Meet Whitney Forbes

We were lucky to catch up with Whitney Forbes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Whitney , 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.

As regards, imposter syndrome, I feel like this is a common thread among creatives and artists. In general, a very human quality at its core.
It is more common than ever to have a sense of imposter syndrome with the massive exposure to social media and minute to minute updates on what’s going on in the world and with other people‘s lives.

It’s quite easy to get distracted from what you’re doing, or what your intention is with either your personal life or with your career – based on how much time you spend on social media. It’s easier now more than ever to compare yourself to not just others that you know personally… But complete strangers.

In the beginning of your career, or a new venture,… It’s standard to feel out how you fit into whichever niche you are pursuing. For me personally, I immediately compared myself to the greats in calligraphy and art within our own small community. Wanting to feel accepted by them, respected for my work and successful in somebody else’s eyes. After a while, you start to feel a lack of authenticity … And then the doubt starts. Part of me acknowledges that this may be a right of passage, especially in a creative field when you first begin a pursuit in whichever field you may be working at mastering. Once you start feeling the sense of self doubt and that potentially this is not the right path for you, you have to do one of two things. One, you have to really analyze if this is something you enjoy doing truly. There is no sense in starting a business when you don’t enjoy the work or have a natural draw to some extent.
Two, you have to detach and potentially isolate yourself for a certain period of time in order to concentrate on what comes naturally to you and what you gravitate towards as far as your niche is concerned within whatever business you are pursuing. In the world of social media, which has pros and cons, you’re encouraged to constantly regurgitate content. And while this can be very helpful visually for clients and people interested in your work to see what you’re doing, there may be periods of time where you need to pull back and hyper focus on the quality and delivery of art that you’re working on. I find social media isolation particularly helpful when I may be pivoting an idea or direction for my personal business. Once you’re able to do some type of analyzation in the peace and quiet of your own mind, imposter syndrome seems to melt away. Imposter syndrome only happens when you’re not fully confident in what you’re doing and when you’re distracted. When you’re hyper focused and really emotionally invested in what you are doing in particular, it starts to come more naturally not just in the eyes of others but to yourself as well.
Imposter syndrome can make you feel worthless, that you are not meant to be doing whatever it is you’re doing, but typically I find that this is coupled with too much comparison.
Every time I start to feel this. I draw back a bit, re-analyze why I’m pursuing a project. And remind myself that there are people out there, potentially pursuing exactly what I am and doing, and charging more money with less skill. Sometimes the secret is keeping your head down and focusing on the follow-through. You have to cognitively work through the narrative and ruminating thoughts in your mind… And give yourself a chance sometimes to work out the skill before you make any assumptions about yourself.
I remind myself to keep going, to push through the doubt and to see my pursuit through, because ultimately, we are our biggest roadblock.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m the owner of a luxury art and stationery studio, The Haute Press.
Right now the studio has been focused on live painting and engraving events for private clientele and corporate brands, hands on custom hand-engraved items, including, but not limited to: time pieces, champagne coupes and glasses, tumblers, glass and stone and many other unique items, custom paintings, custom wedding work for day-of stationery and hand-painted champagne bottles. It’s been quite exciting as I have had quite a few celebrity clients in the past year and recently won the publication, California Wedding Day, 2025 “Best of” award for Best Calligrapher in Los Angeles.

In the past few months, I am excited to say that we have steadily been setting up shop in our new studio in order to offer full service stationery and letter press services starting in the fall. I’m so looking forward to welcoming new clients and to work with wonderful families, bringing exceptional letter press, sculpted emboss and invitation design to Orange County, Los Angeles, and beyond.
The focus of the new stationery offerings will be a luxury, avant garde, creative style, catering to clients that want to put full trust in an in an artistic professional and would like the story of their brand or relationship to come to life in a creative way that represents them as a couple or company. We will be launching a collection of semi custom invitation work and will be taking limited custom stationery clients per year. I’m very much looking forward to creating and sharing content of the historical & hands-on processes of letterpress and educating clients and other vendors in the industry on the benefit and skill the go into producing this type of high-quality work.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three skills or qualities that I feel were most impactful in my journey so far as an artist within the niche of calligraphy, engraving, painting, and stationary design are this:

1. Absorb any education you can about your pursuit. Sometimes we get overly advantageous and want to make an income right away off of a skill set. But the most valuable thing you can do is to explore not just the skill set of let’s say, Calligraphy, but also explore different scripts ( or hands) within that genre. Then float on to learning about painting. Why not try your hand at engraving? All those skills will come together at some point to create an amalgam of offerings that you can mold into your business and make you well rounded

2. Something I wish I would’ve done right away and frankly has never come quite naturally to me. Is to immediately learn the tech side of whatever is attached to your business. Ask for help take a class learn more about it and get comfortable on that side, because at some point, regardless of whether your business is based on product being hand created, you’re going to get asked at some point to digitize a file. If that’s not a skill set that you’re comfortable with, make an effort to get comfortable with it.

3. Find communities within your business that are supportive and create opportunities to network. Sometimes this is a financial investment.This has been absolutely the biggest game changer in my own business as far as being found for clientele. If people don’t know you exist, the work will come sparingly if at all. Many professionals may do exactly what you’re doing, however, you may win a job because of your connection and relationship with a vendor or client.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I would honestly say that, my husband, Adam, has been the biggest influence to my career thus far. I’ve always had a strong backing and support from him, but also trust him as a person to be completely honest with me. He’s always had a great eye creatively, but comes from a background in public relations and finance. So he’s well rounded and respected in his own line of work. Obviously we are romantically involved, but when it comes to getting down to brass tax he has taught me that expanding myself socially and networking was a missing piece in my business. I respect his opinion and knowing he respects my skillset has been a great support and partnership for stability within my own business. I always say
choose your friends and spouse wisely. Our personal relationships bleed into other parts of our lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.thehautepress.com
• Instagram: @thehautepress

Image Credits

zoe isabel photogrpahy