We recently connected with Shannon Tillmann and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shannon, thank you so much for agreeing to open up about a sensitive and personal topic like being fired or laid-off. Unfortunately, there has been a rise in layoffs recently and so your insight and experience with overcoming being let go is relevant to so many in the community.
Being a part of a corporate layoff was the jump start I needed to pursue my business full-time. At the time, I felt hopeless and like I lost a sense of my identity as I put so much pressure on having a “good job” with insurance, a 401k, and a steady salary. It was a rough few months of wandering and feeling empty. I recall how many days I just existed. I was lazy but trying to put a positive spin by doing things around the house, having a morning routine where I could sit with my coffee and read, take care of the house and chores, etc.
But I am thankful I had a great support system of people who love and care about me! My husband being my number 1 supporter encouraged me to take this time and focus fully on my business, even if it means it will take time to get sales and events set to bring in money. I could wallow or put that drive to good use! I decided to invest in a business coach who specialized in what I wanted to do with my business. It was a big jump, but it paid off in less than a year when I was booked by clients like Ralph Lauren and Ashley!
We worked through a lot of negative mindsets, corporate to entrepreneur mindset shifts, and took time to understand how I felt as a person on a specific day. If I didn’t feel good physically or emotionally, I could take time off to recover and return to where I needed to be. As an entrepreneur, I have the flexibility to set my schedule. I don’t need to ask off or use PTO or sick days, but I needed to show up to be my best self for my business and I couldn’t do that if I felt off.
We talked about how as an entrepreneur, I have to do some things I don’t like to be a successful business. In the corporate world, there was always someone higher up making the big decisions and putting a plan in place that I didn’t need to be involved in. As an employee, I just needed to do the one job I was paid for. As a business owner, I had to do all the jobs and make all the decisions, and I was getting one salary. It meant doing things differently and having to be more efficient with my time management. It meant doing the hard things like putting myself out there over fine-tuning my website for the thousandth time.
This whole process took me a year after being let go to feel like I was on the right track. I thought at the moment being let go was the worst thing that could happen to me. I had no idea, but it was one of the best things to happen! Looking back, I would have started sooner. But that’s the thing about reflecting, you know exactly what you’d change if you could go back. I know I needed time to grieve that which I’d lost. There is a time for grief and there is a time for mourning, but those times do pass. One end is a new beginning. This beginning was exactly what I needed!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I feel that I am more of a traditionalist in the sense that I like preserving the historical art of penmanship and the written word in a memorable way to the modern world. My style is classy, elegant, timeless, and applicable to any event formality from dinner parties with friends to weddings. The primary service I offer is on-site personalization at events like brand activations, influencer promotions, and store promotions for holidays. I love getting to share my love of calligraphy with people and seeing their faces light up at the ability to create something special right in front of them! Some of the items I’ve had the joy of personalizing are wallets, purses, key chains, glassware, perfumes, and travel tags, to name a few. The great part about these activations is the sky is the limit! There are so many tools available today that allow for personalization to be applicable to just about any surface! If my clients don’t have a particular item in mind, we brainstorm a few ideas based on the event goals, style, brand, and clients to create an exciting on-site event with goodies people will want to take home and keep!
When I was young, I had my name on everything I could get: stationary, rulers, keychains, magnets, and so much more. It was one of my favorite things because it wasn’t just a ruler, it was mine specifically. My brother had a different spelling of his name and he never had a single piece with his name on it that wasn’t handmade. I feel like everyone deserves to have their name on one piece in their life! Some of my favorite interactions from events have been from people who can’t find their name on anything in stores and they have tears of joy and excitement watching me write their name. It’s the best feeling knowing I can give them that same joy and excitement of a personalized gift!
I also take one off commission requests as I am able. I have had many people reach out to me for weddings and anniversaries wanting to have their vows written, painted, or engraved on a special keepsake to honor the day they say “I do” to each other! Recently I had the special privilege to paint wedding vows on a 3-foot by 5-foot canvas and the couple was overjoyed with the results! It’s been my largest statement piece to date!
I have a few new offerings in my shop! My Modern Calligraphy for Beginners Workbook is up for purchase! This is perfect for beginners who have no idea about calligraphy and want to try their hand at a new hobby for fun greeting cards, gifts, and more. There’s a supplies guide, tips to get started, and ways to use different tools with this workbook. It’s a great entry point to start calligraphy that is based on Copperplate, a traditional script, but modernized to pick up more easily. I also have two freebies to aid your calligraphy journey: a guideline sheet to print as many times as you need and my Amazon picks for beginners and beyond! I also recently added Gouache paintings to my shop to turn your favorite vacation photos into a dreamy painting! While most of the paintings are vacation-themed, it could be your favorite bakery in your hometown, the place where your grandparents grew up, or where you met your significant other. This offer is for my sentimentalists who value handmade, don’t need a lot of stuff in life, but want a few small pieces with a big impact.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’d say investing in business courses, coaches, and being plugged into an active entrepreneur community in the niche I’m in have been the biggest contributors to my business growth. I love skill-based courses and expanding my skillsets with new painting techniques, materials, styles of calligraphy, and expansion of services as much as the next person, however, adding a new skill to the business doesn’t help the business if you don’t have the understanding of how to market for your business to your ideal clients.
The first business course I took was 3 months long with group coaching and accountability groups meeting up weekly. It covered all the basics needed to set up a calligraphy business from scratch, basic outreach, setting up workshops, and taking on commissions. We rotated accountability groups every month to get to know everyone in the class well and gain insights from each about our location differences, specialties, and mediums we worked in. I’d say it was most helpful in getting me out of the Etsy home crafter to official business, but not substantial income. The community aspect was the most beneficial and two years later, we still try and meet together monthly to check in!
The second business course I took was a 6-month coaching program with lifetime community involvement as long as the program is running. I joined it February of 2023 soon after my layoff with big dreams and plans of sustainable income. Coaching wasn’t something I necessarily wanted, I didn’t want my flaws or things I was doing wrong pointed out, but this was the biggest progress made that moved the needle for me! I had to push past the things I didn’t want to do in order to have a sustainable income. The program paid for itself after my first event booking! We meet as a large group on a monthly basis and my small group still meets weekly today!
If you are early in your journey of entrepreneurship, I’d start by finding free groups with Facebook, Discord, and email groups that fit in your niche of business. Try to find a small group of 3-7 business owners to meet with on a regular basis. If they’re local, do a coffee meetup! If they aren’t local, do a Zoom, Meet, or Discord and video chat about your struggles, goals, and any uncertainties you have about the business. I also highly recommend to start talking about your business with the people in your life. Let them know you are serious about pursuing it. If someone asks what you’re up to, share about your business! Don’t put yourself down as if it’s an uninteresting topic to them if they aren’t entrepreneurs. The more I talk about my business and network with others, build connections, and find more business recommendations, the more my business and I grow.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
The biggest growth has been getting over the fear of networking and outreach has been the biggest change in the last year. During my coaching, the thought of pitching myself to companies was truly petrifying. However, there were some specific mindset hurdles I needed to face head-on and shift my perspective.
One specific challenge was feeling like I had to sell myself when I pitched my business. Even though it’s the business and not me, I took the rejection personally. The truth is the business and I are separate entities and while I am a one-woman shop, it’s just business. For example, I’m signed up for countless business emails to my personal account who send me sales emails on a regular basis; do I harp on them for selling to me? Absolutely not! It doesn’t feel icky as a customer to receive those emails letting me know of a sale, promotion, new item, or something I am interested in learning. Instead, I’m thrilled to know of those things and am more incentivized to make a commitment to purchase! Why wouldn’t the same be true of my business? People like what I have to offer so pitching and selling is just a part of business. Shifting this mindset has been a tough one, but it’s key for me to gain clients and continue to grow my business.
Another key shift is that pitching doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing mindset. The reality is that it doesn’t depend on the answer, it’s about focusing on building a relationship with them. Networking and pitching aren’t just for you to get something out of for your business, the focus should be to build relationships with them and provide solutions to the benefit of both parties. At first glance, calligraphy may not look like a need. Let’s dig a bit deeper thought. Everyone wants to feel special, loved, and that they matter. Printing names in bulk still stands out as forming a connection with customers, remember the Coca-Cola promotion in 2011? You desperately looked to find your name in the fridge near the checkout counters. With that in mind, picture this: an artist sitting at a table asks your name, gives you compliments, asks how your day is going, and writes your name beautifully with the utmost care in every letter, truly one of a kind, just like you. That is the experience live event artists bring to brands and businesses. It’s letting their people know they care about each and everyone as individuals, not just as sales numbers. This is about making every single person feel seen, special, and loved.
Networking that seemed daunting before looks more like making friends with other business owners in the wedding industry, sharing clientele if a job doesn’t fit into my niche or schedule, and being willing to chat and share industry-specific information. It’s really loving on people in the way you do best! With my business, the way I love people is by crafting something special and making each person feel valued and loved.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shannonscripts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonscripts
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/shannonscripts
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-tillmann/
- Other: https://pinterest.com/shannonscripts
Image Credits
Made by Glyde
Chelsea Duff Photography
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
