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Meet Desiree Colonna of Inkwell Designers in Woodstock

Today we’d like to introduce you to Desiree Colonna.

Desiree, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and own two companies in Atlanta. I started my web design company, Bella Web Design, Inc. in 1998 and Inkwell Designers in 2016.

I learned calligraphy as a child, then put it away for a few decades. I took it up again after a personal tragedy hit my family a few years ago as therapy. I found it helped me in ways I never understood until now. I never dreamed it would take me this far and we’re expanding and growing our client list and projects every year.

I have been called the “Fastest Engraver and/or Embosser in the South” because I can see lines very clearly when I engrave or emboss and don’t waste precious time with drawing lines or doing layouts as many others do. I have been known to engrave a fragrance bottle or emboss a leather book in less than 1 minute at events with no mistakes. Our clients want as many people to experience our services as possible without wasting time or inventory. We save our clients both precious time and money.

I started by creating wedding invitations and signs and then added calligraphy to anything I could get my hands on including engraving glass, metal, leather, crystal, and wood. I learned how to emboss leather and our company really took off. Our customer base has since doubled and now includes clients such as Hermés, Charlotte Tilbury, Christian Dior, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Whole Foods, Dillard’s, Macy’s and many international companies worldwide.

I am also an art agent and represent artists helping them find work including calligraphers, engravers, web designers and many more. I’ve met many artists who struggle with contracts, sales, accounting, marketing and basic business concepts. Artists only want to concentrate on their work and not have to worry about finding clients and billing. It made sense for me to expand my talents to represent both online and offline artists.

Inkwell’s success is a direct result of my web design and online marketing expertise and experience, which has evolved into a passion for bringing calligraphy and hand engraving artists together with both brides and businesses around the globe. I have personally served over 2,500 companies in my over 20-year career.

I have called Atlanta home for over 25 years. I am the mother of two daughters and enjoy singing, knitting, crochet, hand engraving, leather embossing, watercolor painting and riding around on my Triumph and Moto Guzzi motorcycles.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to success is never smooth. There are days work is easy and days you wonder if you’re doing the right thing. However, I stay positive knowing tomorrow is another day and will bring its own rewards.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Inkwell Designers story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialized in live event animations and activations. We emboss, paint, engrave and more live for companies around the globe. We also offer heat sublimation, vinyl transfers and laser cutting and engraving. Every day is different. We work with individuals as well as large corporations on projects as small as one embossed bible to a large order of lasered notebooks for CVS Pharmacy Corporate or some calligraphy thank you cards we did for Oprah’s OWN Studios.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
We make our own luck through experience, great partners and laser-like focus. Luck is something we create along the way.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Desiree Colonna

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