We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angie Mendez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Angie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

Experiential personalizations are a huge trend in the live events industry right now. Once mainly associated with luxury brand product launches or major holiday promotions, I’ve recently had an uptick in unique requests.

I’ve seen an increase in corporate event bookings, from conferences to office parties to partner appreciation days. Live personalizations at weddings are also on the rise. Engraving glass, debossing leather, product painting, wood burning, heat foiling– the possibilities are endless when it comes to what can be customized, and how. My most out-of-the-box inquiry to date? This September I will be engraving matching metal tags for dogs and their humans at a very special pup’s 7th birthday party!

More and more, people are looking to provide their guests with an experience they’ll continue to talk about, in addition to a gift they’ll actually want to hold on to. This is where onsite calligraphy has come into play.

Angie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For sure! I’m Angie Mendez, calligrapher and engraving instructor at Letter This Letter That. I specialize in live calligraphy performance for onsite events. Through lettering in a range of mediums, I collaborate with teams to deliver truly personalized guest experiences. 

My business origin story? I was a new stay-at-home parent desperately searching for a way to stretch my creative muscles and find/do something just for ME. I’m sure many people reading this can relate to that struggle.

I didn’t set out for this to be a business right out of the gate. In the beginning, it was just me returning to lettering as an artistic outlet alongside my children while we colored with crayons and paints. By the magic of social media, I discovered that this could become a viable side-hustle and I began to take orders for various projects. 

One type of job quickly became my favorite; I found my niche in live events. I could book work as it fit my family’s schedule, leave for a few hours to focus on the task at hand, then come home and jump right back into being Mom. The clear separation of work and home did wonders for my mental health.

However, as much I loved working live events, I still found myself incredibly missing the dream job I used to have. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home parent, I was a teacher. That was my original calling; the only career I had ever seen for myself since I was in kindergarten. I had spent years honing my craft and was part of the most supportive cohort at an amazing school.

Resigning from that position was one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I didn’t regret it, but I didn’t not mourn the loss either. This led me to develop the offering I am most proud of in my business: my hand engraving workshops. When I started engraving, the only current educational resources I could find were online (any books I found on engraving were at least three decades old). But I have always done my best learning in a live classroom, absorbing knowledge in person.

So I made the class I wish existed back when I was a new engraver.

Drawing from 10 years of experience as a classroom teacher specializing in differentiated curriculum development, I created one of the first of its kind: an all-inclusive experience, exclusively offered in-person, for beginning engravers of ANY background. No calligraphy experience needed! My class teaches fundamental engraving techniques that can be applied to various mediums via lettering or illustrations.

I’ve had seasoned calligraphers take my workshops, as well as kids as young as nine years old. I meet my students where they are at and help them learn a new skill. It’s been so rewarding to see my students revel in their newfound abilities, as well as inspire other calligraphers to bring their own in-person engraving workshops to their local communities.

At the heart of Letter This Letter That are the aspects of personal connection and joy. Whether I’m onsite personalizing gifts for your guests, or if we’re spending time together to develop your engraving skills, my goal is the same: for people to delight in experiencing live art.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Getting to share my creativity, and inspiring others to find their own.

My six year-old is already trying to learn cursive. My four year-old wants to be an engraver when she grows up. One of my students booked her first live engraving event this past spring.

For me, there is nothing more rewarding than knowing the work I do is helping others to grow in their own unique ways.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I don’t have a huge audience, but I did start with zero followers… so yes, it’s technically been built up!

My social media advice (and definitely easier said than done):
1) Do what brings you joy, creating content you would like to consume yourself.
2) Don’t focus on vanity metrics.

If you’re ever dreading coming up with something to post, remember: you don’t have to do this! Save your time and energy for something more aligned with your ultimate goals. Be true to yourself and your people will find (and stick with!) you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://letterthisletterthat.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letterthisletterthat
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letterthisletterthat
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mendez-angie

Image Credits

Michelle Wylie Wandering Willow Photography, Karissa M Raya Photography, Angie Mendez, Photos by Yaz, Shelley Elena Photography