For artist and Keywords Co. owner Jenni Kiesler, the birth of her small business began with a literal birth.
After Kiesler delivered her third child, she started creating chalkboard signs to record the growth of her newborn.
From there, she began selling similar creations to her friends. She later used Etsy and Instagram as platforms for selling her work, which began to include more hand-lettered signs and outside chalkboard art.
Kiesler officially founded Keywords Co. in 2016 and now works on a variety of commercial and event projects. Keywords’ offerings include customized typography, chalk art, digital lettering and painted murals.
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Her work has included murals for Ramen Alley, Texas Roadhouse, Schmitt Elementary, Columbus Signature Academy Lincoln and Pure Barre, as well as signage for the Kidscommons Carnivale and various weddings. She’s also worked on menu art for Lucabe Coffee Co., Bear Wallow Distillery and Donut Central.
One of Donut Central’s co-owners, Norma McLeod, said that she first knew Kiesler as a somewhat regular customer at the shop. Then, one day, some of Kiesler’s art caught McLeod’s eye when she saw it at a friend’s wedding, so she asked whose handiwork it was. Now Kiesler updates the Donut Central’s chalkboard menu about four times a year.
“It looks really nice,” McLeod said. “She does a great job, and she’s extremely professional. … She works her schedule around the business and, you know, what our needs are. She accommodates, and she’s just phenomenal.”
One of Kiesler’s recent projects is the design for the Heritage Fund’s 2020 “Love Where You Live” campaign. This fundraising campaign seeks to raise $150,000 “to be invested for the long-term benefit of the community,” through the Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.
Kiesler’s design for the fundraising campaign depicts imagery of memorable Bartholomew County landmarks — such as the Robert N. Stewart Second Street Bridge — as well as other local features. The design was partially inspired by a recent experience Kiesler had.
“This summer, I went with a friend and her kids to the Hope Town Square, and we got donuts from Swiss Maid,” she said. “… It was a really charming morning. It was sunny out, and we drove from our house in western Bartholomew County through cornfields out to Hope.”
Kiesler said that her time in the Hope Town Square made her think of other “hidden gems” in Bartholomew County that aren’t very well known.
“When we were talking about the design concepts for the ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign, one of the goals was to highlight the parts of Bartholomew County that maybe haven’t been highlighted before,” she said. “And so I really wanted to include the rural and residential areas in addition to, obviously, the great architecture that we have downtown.”
Tracy Souza, Heritage Fund president and CEO, said given the various challenges of 2020, the “Love Where You Live” campaign is especially important this year.
“Times like these are why we invest for the future and why we have a Community Fund,” she said. “This year showed us that we can’t know what the future holds or what needs may arise — but we can be prepared.”
Kiesler, like many local business owners, has had to adjust to the new normal brought on by the pandemic and the challenges it presents.
“I started out the busiest I’ve ever been in January and February,” Kiesler said. “There were several weddings and events and a large mural installation. And then I had things on the books for the rest of the year, but obviously when March hit, that changed everything for everybody.”
As events were canceled or postponed, Kiesler’s revenue and projects slowed in the spring. And with more people working remotely, some businesses don’t have as much of a need for signage or advertising, she said. Another challenge is that some projects, such as murals, need to be created on-site and can’t be moved to at-home production.
“I tried doing some subscription chalk art boxes that people can follow the directions and do at home,” Kiesler said. “And that helped a little bit, but … there wasn’t a whole lot that I could do, in the several months where everything was really shut down, to recover from lost revenue.”
However, the fall has brought some increased business, with events and weddings resuming to an extent. It also brought something even more special — the birth of her son, Sutton.
“It was a little tricky, because I was due with the baby at the end of August,” she said. “… One of the brides, actually, her wedding date reschedule was on my due date. So we made it happen, we got all the stuff done early. But that definitely added in a scheduling conflict.”
At the moment, Kiesler is pivoting to focus more on digital art, so she can create products without being in close proximity to her customers and stay at home with her newborn.
One way for community members to get a piece of Kiesler’s art is by donating to the Heritage Fund’s “Love Where You Live” campaign. As a thanks for their donation, they will receive a decal that features Kiesler’s design.
Kiesler said that she appreciates that the Heritage Fund puts money back into the community, tackles big projects and contributes to “worthwhile causes and initiatives.”
“There are so many things that the Heritage Fund donates to that I wouldn’t be able to fund on my own, just as an individual contributor, but they use this money to make a really large impact for causes in the community by putting all of the funds that they get together,” she said.
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Donations to the Love Where You Live campaign may be made by mail to Heritage Fund at 538 Franklin St., Columbus, IN 47201 or online at heritagefundbc.org.
The Heritage Fund is also encouraging community members to share pictures and comments that show why they "love where they live" and to include the tags #2020LWYL and @heritaagefundbc.
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To learn more about Keywords Co., visit https://www.keywordsco.com/ or email [email protected].
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