Hey, I’m MacKenzie!
Here are a few of my favorite things:
Family
Nature
Health & Wellness
Finding four leaf clovers
Snacks
The story behind the brand
The creative
I’ve been creative for as long as I can remember. As a child, I would make birthday cards, posters, and crafts – I had every craft supply you can imagine and am always the family member that someone calls for the creative hand.
I went to school for Landscape Architecture, which is a whole other rabbit hole (no it’s not mowing lawns and no I can’t tell you what that plant is). My full time career overlaps a LOT with graphic design and a passion for creativity. Through never stopped creating things on the side for fun.
After my husband and I moved back to Maryland, I found myself with space in my life to pursue something beyond my day job. I was curious about Calligraphy and Hand-Lettering and ended up creating my first pieces for my own wedding in 2016. I took a class at a local craft store and soon experimented with all types of pens and pencils, and paper.
The quote collector
I’ve always been drawn to quotes – whether it be something I hear, read in a magazine, or the lyric of a song. To me, words are so important. Words have the power to make you feel something and also have the power to let you express yourself. Whenever I’m feeling big emotions, I search tirelessly for a quote or a lyric that expresses what I’m feeling. I call myself a “quote collector” as I have dozens of post-its, jotted notes, and lists of quotes that mean something to me. Some are on my wall, some are on repeat in my head, and some are in a giant Excel list that I started to keep things organized – yep, I’m that Type A Excel file-making type person.
After creating several pieces for my wedding, I gifted lettering services to a few friends for their weddings and continued to learn (and play) with this new hobby. I eventually purchased an Ipad and learned of the ease of creating artwork with Procreate and the Ipad Pencil, which made it even easier to share. I kept having friends and family give me subtle cues that I should do something with this, start “a little business” or something.
The cheerleader
I ran my Etsy shop for several years, selling drop-shipped items, digital prints, and even producing wedding place cards for several events across the country. In November 2018, I opened my Etsy shop, mainly selling drop shipped products such as mugs, prints, and apparel. It was fun, confusing, and sometimes tiring, but I learned so much.
As my business grew, my family grew too, and I started to explore a pivot towards more service-based options. I love creating things by hand, but I love creating something meaningful and unique to a particular person even more. This was when I started to use my graphic design and illustration skills to work with small business owners. Throughout 2020 and 2021, I worked with a few small businesses to create logos and branding collateral and found my love for this type of work and the close connection with these businesses and people. My work will always have hand lettering and wellness at its core, but I’m excited for this growth into service-based opportunities.
I’m currently building my new website, which will launch in the next few months, and I am looking for health and wellness businesses that would like to develop a logo and branding package.
