Wow!
It’s surreal to think that this is the first blog post on my brand new site! If you’re here, and reading this, THANK YOU for supporting my business.
To be honest, I’ve been pushing off creating this site for a REALLY long time because I was scared of failing at this whole “owning a website” thing. I definitely plan on sharing more about this in the future, but for now, I want to dive into the story behind Alex Greco Lettering.
In 2017, I was browsing the stores on the lower level of Rockefeller Center, when I came across the Papersource store. I popped in to browse all of the paper goods when I came across a sign for their new hand lettering course starting the following week. The course was five weeks long and the classes happened to fall on my days off from work.
As you may or may not know, I’ve been a zookeeper/ animal care professional for almost 9 years now. It was always my dream to work with animals and I dove into it headfirst. I’m talking saying “yes” to every overtime opportunity, working outside in harsh weather conditions, and working weekends and holidays because that’s what my job required. While I loved working with animals, I was starting to feel burnt out, and I found myself spending my non-traditional weekends sleeping, and lacking any motivation to spend time outdoors.
Seeing that sign for the hand lettering course at that exact time when I was dealing with burn out from zookeeping was a giant wake up call from the universe. I knew I needed to take this class for myself and for my sanity, so I signed up for all 5 classes on the spot.
Fast forward to the end of the first class, and I was hooked. The feeling of ease and relaxation that lettering brought me in that instant fueled me to experiment with new pens and paper. I found an ability to express myself through this creative and artistic form of writing and I didn’t want to lose that.
About a month later, I created a new Instagram account and started posting pictures of my lettering progress. If you want a good laugh, take a peek at my first IG posts. It’s crazy how far I’ve come! I started to take on small little projects for family and friends, without charging a dime, just because I wanted to build my portfolio, experiment with new mediums, and simply because I had fun doing it. With time, I started to find my footing with my own lettering style and I felt more confident connecting with other lettering artists on social media.
In January of 2018, I completed my first paid order, and I haven’t looked back since.
Reflecting on these last few years running AGL, I can’t believe how much it’s grown and I have so many dreams and visions of what I want my business to look like in the future. This new site is just one step towards those goals, and thank you so much for being here along with me on this journey.
If you have an idea for a blog post you want to see, feel free to reach out via the contact form on this site, send me a DM on Instagram or email me at alexgrecolettering@gmail.com
With love.
Alex
