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The next interview in our stagey chat series, is with the amazing Olivia from Handmade Broadway. Handmade Broadway is a UK Etsy store, run by Olivia. From handmade posters, to bookmarks, keyrings and theatre journals - the store is a theatre lover's dream.
Get yourself comfy and join Olivia and I for a chat about all things stagey!
Hi Olivia! Thanks so much for chatting to Stage to Page today. Can you tell us about your incredible store and the products you make?
My small business is Handmade Broadway and I create theatre based products such as posters, badges, keyrings and more! I specialise in calligraphy and it’s what I enjoy most in this world! Creating my products for my business is my favourite thing to do!
How did you come up with the idea for Handmade Broadway?
I have always loved writing and being creative plus I have grown up with the theatre and it just made sense to put them both together! It took off mostly because of lockdown and it continues to grow to this day which i am extremely grateful for!
Before Handmade Broadway I was still doing calligraphy but for weddings and events! I enjoyed doing this but the market was full of people doing the same thing! So I found a niche market combining my skills and passion for theatre and it helped me stand out!
Has the ongoing pandemic had any impact on your store - positive or negative?
Covid, although devastating to society, it helped a lot of small businesses grow and bloom! It was a positive to my business as theatres were closed and people were really missing them! My business came in handy if people wanted a musical gift in substitute to going to the theatre!
All of your products are hand-drawn or handwritten. I have to ask - how do you have such beautiful writing? Is that something you taught yourself?
Thank you :)! I’ve always had nice hand writing, my class mates would always say how do I do it! I taught myself all the different fonts I use on my posters. Everyday I am learning and getting better! I see new fonts all the time and take on the challenge, sometimes I fail, don’t get me wrong, but trial and error is all part of life!
What is your favourite product to make in your store, and why?
I absolutely adore making my new monochrome collection posters! I just love the use of 2 colours and seeing how I can incorporate different shades whilst doing this! It’s fun to do this for my bookmarks too!
Can you give us any clues to which products you're thinking of launching in the future?
I don’t want to give much away, but it’s definitely something completely different for my business and it’s definitely out of my comfort zone but that’s what business and life is all about!!
When I’m not doing Handmade Broadway, I love spending time with my family and friends! Out and about (I don’t really like sitting still for long haha!) but my all time hobby is crafting so if I’m not working on my business I’ll be crafting just for fun such as my bullet journal :)!!
And finally, what's your favourite show currently in the West End, and why?
At the moment my favourite show on west end would be Tina! When I saw it back in December I was absolutely blown away at the talent on stage!! I would highly recommend and I’m hoping to go again this summer! My other two faves, In the Heights and Be More Chill, aren’t in the West End at the moment unfortunately, but I did have the pleasure of seeing Be More Chill last September!
A bonus question I like to ask anyone who features on my blog. My blog is called Stage to Page. But if you could turn any book, from page to stage, what would it be and why?
Ooo that’s a great bonus question! I’d probably say Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky! This is a great story and such a moving piece of literature! I think this would have the same kind of vibe as Dear Evan Hansen! I would love to see it portrayed one day on the stage. If you haven’t read the book I’d 100% check out the movie!
Thank you so much for chatting to us Olivia. You can check out Handmade Broadway's full range of products here.
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