Meet Michelle Chica

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Chica. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.

Michelle , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I don’t know if anyone really overcomes this completely but I think that over the last few years I have definitely done a better job at overcoming it. When I first starting lettering, I actually felt pretty confident in myself because I didn’t think that many people were doing it at the time. But as more and more people were getting into it, thats when I started to have doubts. When I started with Punkpost, it all kind of changed. The support and just genuine kindness and friendship just lifted me up. They made me feel like what I was able to create was special and different from other people. My family and friends also play a big part in it as well. Their belief in me, helping me at markets and showing my products to friends really helped me overcome that imposter syndrome. Most recently my brother, Nick, helped me with my new coloring book and was convinced it was going to go viral. He did so much work with me to make it perfect and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I started Curiously Cursive way back in 2017 as just an Instagram account to share my lettering and my bullet journal journey. At first I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to sell so I was a little all over the place! When I started working for Punkpost is when I got a clear vision of what I wanted to do. Design greeting cards! But I also love to design coloring pages and stickers too!

In 2023 I attended Alt Summit in Palm Springs and thats when I really started focusing on my brand. I made a website and started offering greeting cards, coloring pages and handwritten cards as well. I started reaching out to business and greeting card companies with a portfolio and I am still working towards that part of the business.

Right now what I am most excited about is my new coloring book: The Art of Holding it Together: A Coloring Book for the Chronically Overwhelmed. I worked so hard on each page of this book and had so much help from my brother as well, which thank you Nicholas I am forever grateful! I live with depression and anxiety and I wanted to bring a way for people to sit down, relax, and laugh at their problems a little bit to escape reality.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

First I think that knowledge of social media and posting is important. I am still working on this and becoming more consistent (it can be hard with two little kids during the summer!). But just put your art out there, don’t be afraid to post it because if you love it and are proud of it other people will love it too.

Second, kind of goes hand it hand with what I just said. Be confident in yourself and what you are doing! Whether it is your art, writing or just the content you want to share with the world.

Third, ask for help! Don’t be afraid to ask for help from other people in your community! I have reached out to so many other artists to get opinions on paper and printers and other random things and they are always willing to help.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I would love to collaborate with other people and businesses! I would love to work with local book store or shops to tell my cards, stickers and coloring books. I would love to collaborate with other artists that have a similar style to mine. Or really any other artist who would want to create something fun together like a coloring page or a sticker. I am also always up for designing specific things for people! So if you need a card for someone, an invitation or even a coloring page or book for an event I would love to help with that!
Anyone can connect with me through my website:
www.curiouslycursive.com
or they can just email me directly:
[email protected]

Contact Info:

Image Credits

@marigolddaisyphotos
(this is for the second photo from the Get Lit Book Fair)

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