2019 Year In Review
2019 was a whirlwind of a year. It was filled with so many ups and downs — mistakes, lessons learned, growth and success.
In January we adopted our little fur babe, @winnietheminipooch from @woodlandsdoxiesden . He has brought so much joy into our lives and is the best little coworker for WFH lady.
We did our first wedding show with Wed Well Showcase ! We met so many lovely couples and vendors that we were blessed to work with this year. We cannot wait to be back in just a couple days! (January 11th, 2020 at the Oakville Conference Centre – use code EXIBITOR for $3 off your tickets 🎫)
We started a podcast with Sydney and Megan. The Self Made Life Podcast is a podcast for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. We had so many great guests on to chat about everything from bookkeeping, starting a home baking business and everything in between. We can’t wait to launch season 2 coming January 2020.
I taught over 543 students through our calligraphy workshops, private workshops and one on one calligraphy lessons. I partnered with some great companies and brands to offer calligraphy workshops and on site personalization with calligraphy. I taught denim jacket calligraphy workshops in Burlington Mapleview Centre and Oshawa Centre . I did live calligraphy at Mapleview, Yorkdale, and Holt Renfrew for David Yurman. If you are interested in learning calligraphy in the new year – you can sign up for our email list here to be the first to hear about upcoming dates.
We did the One of A Kind Show: I wish this one was a boss but it was most definitely a bust for us. And that’s ok! Lesson learned. We realized that we needed to focus our business to be more service based vs product based. We decided to discontinue products and focus primarily on teaching, calligraphy and wedding stationery.
We were published multiple times online including a story on us and our business on Wedding Bells Magazine online !
We got married!! Seriously it was truly the best day of our lives. We want to relive it again and again (and we do with watching the amazing video that Three Fold Studio did and look back on the stunning photos from Ariana Del Mundo Photography took)
Shortly after our wedding, my mom was diagnosed with Stage 3A Breast Cancer. So much uncertainty and heartbreak. It was a very tough time but with much positivity and prayer, she kicked cancers ass! She had a double mastectomy surgery in November and is now cancer free! She will start radiation in the new year as a precaution. Going through this has made us slow down a little more and to appreciate life and the little things. It’s also taught us to fight for what we want and the power of positive thinking.
I started teaching part time at Humber College! This opportunity came out of no where and I am so so grateful for it. Teaching at the College/University level was a longtime dream of mine after graduating with my bachelor of design degree. At the time I wasn’t ready to go back to school to get my Masters. I started gaining experience in the real world which ultimately led me to teaching calligraphy and starting my own dream company. The universe has a funny way of working its self out.
I reached 1 year full time with our business and rebranded from Tayne and Ashley to Monarch Design Co ! I was able to surpass my corporate full time salary in September!
Our wedding was published in Wedding Bells Magazine and our work was published in WedLuxe Magazine ! Fun fact: I actually interned at Wedluxe when I was doing my undergrad.
We started focusing more and more on wedding invitations and are almost fully booked for 2020 and are slowly starting to fill up for 2021.
We are truly so blessed and excited that we get to work with so many lovely couples and vendors. We have met so many friendors and other creative entrepreneur friends. 2019 – you were a whirlwind, yes, but thank you for the lessons. We have big plans for 2020 and the decade to come!
