Today I am joined by Suzanne Cunningham! Suzanne is a professional calligrapher with 32 years of experience. She was co-editor of the 25th edition Speedball Textbook and is a Calligraphy Masters team member. Suzanne has taught in-person workshops with numerous guilds throughout the country. She currently teaches a variety of online classes through learncalligraphy.com. She specializes in flourished Copperplate script, wedding invitation designs, and monograms.

In this episode Suzanne and I talk about how she got her start in calligraphy, what her 30+ year career in calligraphy has looked like, her tips for getting started with calligraphy, and so much more! Y'all are going to love Suzanne!

Suzanne's Instagram

Shylee Smiles

Ariel Sullivan is the author of Conform and Beneath. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and their two French bulldogs. Growing up a military brat, Ariel moved every two years as a perpetual new kid; Ariel often observed from the outskirts, where a deep love of reading was born. When she isn’t writing, Ariel loves to read everything from poetry to psychology, bake with her sons, listen to live music, and travel.

In this episode, Ariel and I talk about how she came up with the idea for Conform, why it is a trilogy of trilogies, the art of writing a love triangle, her best writing advice, her new book Beneath, and so much more!

Ariel's Website

Ariel's Instagram

Join me for February's book club pick: Broken Country! This is a story about love, loss, forgiveness, and the consequences of choices. The writing was beautiful and interesting, and it was a true page-turner! I'd love to know your thoughts!

Next month: The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

Today I am joined by Meg Hale! Meg is the founder and designer of Tutto, a brand built on the idea of creating fewer, better pieces that work hard in everyday life. Meg attended the College of Charleston and studied apparel design in Florence, Italy, where she developed a strong foundation in quality craftsmanship and timeless design. She also completed fashion internships at Neiman Marcus and Yves Saint Laurent. After college, Meg spent several years working in sales and events, gaining firsthand experience in brand building, client relationships, and operational execution. After returning to Charleston and becoming a mother, she identified a clear gap in her own wardrobe: a high-quality, washable cotton piece that could move effortlessly through a full day—from school drop-off to the beach, and dinner—without sacrificing style and comfort. Approaching the problem as both a designer and an entrepreneur, Meg has focused on perfecting the essential pieces of a woman's wardrobe. With a love of stripes and a commitment to quality and versatility, Tutto was born. Meaning “everything” in Italian, Tutto reflects Meg’s belief in intentional growth and designing products that truly earn their place in a woman’s closet.

In this episode, Meg and I talk about why she started Tutto, the first steps to starting Tutto, the inspiration behind her clothing designs, the importance of having a hero product, and so much more!

Meg's Website

Meg's Instagram

MUSC

Today I am joined by Mattie Brown! Mattie is a New Orleans based, floral artist known for her delicate, coastal-inspired designs rooted in her childhood summers in Cape Cod and New England. She studied Interior Design at LSU and worked professionally in the design industry before her painting hobby grew into a thriving business. What began with canvas commissions for family and friends and painted champagne bottles eventually led her to transition into full-time art, a path she’s now been on for three and a half years.Today her work ranges from hand-painted perfume bottles to live wedding paintings, and she has created custom pieces for Simone Biles and Michael Bublé, along with collaborations with brands like Batiste and events like The Masters. She is currently expanding back into canvas work, carrying forward the soft, nostalgic, floral aesthetic she’s become known for.

In this episode, Mattie and I chat about how she made her art business her full-time job, how she chooses what to focus on next, her journey from painting champagne bottles to perfume bottles, what is next for her, and so much more!

Mattie's Website

Mattie's Instagram

Mission Housing Ministries

Today I am joined by Edith-Anne Duncan! Creating a sophisticated but casual approach to today’s lifestyles is the focus of Edith-Anne Duncan’s interiors and what she does best. Her meticulous attention to detail elevates her creations to a higher level, and she uses a multi-layered approach to each project. She combines her education and experience to create a strong design palette and portfolio, utilizing history, travel, fashion, art, color, and technology to incorporate each client’s wishes.

In this episode, Edith-Anne and I talk about how interior design and fashion are connected, her career and business, what the process of working with Edith-Anne is like, her best advice for business owners and designers, and so much more!

Edith-Anne's Website

Edith-Anne's Instagram

Feeding America

Meals on Wheels

Today I am joined by Erika Page! Erika is the Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Living Dappled, a blog and community for women with vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that causes loss of pigment. After getting vitiligo at the age of seven, she lost 100% of her skin’s pigment and fought her own mental and emotional battles to overcome her insecurities and embrace her skin. In 2016, she decided to fill a lack of results in a Google search for “vitiligo” with the resource she needed—and founded Living Dappled to help educate, support, and inspire the 1% of the population with this condition. Erika has spoken at the U.S. World Vitiligo Day conference and has been featured in PEOPLE, WebMD, and Love What Matters. She was named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Vitiligans from 2020-2022. Today she is an avid patient advocate and sought-after leader within the vitiligo community dedicated to raising awareness for the condition and helping other women with vitiligo reclaim their lives by finding health and happiness.

In this episode, Erika and I chat about her personal experience living with vitiligo, why she started Living Dappled, why representation is so important, how her side hustle became her full time job, what she would tell her 7 year old self, and so much more!

Erika's Instagram

Living Dappled Instagram

Living Dappled Website

Worth Days

Welcome to the first book club episode of 2026! This month we read Atmosphere, which was a 5 star read for me and one of the most talked-about books of last year. It was a fast-paced love story with very high stakes. If you've read it, I want to hear your thoughts!

February Book Club Pick: Broken Country 📚