. laid out workflow of step by step. Like, what are you supposed to do? What are you following is really, really helpful when it comes to various tasks in your business. And honestly, like it's the accountability piece of being able to. Have somebody else to answer to. Like, if I didn't get a website thing done while we were on summer break and like, I had to tell you, like, shout out, I'm a behind on that. Like I felt really guilty. So I feel like accountability definitely is a big piece of the puzzle. And it's actually like, The number one reason why I also like to invest in myself with like a business coach or something like that. So that I have somebody who is helping me create those tasks, task lists, you know, taking the larger goal or the larger project, break it down into the bite size pieces and then hold me accountable and checking everything off. And I know that that is also one of the top reasons why other calligraphers that I work with invest in me as their mentor, because I'm able to do that for them. Speaking of mentoring, I am actually currently enrolling calligraphers for the fall for my 12 week one on one mentoring program. The reason I'm saying all this is because it is very much tied to workflows. Like I will help you create workflows for your entire client process inquiry. Planning stage, offboarding, all of that. So if you are feeling like really in the weeds, or if you're feeling like you're repeating tasks, or you don't have a clear process to follow when it comes to your business systems, specifically through like the lens of a client experience, then I would love to chat with you and help you kind of gain some clarity around that. We'll put the link in the show notes for more info and how you can like book a, you know, free discovery chat with me if you are interested in learning more.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Yeah, and workflows for client work, whether it's weddings or, you know, Corporate clients works really well. Just like our podcast, you know, kind of cadence works well because there's a lot of repeatable steps and you have a hard deadline that you have to hit. And so it's all about kind of working backwards from there and building a workflow that'll help you make sure that like, you know, you're not. You're on top of things before that deadline comes around. But yeah, I think those were also my same takeaways. It's like without our regular scheduled check ins was just a lot easier to let things fall by the wayside. And I know that I missed several deadlines. When I had to push something, the website stuff was what got pushed, you know, cause like you said, there were more pressing things. And so, yeah, I just want to echo it goes. To show how important those processes systems are. And then also just to echo that when you're creating something brand new, there's just so much more brainstorming strategy and just like. Brainpower thinking involved and there was a lot of time that we dedicated to that versus the actual execution. Like, we spent a lot more time kind of in meetings thinking through what should be on the pages, looking at other people's websites and getting ideas kind of. You know, writing out an outline or skeleton of what pages we wanted to have, writing out the copy. So I think when you're creating something new, just make sure that you are building in a lot of time for you just to like, think and marinate, in the different ideas you have so that they can all kind of come together. And then as far as the accountability piece too. We are just like way more effective as a team. I love that we're running this podcast together. Like you said, because like we are holding each other accountable. And actually that piece inspired me to come up with a new offering for my pro wedding calligrapher students. That I'm calling your CEO partner. And I'll basically give them access to me for one on one mentoring for a quarter as they launched their business or execute other big goals, like a new service offering. So I'm excited to be rolling that out soon. And then hopefully it'll be available as an option when new students sign on to my per wedding calligrapher program.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

I'm super excited to see you roll this out. This is one of the things that we've been boxering about, and I'm just super, super pumped to watch other calligraphers be able to sign on for that and like really get that accountability piece and be able to get your feedback and your guidance, like you said, as they're working on those bigger goals. I think it's so important for us to. Be able to have an outsider's perspective on our business because we can get so in the weeds on things or just like not see the bigger picture sometimes because they're so focused on the day to day or making a certain amount of money or booking that next client or whatever the case may be. So I think it's really, really awesome that you are offering this.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Yeah. Yeah. I like it because it'll be like working on strategy together as well as execution accountability.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

I just wanted to chime in on, you know, how we have both, both admitted to letting some things fall by the wayside, but I think it also comes back to kind of what we were saying in our summer break episode of like prioritizing what's most important and in various seasons and sometimes even the like literal season of summer. So like, I think that we were just trying to balance. All of the things and just make decisions in the moment of like what needs to be elevated a little bit more what can go down a little bit and it's like we will have the website up and launched by the time like by our deadline that we set we might not just have we're working on like episode pages which are basically going to be blog posts for every single episode like we might just not have all 13 of them live but we will have some so You Yeah, I think it's just like coming back to like, it's okay if priorities shift and just like giving ourselves grace while also understanding like, how is it that we actually work so that we can make sure we're being as efficient as possible in times when we need to be.

shaochen--he-her-_2_09-04-2024_112356:

Yeah, as we wrap up this, uh, what we meant to be a brief update episode, you'll notice that we also have another brand new episode ready to go for you, that we recorded with Kat and Alex of Keeping Up With The Calligraphers podcast. It was such a fun conversation. We talked about live events. So your next step is to go listen to that.

alane_2_09-04-2024_132357:

And we would love it if you could also go give our website some love. Like I said, we won't have all of the episode pages up yet, but if you've ever created a website, you know what a labor of love it is and giving us a few visits and a few clicks can really help boost the visibility of our brand new site. So we will be sure to link that in the show notes. And we'd love to hear what you think too, as you're poking around, because we also definitely want to have like user experience. You know, top priority as we continue to develop this. All right. That is all we've got for you today and we will see you in the next episode.

People on this episode

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Alane Gianetti

Host
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Shaochen Wu

Host