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

Karen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Pursuing a creative path had never crossed my mind. I had always gravitated towards math and science as a child, and I ended up practicing as an exercise physiologist after graduate school. Art was never on the table. I despised art classes in school from the very beginning and still remember doing poorly on an art project in elementary school that involved snowmen. If I couldn’t draw a snowman, there was obviously no hope for me artistically.

I pushed all of those thoughts I had about art aside when I became a stay-at-home mom. I needed a break from the daily struggles, so I attempted to find a hobby that I could do during naptimes. Acrylic painting would have been fun had my children napped longer than 15 minutes, but I found myself with a lot of dried up paint and frustration! I happened upon lettering and asked for a book for Christmas that year so I could learn. I had found my 15 minute hobby, and I was in love.

It’s amazing what happens when friends and family learn about your new lettering hobby. I started getting commissions for small things. I had also been posting my lettering on social media as a way of seeing my progress and as a way to not pester my family with “look what I did!” texts every day. Eventually, the commissions started coming by word-of-mouth and from complete strangers on social media. It was a slow and steady climb towards a professional creative path, and it took me awhile to realize what was happening. Each step was questioning whether I wanted to take this hobby farther, and I just kept going for it. I was having a blast in this new creative world, and it was exciting to not only have an outlet from my SAHM life but also to be able to create things for others.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Karen, and I am a self-taught lettering artist in metro Atlanta. I specialize in chalk (both chalk markers and sidewalk chalk) and pens/markers. I have been lettering since January 2018 and turned my lettering hobby into a small business when I began taking commissions from family and friends. I have since done commissions for clients internationally, including restaurant menus and tray papers, logos, tattoos, wedding signs, invitations, teacher gifts, and more.

The majority of my day is spent making content. I create promotional and social media content for companies both big and small. I am extremely proud of how far I have come in regards to videography and being able to show a tremendous amount of creativity in a short amount of time. Ads that I have made for social media yield a high retention rate, and it makes me that much more excited to create even more ads and videos. I have always found a lot of enjoyment in editing, and it’s so cool that it has become a major part of my day.

I love finding new ways to create things and trying out different mediums or techniques. I want to take something that you may have used before and make you see it differently; I want to be the reason you dust it off and try again. I believe that is one thing that makes me stand out from the group. I truly enjoy sharing my process and what I’ve learned on my social media platforms.

I have taught classes in person, online, and prerecorded for creative workshops. The majority of my classes have been focused around chalkboard art, but I have also taught a few faux calligraphy classes.

In 2021, I launched my own line of washi tape that I design digitally. It is very cool to know that something I created can be found in journals, on envelopes, and on the edges of unfinished watercolor paintings all over the world. I also sell various beginner lettering worksheets, which are well-reviewed for being informative, clear, and easy to follow.

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

There are so many theories and checklists about how to build a following on social media. I started posting on social media as a way to keep track of my lettering progress. When I became a small business and learned how powerful social media can be, I was more interested in the numbers but still found social media as a place to learn techniques and grow as an artist. I was posting my art daily, but I was also interacting with others on social media. I believe that a lot of people who are focused solely on growing their own account forget the social aspect of it. If you find your little corner of the internet and you take the time to watch other creators’ content, learn from it, and leave a comment for them, both parties will benefit. Grow an engaging audience, and the numbers will come. It does seem much harder and a little more random to grow as a social media account now that it used to be. However, if you are consistently interacting with others and sharing your content, your audience will be supportive and help you grow.

There are differences with the various social media platforms that you should take into consideration. A creative or artist on Instagram will have a different experience than a creative or artist on TikTok. It has been my experience that if you are creating for yourself and just wanting to share on social media, Instagram and Facebook are going to be more supportive platforms. If you are just creating to create and you have the time to commit to the trends and what others may want to see, you may be more successful on TikTok. A lot of TikTok is very much follower-driven, and it can be frustrating to build an audience if you aren’t willing to create what they want.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I have been in this field for less than 5 years, and it’s alarming to me how little the pay is and how high the expectations are for artists. Companies are now hiring creatives that they find on social media to do the work of a marketing executive, a videographer, a photographer, etc. for a fraction of the cost. A lot of companies work on the barter system, meaning that the artist who made that beautiful ad about paint that you just watched got paid only with the paint that they used to make the beautiful ad. Sure, we all love a new tube of paint, but the amount of time spent honing skills and executing a creative idea should be worth more than that.

I believe that a lot of people just don’t realize the amount of work being poured into it. I get a lot of small commissions that seem like they would be quick and easy to the general public; that is, if you discount all of the time I’ve spent practicing my skills for all the years leading up to that moment. I’ve even had one customer say, “I’m clearly in the wrong business!” after pricing out a commission. That same commission ended up being around $3 an hour, but she thought I was “making bank” from it.

I do believe that society is respecting and supporting artists more and more these days, whether it’s by buying from their small businesses, by actively following along on their social media accounts, or by sharing and giving credit. If companies started putting more value towards working with artists, it may help society see and understand their value even more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.letteringbykaren.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/letteringbykaren
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/letteringbykaren
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/lettering-by-karen/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC7cXv2TlXMxF8IlJaLwSntw
• Other: TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@letteringbykaren Email: letteringbykaren@gmail.com