We recently connected with Sally King McBride and have shared our conversation below.

Sally, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My company centers around names (I customize clients’ names in 20 different letter themes), and so coming up with a name for my *own* brand was especially important. I thought of “The Letter Nest” while taking a walk during my lunch break from my position at The Metropolitan Museum in 2017. I knew my brand name had to serve two purposes: it needed to be somewhat visual, and it needed to evoke the process of hand-picking letters for your product. I was saying aloud the different contenders to test them out: “The Letter Hive,” “The Letter Bee”…thankfully I landed on “The Letter Nest”—which I loved for its association with nesting, the home, and the nursery.

Sally, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Sally, a New York City-based artist and illustrator, and Founder of The Letter Nest. I worked for over ten years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which informs my fine-art approach to letter and image. My alphabet art provides clients beautiful and detailed artwork for their nurseries and homes.

I grew up as a faculty kid on three different New England campuses; education has been central to my life. By result, The Letter Nest revolves around the educational component of letter and image, engaging each child in learning and recognizing the pattern of A for Alligator, B for Balloon, or C for Cherry Blossom.

Last year, The Met Store launched an exclusive Met Museum Alphabet in which I painted a collection object for each letter of the alphabet. Going forward, I’m looking forward to similar partnerships with cultural and educational institutions to help tell their stories through letters. For now, I’m so grateful for the clients we get to interact with every day as we customize their alphabet art—their support and referrals keep The Letter Nest going.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve unlearned asking for permission. Growing up as an eldest daughter, I was rule-focused and risk averse. This behavior was reinforced by my first workplace, The Met, where hierarchy, due process, and protecting a 150-year-old brand were at the heart of what we did. Departing the Museum after over a decade to launch The Letter Nest, I had to pivot quickly to adapt to rapid decision-making, an isolated work environment (with no one to ask permission from!), and most unnerving for me: bold self-promotion in getting my work out there.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

I was fortunate to get the advice early on to generate multiple revenue streams—and it’s something I wish more artists would talk about. While my primary income is generated Letter Nest consumers purchasing my prints and products, I diversify my revenue a few other ways:

1) Corporate commissions from outside companies hiring me to illustrate patterns for their products. (I often pitch them directly, though many partnerships have resulted from in-bound requests through my Instagram and website.)
2) Companies hiring me to paint live at their in-person marketing events. Once you do one and post about it, others can more easily follow.
3) Licensing my artwork to a dedicated stationery partner, who also pays me a royalty for any products purchased that feature my work.

Whenever you extend yourself for one of these additional revenue streams, make sure the company’s own work and mission aligns with your own, and make sure there’s a contract up front outlining financials, marketing responsibilities, and crediting your authorship, to name a few…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theletternest.com
• Instagram: @theletternest
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallykingmcbride
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theletternest
• Other: Tik Tok: @theletternest
  Threads: @theletternest

Image Credits

Photography Credits:
Eileen Meny
Melody Melamed
*photographers ID’d in file names