We had the good fortune of connecting with Sanique Olkuch and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sanique, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?

I grew up in a small, rural town in Jamaica and was raised by my grandmother. She is she was a single mom who raised 6 daughters after her husband passed away and she was such a hard worker. Even though she became a single mom she made sure that all her kids and grandkids had whatever they needed to succeed. She wore many hats she was mom, dad, grandfather and grandmother but she was also a dressmaker, farmer, handyperson, painter and just about everything else she needed to be for her family. She taught me the value of having a good education and not letting my background limit the person I can become. I’m such a stronger person because of the influence that she’s had on me and I am forever grateful that I’ve learned from her.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I got into calligraphy because I wanted a way to have some kind of artistic expression. I never considered myself a creative person. I don’t draw very well. I’m not great at photography but I know that each person has some kind of artistic expression that is personal to them; that is meaningful to them. I had the hardest time trying to find creativity. I tried many things in the past; I’ve tried sewing and other needle crafts like knitting and crocheting, I’ve tried illustrations but nothing seemed to really stick with me. I wasn’t very passionate about any of that until I discovered calligraphy.

I happened upon calligraphy when I was trying to find a way to decorate my bullet journal a few years ago and once I started I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about it but I didn’t plan to start a business doing calligraphy. I just found that I loved it so much and I wanted to share it with the world.

Even now sometimes I don’t even consider it a business in the traditional sense because I’m having so much fun. I’m always learning and exploring so with the traditional sense of business you think it should be some thing that is stressful and complicated but the calligraphy has not been that for me. What makes me most excited about calligraphy is how different it can look for each person and how each person’s personality can become infused in it and no two people will produce ever the same piece even if they wrote the same words. That’s what I love about what I do. I like more traditional styles but even following the more traditional rules, I can still express my personality.

As far as how I got to where I am today I took a lot of encouragement from my friends and my family who saw my work and she said “hey you really should market this, you should do this for other people because people would just love it” and so I i took the leap. I took a business course and having no business experience whatsoever decided to jump in both feet first. It was not always easy, there were a lot of challenges trying to figure out all the legal things and all the financial things. There are a lot more that goes into a creative business than just creating. I felt that I’ve learned so much and I’ve grown so much over the past year since starting this journey. Now that I have all my business systems in place, it’s not as overwhelming and I’m just so excited and look forward to taking my art and my business to the next level.

One thing I’ve learned over the past year as part of this journey is how helpful and supportive the calligraphy community and the artistic community as a whole is, from photographers to other calligraphers to painters. Anyone who has any kind of creative business that I’ve been in contact with have been so supportive. Everyone has been so willing teach you me what they know and to help me.  I’m just amazed how wonderful the artistic community has been.

What I would want people to know about my story is that we all have some kind of creative expression and while we may not necessarily want to start a business related to this creative expression I think there’s some kind of creative in all of us and I think we owe it to ourselves to find that artistic person and explore it and use to make us feel good about ourselves but also to share it with others whenever we can because the world is so much more a beautiful place when we all share our art

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Unfortunately some of my favorite places (like News Cafe and Wynwood Yard) have closed over the past couple of years. This is a tough one now because I haven’t really gone out much because of the pandemic but I still have a few faves:

– Breakfast: Miami Squeeze, it’s just a fun fresh place to have to good solid food or my new favorite: Tinta y Cafe in Miami Shores. The el Madurito sandwich, you’ll thank me later!
-Brunch: Pisco y Nazca in Doral
-Happy hour cocktails probably the Citadel, or No. 3 Social. I’m a sucker for a rooftop bar.

-No trip to Miami is complete without having a Salty Donut.

– Dinner: Lettuce and Tomato in North Miami, OMG their bread pudding is heaven.

-Yummy Asian: Basilic Vietnamese

-Of course, when the weather is nice, you gotta have a cocktail at the bar at Smith and Wollensky in South Point the views are amazing and then after your drink, a stroll around South Point is a MUST.

-The views from Rusty Pelican are also not to be missed.

-It’s always interesting watching the boats go in and out at Haulover inlet. You just might catch a few folks falling in the water. SCARY!
My new favorite: Cheen Huaye Southern Mexican Restaurant

Super cheesy but you have to people watch in South Beach. It’s worth the parking ticket!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am the person I am today because of the love, support and influence of so many people but the most important is my wife Birgit. She has been my biggest cheerleader, my biggest supporter, my rock, and my voice of reason. I just can never thank her enough for all the love and support that she’s given me over the past 10 years and just I’m just so grateful that she has chosen to walk the walk of life with me.

Website: www.saniquecalligraphy.com

Instagram: @saniquecalligraphy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saniquecalligraphy

Image Credits
Photos Courtesy of Photography by JohnJ & Sanique Calligraphy

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