Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Candice Warby. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Candice, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

When we went into lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020, I was trying really hard to be a wedding calligrapher. I had been trying for almost 2 years, with very little movement. As many of us can relate to, there were moments of boredom during quarantine, and I found myself on social media. One of the lettering artists that I was following had taken markers and written positive and uplifting messages on the windows of different businesses for free as a way to buoy people up during a hard time. I loved the idea and decided to adopt it. The day that we cam out of quarantine, May 15, 2020, I went up and down Main Street in my town and wrote on as many windows as I could get permission for. I had come armed with giant white chalk markers and a list of positive quotes. Business owners were so excited to finally be able to have their stores open again that they were thrilled with my idea and almost universally let me draw on their windows. I did this work all for free, because it was exciting and I felt like I was contributing something important to our community. In fact, I did nearly 100 windows for free. Buying the chalk markers and paying for gas out of my own pocket. But I honestly loved it.
And fortunately, a few other people did too. I had a couple of businesses outside of my town reach out and ask me if they could pay me to come and draw on their windows. I was astonished and extremely excited. I couldn’t believe that people outside of my town knew what I was doing, and that they were willing to pay for it.
So in the late Spring of 2020, I had my first paying Window Art client. I was so blown away that someone was willing to give me money to come and graffiti the front of their store. I loved having the opportunity to write large scale letters in a way that brightened people’s days and uplifted the community. I had so much fun, and met such amazing business owners. Word spread, and additional businesses reached out to me over time to have me come and decorate their windows. It was then that I realized I had officially pivoted from being a wedding calligrapher to being a window artist.

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

I am a window artist located in northeastern Iowa. I started this journey by learning calligraphy in 2016. I wanted to do wedding calligraphy, but was unsuccessful in my attempts to break into the market. After the COVID quarantine ended I found a new opportunity and have pivoted to window art, and now do calligraphy, hand lettering and art on windows, chalk boards, menus, and murals. I still love doing wedding calligraphy, but windows are the bread and butter of my business. I provide my clients with an improved customer experience for the people that they are serving by providing them with visually appealing art and quotes in the space they enter. Window art helps attract new eyes, as well as delight current customers, clients and patients. I also help my clients share information with their clients on the large billboards they have at the front of their buildings, their windows. I help them make the best use of the space that they have to work with.
I am most proud of the services that I provide for my clients, and the way their businesses benefit from them. I love having the opportunity to work with each client to bring their individual vibes to the windows that I paint, and am so proud of the amazing feedback that I have gotten from my clients about how much their customers love the windows, menus, etc. I am proud of the how much my art and business skills have improved over time and how much my business has grown as I have realized the value of what I do and shared it with more people.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

With little formal education in business tactics and no business mentor to help me, marketing has been an enigma. For the first year that I was doing window art, I relied entirely on word of mouth and referrals. This was ok, but the growth was slow. I tried doing a cold mailer and sent it to many of the businesses near me that have beautiful windows that I would love to get my hands on. Unfortunately, this led to zero growth. The one or two phone calls that I did receive from the mailers were dead ends. For me, by far the most useful way to increase my customer base is to have flyers printed with examples of the work that I do and to take them, by hand, to different stores that I think would benefit from my work. As often as possible I like to talk directly to the owner so that I can get face time with them, and always make sure to leave examples of my work and contact information. I have also learned that making sure to get business cards from them so that I can follow up leads to a much higher success rate for finding new clients.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Jody Moore is a life coach that I follow. She also has a business program called Business Minded. The things that she teaches and the way that she approaches business have been crucial in helping me to get to where I am now. If it hadn’t been for her guidance, I would have given up a dozen times by now. Doing the work I need to on my thoughts has made all the difference in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: whimsicaltwist.com
• Instagram: @whimsical.twist
• Facebook: facebook.com/whimsical.twist

Image Credits
Allyson Schwab Photography (headshot)