While many high school students spend their free time spending money and having fun Annie H. (‘23) earns money through her own calligraphy business. In April, she started her business  due to her interest in lettering.
Inspired by YouTubers such as Amanda Rach Lee, who owns her own stationery business, Annie developed her passion for calligraphy two years ago. “I just always thought the idea of having a business was really cool,” Annie said. 
The main focus of her business is making calligraphy products. She’ll make cards and custom prints. She also does digital illustrations or graphic designs and has also recently started making stickers. “My favorites might be the stickers that I’ve made just because the response has been really cool and I didn’t think that people would actually like them that much” Annie said. 
Since the start of her business, her platform has become bigger; her account has grown and she has expanded the kind of products she offers. “I [did this]  just to try to cater to different people and what kind of stuff that they would order,” Annie said. She had only offered prints and cards but it has developed to offer digital illustrations and custom stickers.
A lot of her stickers are bought by TAS students. “[Her stickers are] really aesthetic, creative, and full of colors,” Abigail H. (23’) said. “The messages on the stickers are really calming and inspiring.”
Usually the process of an order is simple. Annie would get a message from a customer and she’ll ask specifically what they want on their order. Then she would respond when she would be able to finish and start working on it as soon as possible. Once the due date rolls around Annie would finish the order, package it and give it to the customer. In general Annie would try and spread an order over a couple of days but if she needed to be fast it would take her around 30 minutes.
Annie hopes to one day grow her business even more. “I think it would be really cool if I could eventually expand [my business] to a point where I could have a website in an online marketplace and then eventually be able to hire people but that’s very far in the future,” Annie said.
She encourages students to try and start business as well but wants students to know that it’s important to make sure you have an audience. If you don’t it’s going to be hard to get going. She also emphasizes the significance of starting a business that you are dedicated to. “Make sure you love what you do because if you don’t eventually you will get tired of it and you will burn out” Annie said