Five years as a full-time calligrapher

In 2021, I made the decision to leave my 9-5 office job to become a full-time calligrapher.

I made this decision after being on furlough for 9 months and struggling to re-transition back into the workplace and my previous role.

Five years later and here I am! Still working as a calligrapher and the journey has been full of ups and downs. You can look back at previous posts and videos about my experience each year, this post is about my experience from July 2025 - June 2026.

Some milestones are small and some are big but all of them should be celebrated. 

Here's what I've achieved in the last year since becoming full-time:

• Set up a community on Skool

• Sold out multiple calligraphy workshop dates

• Created The Creative Journaling & Calligraphy Workbook

• Fired a client for the first time for crossing boundaries

• Created The Calligraphy Class Companion

• Taught a session on How to teach a workshop in 60 days at The Calligraphy Summit

• Lovely Class to Course member meetings

• Updated a members' website

• Contacted by a new workshop venue

• Created the Extra Flair Workbook

• Created the Calligraphy Envelopes Workbook

• Put myself out there to a different workshop venue

• I created The Beginners Bundle

• Finally converted podcast episodes into YouTube videos

• Prepared marketing materials for maternity leave including almost 100 emails!

Now this list is significantly shorter than in prior years - does this mean this last year was less successful? Not necessarily, there are a couple of reasons this list is a lot shorter.

One reason is because for the majority of 2025 I was pregnant which impacted my ability to work and I was focused on being able to do the business necessities and preparing for maternity leave, rather than growing my business.

Secondly, I started maternity leave half way through when this list covers so six month's worth of work is "missing".

Work

Workshops:

After last year's experience of having to cancel workshops after increasing the number of them, I decided to book workshops with caution.

I decided that I would rather teach 1 busy workshop, than 2 half-filled workshops. Thankfully, I ended up with sold out workshops locally.

However, I still had to cancel workshops in Bristol which weirdly weren't garnering any interest. In prior years, they may be quieter than Cheltenham, but it was strange to have no interest.

After a couple of months with no interest, I cancelled the remaining Bristol dates I had in my diary. Admittedly, being pregnant I wasn't particularly keen on travelling, even an hour away so it somewhat suited me!

Private workshop wise, I had some interesting enquiries but they either fell through or were disappointingly for when I was due to be on maternity leave so I was unable to assist. I think it was the first autumn/winter since starting that I haven't done a private class which is unusual for the business.

Again, admittedly I was happy that I wouldn't have to be travelling at this season of my life. Travelling hours away when 8 months pregnant didn't appeal to me much.

Calligraphy Summit:

I taught a new session "How to teach a calligraphy class in 60 days" for the first time. I taught this as a guest speaker at The Calligraphy Summit.

I felt anxious teaching a new class (despite knowing my stuff) but the students were all really lovely and I believe they took something positive away from the session.

As a gift, I also created a new resource called The Calligraphy Class Companion which I now sell as a separate poduct.

Memberships:

Running my memberships felt rather routine this year, and I just enjoyed the community aspect of running them.

Last year though, I mentioned that I was facing challenges with my new membership "Pick up your pen!" and I made the decision in August to close the membership.

I had a couple of decisions - either I could really focus on marketing this membership over other elements or my business, or I could wrap it up and I chose the latter.

Whilst I 100% believe that the membership has potential, I was getting stressed and I didn't have the energy this year to focus on it. I was also conscious that due to going on maternity leave, I would have to create 9 month's worth of projects in advance and I knew it would add unnecessary pressure.

Financial

No side income:

After leaving the part-time job I had for a year in late 2023 I have no had any supplementary income. Generally, I've been earning enough to meet my personal income goal each month.

In all honesty though, there have been times I have considered getting a traditional job, just for that financial peace of mind but I ended up prioritising flexibility over my schedule at this point in my life.

No boost in winter income:

Usually December is my most lucrative season as a calligrapher as I book live calligraphy gigs, however I'll be full-term in December and unable to travel plus I was due to go on maternity leave.

No live calligraphy gigs this winter - this is from 2023

Basically, it means that I can't make the most of the winter season that I'd usually get a financial boost from which is quite frustrating!

It’s still quiet:

The last few years have definitely been more quiet, but thankfully I've built up my memberships so that I have some income consistency even in off peak seasons.

Reduced costs:

Knowing that I don't have a supplementary income means that I'm cautious with what I invest my money in. Plus, I'd invested in some expenses meaning that I didn't have to pay this year, such as my website provider.

Personal

Social life:

As usual, I've enjoyed have the flexibility over my schedule to easily be able to catch up with friends and family when I wish to.

I particularly loved catching up with a friend I haven't seen in about seven years.

Pregnancy:

I've spent a large majority of 2025 pregnant and that has meant lots to think about when preparing to become parents.

It's not only taken up a lot of time practically as we've prepared for parenthood, but it's taken up a lot of my brainspace too.

Routine:

This year has been the most chaotic in terms of routine. The reality is that I've been unable to make one due to my health which I'll get onto in a moment. The only thing I have been pretty good at is not working on the weekends still.

I've had lots of doctor and hospital appointments and I've been really grateful to have flexibility to go to these without having to feel awkward dipping out of an office job a lot.

Health:

Whilst I am truly grateful to be pregnant, health wise I have found it challenging despite what I'd call an "ok pregnancy".

Insomnia, fatigue, and general brain fog have made working difficult due to being unable to concentrate. As someone quite ambitious, I'd had a huge list of things I wanted to get done before going on leave which I began to realise wouldn't be realistic.

I've also dealt with heart palpitations and breathlessness even in early pregnancy. This made my daily walks really challenging and I found myself leaving the house less which hasn't been the best for my mental health.

I know that this is just a temporary phase of my life though so fingers crossed my health should have improved enough to come back running when I come back from maternity leave.

Overall experience in my five years as a full-time calligrapher

Writing out this post, I felt as though it came across as more negative than other years, but actually I feel very neutral about the year from a work-perspective.

I was hoping for a really cool year to chat about when celebrating this five year milestone, but I'm so grateful to have worked five years as a full-time calligrapher.