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

Abigail, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

From an early age, many of my memories are entrepreneurial. Whether that was casting my siblings in home plays and charging my parents an admission fee, or decorating blank journals to sell at school, I was constantly looking to build something with my life.

When I started learning how to bind books professionally in college, it was in addition to a thriving business that I had already created crocheting goodies and selling them online…in addition to a full class schedule. But bookbinding is different than any other passion I’ve pursued–I wake up in the morning thinking about ways to innovate and go to sleep itching to get back to my desk.

But despite how deeply my passion runs, I’ve always held a full-time job in addition to my business as a bookbinder. It just felt too scary to risk quitting my job.

But as Anais Nin says, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

In the Fall of 2018, I discovered I was pregnant with my first child. I was working full-time in a highly stressful environment at a large medical center and with bringing a baby into the world I felt even more entrenched in staying the course with what is conventional, safe, and consistent.

Not too long after bringing my sweet boy into the world, everything that I had known to be conventional, safe, and consistent changed with the onset of a global pandemic. What many of us in the medical field hoped would only last a few weeks, continued to stretch on. I had so little of myself left to give between stress in my day job and learning how to be a mom, that I blinked and realized it had been a year since I had touched a journal.

Trying to balance new motherhood with rising expectations at work, in the midst of a pandemic, with (understandably) inconsistent childcare has pushed my mental health to a breaking point. I knew life as I knew it couldn’t continue the way it had. With the wholehearted support of my husband, I started to contemplate quitting my job.

It felt risky to choose this exact moment to quit my job with health insurance. There were many moments I nearly chickened out. But after my boss shamed me for requesting to work from home when my baby was sick, I finally garnered all my courage and put in my notice.

I wish I could go back two years ago and tell myself that everything I was made for was on the other side of that three minutes of wild bravery. I wish I had known then that life could be so much more than what I had at the time. But I’m just so thankful to be where I am today.

Now I run a successful business as a bookbinder and freelance copywriter. I get to build my own hours and spend plenty of time playing with my son without any guilt. I get to create for a living and if that’s not a wildly generous gift from God, I don’t know what is.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

First and foremost, Ink+Honey specializes in using vintage book covers to create handbound journals, photo albums, and other bookish offerings. I was inspired down this path because as a writer and artist, I struggled to find a journal that could house multiple modalities.

I’ve always loved writing, but I’ve also had a pull toward art. Sadly, I could never find a journal that was intended for multiple modalities all wrapped up in one place. So, over thirteen years ago, I began teaching myself the art of bookbinding in order to create a journal that fit all of my needs. I have since discovered that I am not alone in my desire to find unique journals that would inspire beauty. When I first began bookbinding as a serious practice, I was a sophomore in college obtaining an English degree with a minor in art. I allowed my love of reading and vintage book covers to collide with my love of writing and creating and this is how I found my niche. Since then, I have loved creating journals, photo albums, and wedding books using vintage book covers. Not only does using vintage book covers lend an air of inspiration for the recipient, but it salvages books from landfills, musty attics, and disuse. My books are filled with lined papers, drawing, mixed media, and watercolor pages, patterned papers, and even pages that I hand paint for the purpose of being created over. When possible, I love to reincorporate art from the original work back into the newly made journal. My work is based on delight, inspiration, and a unique collision of the past and present to inspire beauty out of the recipient.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding parts of my job is knowing that what I’ve made is going to be a treasured part of a stranger’s story. I am honored to hear the backstories behind the journals that are ordered–from being used to process with God during a loved one’s hospital stay, to a place to pass on memories for children and grandchildren, to a home to house sacred family recipes, I’ve heard so many vibrant and deeply personal stories. I am often privy to the secret heartaches and hopeful dreams of people I will likely never meet in person and it’s a way I feel uniquely connected to my community.

I’ve created wedding books for newlyweds, crafted photo albums for first-time parents, and built a home for artists to play. It’s such a treasured honor that I get to create art that’s meant to be created in.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m honestly so thankful for the followers I have on Instagram. The vast majority of my business has been built first by interactions I’ve had on that platform. And while Instagram definitely has many aspects that I dislike as it’s changed over the years, I don’t think my business would have grown nearly as much as it has without it.

Advice that has served me well over the years using Instagram is to stay genuine, be humble, and have gratitude for the people that have stuck it out with your brand. I question I like to ask myself in both using social media and as a business owner is this: how am I serving this community with what I’m offering?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inkandhoney.us
• Instagram: @inkandhoneybooks
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/inkandhoneybooks
• Twitter: @inkandhoneybooks
• Other: TikTok: @inkandhoneybooks email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Christen Clemins Photography