My friend Michele of Meant To Be Calligraphy and I have been sitting on a big secret for over a year.  Last year about this time – actually, it was the day of Doggie Trick or Treat! – we closed Penny Post for the day and Michele taught a private brush lettering class for Love Is Blind’s (now favorite) couple, Taylor and Garrett. You can see it all unfold in Episode 10 (around the 21 min. mark) of this season! It’s been beyond exciting to think about our little Penny Post having its 15 minutes of international fame. Even more so to think about Michele getting to be seen by millions of people. No one loves love more than Michele and no one deserves this moment more.

I want to thank her for always being my cheerleader and for being my very dear friend for the last dozen years. She could have chosen to teach this class anywhere and she chose Penny Post. I will forever be in her debt for something so exciting. This secret has brought us closer together and I’m forever grateful for our Love Is Blind experience.

In honor of Michele and Taylor and Garrett, I did a little Q&A so you can get to know the DMV’s best calligrapher and get a glimpse into how this all happened. Oh, and sign up for her next round of workshops that will be held at Penny Post!

Thanks again, Michele!  You’ve always been a star to those who love you, now the world gets to see it too!!

(PS: We were only allowed to have one Penny Post representative in the store during filming. I want to thank Doug Mueller for being a rockstar too! He is responsible for our visual merchandising and our windows that everyone loves so naturally he made PP shine for it’s close up. Thanks a million, Doug!!)

Amy: This is a big deal.  How did this opportunity come about?

Michele: I began teaching calligraphy and brush lettering workshops in the DC-area (including both in the District itself as well as in Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Middleburg, Charlottesville and Baltimore) in 2011. Last fall, the producers of the show reached out to me directly to ask if I would teach a private lettering class for one of the couples to help them prepare for their wedding. They didn’t tell me what show they were filming, but I love to teach, so I said yes without hesitation. Once we were further into the process of choosing a date and time, they shared that the show in question was Love is Blind. Given that it was already a huge hit for Netflix, I was even more excited to take part!

Amy: You could have taught the class anywhere, why did you want to do it at Penny Post?

Michele: As you know, I absolutely adore Penny Post! Every time I walk into the store I feel happy and energized. When the opportunity to take part in the show came up, my absolute first thought was that Penny Post would be the perfect place to host the class. I felt sure that this couple would love learning in such a fun, cheerful space. 

Amy: What was it like to teach Taylor & Garrett?

Michele: It was really fun! I typically teach classes of six to eight students, so it was really special to do a private class just for them. They were interested and relaxed and I think they really took the experience seriously. I taught them my Intro to Modern Brush Lettering workshop, which is a very colorful class. They were quick studies and I think they enjoyed it!

Amy: Of all the couples they feel like the most genuine. When you met them did they feel like they were in love?

Michele: They had such an easy rapport with each other. They were comfortable around each other - super cute and flirty - if I had not known that their relationship was still pretty new, I would have guessed that they had been together for a long time. They seemed perfect for each other. I was really excited for them! 

Over the course of the afternoon, in addition to tricks for creating beautiful lettering, we talked about their upcoming wedding, about the love letters Taylor’s grandfather had written to her grandmother, and how, when it comes to love, sometimes it’s just super clear from the start when you’ve met the right person.

Amy: I wasn't able to be there for the shooting, so what was the production process like? How nervous were you?!

Michele: I was not nervous about the teaching part, because I have taught the class enough that I know exactly how I want the flow to go. But I have never had anyone film the class, much less a whole bunch of someones – there were several crew members involved in the day – so that part was pretty nerve-wracking. But everyone on the crew was so kind and I just tried to focus on teaching Taylor and Garrett and to block out everything else.

Amy: It was so hard to keep this secret for a year! I was so grateful that we could talk about it. How did you manage to keep it quiet?

Michele: Oh my gosh, it was SO hard! Thankfully, you and I could talk about it, which was fantastic, and I told my husband what was going on, but that was it. It killed me not to be able to share the details with anyone else, but I knew that I absolutely had to keep it under lock and key. It’s a total relief that it’s finally out there in the world! And also, it’s been really fun for me to watch the episodes as they are released and see how things went for Taylor and Garrett before I popped into their lives. Seeing their love story unfold has confirmed the great feeling I had about them as a couple when I met them last year. 

Amy: Tell me more about Meant To Be Calligraphy.  What's your favorite part of doing what you do?

Michele: I have been a professional calligrapher for fifteen years. And other than teaching calligraphy and brush lettering to others, I would say my favorite part of the job is that I get to work with so many wonderful people! I love helping soon-to-be-married couples with their calligraphy needs and many of those folks go on to be repeat clients as other life celebrations pop up through the years. I also work with so many fabulous event professionals – stationers, event planners, florists, caterers, photographers, etc. It’s so lovely to be part of a community that is dedicated to excellence in artistry and hospitality. In addition to people planning social events, I also get to work on a number of local and national nonprofit and corporate events each year, and those are always fun as well! And, I do a number of on-site activations for different companies and brands, which, like teaching, lets me get out of my home studio and into the world every now and then.

Amy: We are really excited to have you teach classes at Penny Post soon.  Tell the readers how they can take a class with you.

Michele: I’m excited, too! We just opened registration for the classes I will be teaching in the new year. Interested students can choose between Intro to Modern Pointed Pen Calligraphy (my flagship class) or Intro to Modern Brush Lettering (the class I taught to Taylor and Garrett). Both classes are fun and are perfect for total beginners or for anyone who wants to brush up on their technique (no pun intended). To register, pop over to the workshop page of my website. Seats are limited, so grab a spot in one or both classes - or put them on your holiday wish list and give the Santa in your life a little nudge!

Amy: These things are wrought with second guessing. Is there something you wish you had done and didn't? Or how about something you wish you hadn't done?

Michele: Well, hilariously, I’m pretty sure that I did not introduce myself or Meant To Be Calligraphy while the cameras were rolling. Or actually, I did introduce myself the first time Taylor and Garrett walked into the shop. But immediately behind them, a customer walked in with her dog and wearing huge over-ear headphones, totally oblivious to the cameras and that the store was closed for the day for filming. After we let her know that we had a special event going on, she kindly exited and we re-filmed Taylor and Garrett’s entrance. When I greeted them the second time, I was so flustered by the re-do that I’m pretty sure I forgot to say my name or Meant To Be Calligraphy out loud. So when our episode airs, it will most likely show me saying, “Welcome to Penny Post!” but then just going right into teaching. Clearly I’m not the best at self-promotion! Ha!

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