It’s the very first day of May and I’m sitting in my office, where boxes still sit unpacked in the corner. Life finally feels on the cusp of slowing down a bit, now that our lease is up in just ten days and we can officially say goodbye to the condo and completely settle into our new home. We have major projects — our font and backyard — wrapping up, and my husband is finally back to normal duty and the girls and I are getting used to fire family life again.
April marked Minted’s biggest challenges: Non-Foil and Foil Holiday Photo Cards. I had lofty goals of submitting 40 designs, and well, that flopped after totally missing the deadline. The silver lining is I did still get 16 cards submitted, and I now have extra designs/ideas to use to pitch to new brand partners this spring.
And despite that hiccup, the month still produced meaningful progress: 22 designs were created across holiday cards, wedding invitations, and client work. Private client projects ended up being the strongest income driver, especially custom branded thank-you cards, and there were small wins in licensing as well, including an uptick in the sales of a personal stationery design (teacher gifts, anyone?). Creatively, growth showed most in wedding design work and in blending branding with stationery, even though holiday card work felt a bit rushed with limited childcare.
A key takeaway from it all was that productivity doesn’t have to mean deep, uninterrupted work. Even small steps, like gathering inspiration or outlining ideas, still count as meaningful progress. What worked best was leaning into flexible work rhythms and reserving my limited childcare hours for focused design time, while easing pressure in other areas of life (girl dinners for life !! as a fire wife IYKYK). Looking ahead, the focus is on securing at least one new licensing win (specifically with Zola), pitching holiday collections to new partners, and slowly building a wholesale channel through Faire.
Overall, April had some small wins and some setbacks too, but it helped to shape my mindset as I move forward in growing my licensing portfolio and brand partnerships. And now I’m SO ready for May!
If you’re interested in the more nitty gritty, juicy details of my licensing experience, please consider subscribing as a paid reader/listener. Your small monthly contribution helps fund this project during nap times and early morning hours. And I appreciate it more than you know!
Here’s a quick summary of what you’ll hear/read more about behind the paywall:
Exact licensing income numbers, income by source, the whys and hows of what moved the needle most, trends I predict will be big in the stationery world, deals and negotiation details, and in-depth answers to questions I’m asked by my audience.
This month, I answer the questions: 1. How is font licensing managed when licensing designs? 2. Why did you decide to start licensing?
See you on the other side!
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