Hi, I'm Emma!

I'm a St. Louis-based calligrapher and live engraving artist, and I help brands, event planners, and retailers create personalized moments that their guests genuinely can't look away from.

You're planning an event that needs to feel special, not just well-executed, but memorable. You want your guests to leave talking about it. But finding the right experiential element, one that actually fits your brand and delivers something beyond a pretty photo op, is harder than it sounds.

That's exactly where I come in. Whether you're a retail manager looking to drive in-store engagement, an event planner searching for something your clients haven't seen before, or a brand running an activation that needs to stop people in their tracks, live calligraphy and engraving does that. Every time.

I picked up calligraphy over a decade ago at Truman State University (Go Bulldogs!), almost by accident. I was deep in a graphic design program and needed a way to step away from the screen for a while. Teaching myself calligraphy gave me that. Something about the slowness of it, the precision, the way a single stroke could completely change the feel of a letter, made me fall in love with it immediately.

After graduation I interned at Southwest Airlines, where I got to bring both worlds together. My design background and my calligraphy skills turned out to be a pretty great combination, and that experience showed me early on that handcraft and brand work aren't opposites. They complement each other beautifully.

I went on to build a career in corporate and nonprofit marketing before eventually turning my calligraphy practice into a full-time business. And over a decade later I'm still just as obsessed with it as I was in that college studio.

What I do now is a little bit art, a little bit marketing, and a lot of joy. I show up to events, retail activations, corporate galas, brand launches, workshops, and I make something personal, in real time, right in front of people. I've worked with clients like Louis Vuitton, Anheuser-Busch, and Kendra Scott. I've personalized Budweiser 300 steins in two days and watched a bride-to-be spontaneously buy five bottles of Chanel No. 5 just to have them engraved on the spot as bridesmaid gifts. Every event is different, and I love that about this work.

Over the past decade I've built a reputation as someone who shows up prepared, fits seamlessly into any event flow, and makes the whole thing look easy, even when it isn't. Because I come from a marketing background, I think carefully about how an activation fits the bigger picture, not just how it looks in the moment.

I love brainstorming with clients to think of ideas for their next event. If you're ready to add a moment your guests will truly connect with, I'd love to hear about your event.

p.s. curious about what it’s like to work with me? Check out these FAQs or read event recaps on the blog!