We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Hampton recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brittany, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
In 2016, when I was getting married the chalkboard trend was really starting to gain momentum. After realizing how many signs I actually needed to make for my wedding, the thought of what to do with them afterward came up. Obviously there is no need to throw away perfectly good chalkboards, so I decided to rent them out for weddings and events, helping to reduce waste in a very wasteful industry and also making it so other couples didn’t have to keep signs they would have no use for. Eventually I was able to grow this method into other materials such as wood, mirrors, and acrylic, as well as offing items such as table numbers and card boxes.
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 have been in business for about nine years currently and started with an internship with Nimbi Design based here in Portland. Devan was really my introduction to seeing the areas of the event industry that needed design services such as signs, invitations, and day of details. After starting with re-useable signs, I then added custom invitation designs which created more of an opportunity to brand a wedding or event and create a cohesive experience for the client and their guests. Being able to start the work with invitations really gives me clear insight into what the vision is for the event and allows me to really know my clients—this also serves to for them to build trust in me that I understand their vision and I want everything to come together as perfectly as they do.
I am most proud of keeping to my initial business model of offering rentals and reusing materials as much as possible. I do have to create more waste now that my business continues to grow, but I actively look for ways and offer suggestions to those who are eco-conscious in ways to reduce the footprint of their wedding. I also love that all of my clients have been so unique and creating very different items for each job I have is very creatively rewarding, no two events are the same.
In full transparency, I always let clients know that I don’t work quite the same way as other vendors. I chose to work for myself to have flexibility, which for myself and my family, means me working primarily at night and limiting any form of consultations whether it be in phone or in person. The shutdown in 2020 really showed me that I am more effective with email and written communication – mostly because if I am on the phone or having to meet clients, I am not producing work, and in busy season when I typically have 5-7 events per weekend, I need to be doing the work. I do know that this style of workflow does not work well for everyone, so I am upfront about it to the point of if you are someone who wants to have phone calls or multiple meetings I may not be your cup of tea, and that’s ok! I have a large list of other artists in this amazing community and love referring awesome couples out to the artists I know will be a good fit for them.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Social media, 100%. Any form of product or service that is a tangible product needs to be on socials, and on top of that, show how you do it. I went through the growing pains of being scared to share my secrets, or also angry that I had to do all this work to start my business and now others just want me to hand them the answers. While I may not hand over every trade secret, or at least not in one post, I do try to answer frequent questions about materials and techniques because being open about those processes builds your community and your following. Nine times out of ten, the person asking those questions thinking they will DIY what you do, are going to realize the reason you charge what you do is because of the experience you bring, and they cannot replicate that just because they know how you did it. My favorite example of this is when individuals want to DIY a seating chart. I have been told by those who have attempted this that it has taken them upwards of five hours to hand-letter a seating chart…I can hand letter a 300 person seating chart in less than two hours, I have all the materials on hand, and then you are not staying up all night before your wedding stressed if your signs aren’t finished.
In regards to social media, also post content to the clientele you want to grow—if you want to get out of weddings, don’t post wedding content. I have different seasons in my posting where the content is mostly invitations and paper goods, then shifts to signage and day of items, then to window and corporate art. A few services that I do offer such as logo and branding design I don’t post about because I don’t want to grow that piece of my business currently, I might pivot to it at a point in the future, but for now I am events focused.
Lastly, interact with others in your industry on socials, I always check out profiles and follow those who leave nice messages on my work. We all depend on word of mouth as well as what we are seeing on IG and Tik Tok to connect the clients with the right vendors and by not putting your name out there in comments or other interactions, you are doing your business a disservice.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
It is really hard with events and weddings in particular when clients to you with a specific vision they found on Instagram, Pinterest, Etc. and they want you to copy it. When I started my business, I was recently out of college with my graphic design degree, but working for myself, and not for a company made copying designs feel like a very gray area—especially because I was reproducing everything by hand. I would initially translate whatever the clients provided me into what they wanted on their signs, and was of course called out for ripping off the designs of other sign makers. When I realized this was not ok, I immediately stopped and had to really start doing the work to create my own “style” and also not be afraid to let clients know, that while visual inspiration will help me create their designs, I need to do it in my own version, and not just copy. Every once in awhile I get pushback on this, but then just let the clients know if they want that exact version, they need to go to the original artist, or reach out to them to pay a licensing fee. As this industry has continued to grow, most sign makers and stationers know their designs will be duplicated by other artists at one point or another, and while that used to bother me, I realized they were having beginning artists do it cheaper. Which, I want everyone to have what they want on their special day, and I can’t do every event, so I have tried to let those feelings go. Because the clients who do come to me for specific designs of mine, know they are getting the best and original version.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lettersanddust.com
- Instagram: @lettersanddust
- Facebook: @lettersanddust
Image Credits
Amaterra Photos: Sean Thomas