We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lourdes (“Lou”) Alers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lourdes (“Lou”), looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

When it comes to what my parents did right, I have to give all the credit to my amazing mother. She has always been such a strong role model in my life, capable of truly anything, even in the toughest of times – and there have been many, yet she manages to come out stronger every time. Growing up witnessing her strong, independent, loyal, hard-working, creative, and kind-hearted nature, paired with her unwavering support of my dreams has made me the person I am today. She loves hard, will do anything she can to help others, and never ceases to amaze me with her awesomeness. Seriously, life goals! She is my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my everything, and I am forever grateful for all the life lessons she has taught me along the way. She has shown me that anything is possible and continues to have a huge impact in my life. It’s the reason I had the confidence to take that leap of faith and do what I love and share it with the world.

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?

l have always had a love of all things creative and became especially interested in calligraphy about 5 years ago and quickly became obsessed. After creating some pieces for friends, they kept telling me that I needed to share my skills with the world and start a business doing what I love…so I did. I create custom designed, hand-lettered goods and services from envelope addressing, place cards, seating charts, signage, personalized jean jackets, bridal part gifts, menus, and just about anything else you could dream up. I recently started offering hand-engraving on items like wine and perfume bottles. With so many creative alternatives to really showcase my client’s personalities, I pride myself in presenting them with cost-effective solutions to make their vision a reality and help them find unique ways to tie all the elements of their big day together. In most scenarios, I provide digital drafts of projects before starting to help visualize what the end product would look like and/or provide different design options, allowing for any changes before getting started on the real thing. This has proven to be extremely helpful in managing expectations for both clients and myself and something they appreciate. Possibilities are endless and can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, especially for those who may not have planned a big event before. I’m there to help with suggestions or questions along the way, even if they aren’t necessarily calligraphy related, to help streamline the process and exceed expectations both with my products and level of customer service. I’m a little “extra” and can’t see myself doing things any other way!

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

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the opportunity to use my skills to create something magical for my clients, taking an idea and running with it. Offering that extra help and support along the way to create exactly what the client is looking for or providing unique alternatives they may not have thought of, and ultimately, seeing the joy in my client’s face when they see their finished pieces is one of the best feelings and a constant sense of encouragement to keep doing what I love. Meeting new people, creating special detail pieces, and being part of their special moments makes my heart happy. I absolutely love when clients share photos and I get to see how the pieces created uniquely for them end up displayed as part of their big day!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Because I truly love what I do and have discovered so many useful tips and tricks along the way, both from fellow creators and trial and error, I’m inspired to expand my journey and hope to start offering workshops/classes to pass along the knowledge I’ve acquired throughout the years. I love spreading the joy of knowledge! I’m big on community over competition, sharing our strengths with others, and learning to build each other up by supporting and growing together. That is always my goal in any journey.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/letteringlou
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/letteringlou
• Other: www.pinterest.com/letteringlou

Image Credits
Jared Gotcher Kaity Brawley Emily Mathewson