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

Valentina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I believe becoming an artist was the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. I don’t come from a creative background and pursuing the entrepreneur lifestyle was never really a dream of mine, it all happen by accident one morning and I went full-time into this crazy journey from day one.

I was only 20 years old when I started my business and very much enjoyed working a 9-5 and had always dreamt of becoming a judge, which as you can probably imagine, couldn’t be further away from doing “pretty letters” (as some like to call them) for a living.

I put all of my savings and faith into my then hobby and started building this business without really know where to start or what I wanted, I struggled with the idea of being my own boss and working from home for the longest time and once COVID hit I started questioning if I even wanted to pursue this crazy and perhaps unstable career. I stated weighing in the pros and cons of being my own boss and embracing this talent and ultimately decided to give it another shot, this time focusing on the advantages and privileges my new life offered me and I haven’t looked back since!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started off my creative journey as a wedding calligrapher, offering wedding invitations, place cards and selling on Etsy, that lead to me coming in contact with corporate clients and eventually getting on-site job opportunities for them. I quickly realized I prefer the personal interactions with clients over creating pieces for brides and grooms I almost never got to meet and decided to pivot to experiential marketing activations.

I now specialize in live calligraphy, painting and engraving activations for brands and corporate clients. That means you can find me at luxury and department stores personalizing products on-site such as perfume and liquor bottles, candles, leather goods and product boxes or at PR, influencer and corporate/private events offering a refreshing and one of a kind experience for guests!

The most rewarding part of my job is the immediate feedback I receive from clients when they see the finish piece as well as the beautiful and heartwarming stories behind every single gift. Every word I engrave, every letter I write or illustration I paint has a story and. meaning to the person on the other side. Seeing them smile and thank me (sometimes even with tears in their eyes) makes every sacrifice and struggle worth it.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Without a doubt the flexibility and freedom I have and seeing peoples faces when they see my work.

I get to work on my own and terms whenever I want to, I get to decide who I work with and every single day and job is different. I can confidently say I love my job and don’t ever get tired of it and even if I did, I’ve built a life that allows me to take breaks and enjoy the simple things in life without feeling guilty or jeopardizing my future.

And like I shared before, seeing my clients smile and thank me, sometimes with tears in their eyes, makes every sacrifice, bad day and struggle worth it.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Being an artist doesn’t equal being broke.

I guess growing up I always associated being and artist with not having financial security and it was my biggest worry when I took the leap. I figured it’d be impossible for me to earn a living wage while having fun and doing calligraphy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Just like any business, I’ve had good and bad moments, there’s been problems and sacrifices, but without touching on the financial aspects of my business, I can confidently say that it is possible to be extremely successful and live a very comfortable life as a creative entrepreneur.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ahandfulofletters.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahandfulofletters/
• Other: Nibtique: https://www.nibtique.com/valentina-rodriguez