�ڰ�������

Younghae Chung is on a mission to keep penmanship alive and help nurture the next generation by passing down her love for calligraphy and the arts. She’s the founder of , an online business that offers calligraphy courses, community, and resources dedicated to teaching others how to learn the timeless craft of calligraphy. Younghae is also the author of “Classic Calligraphy for Beginners” which she published in 2022. 

Here’s a snapshot of her success: 

• Taught over 10,000 students around the world 
• Earned over $800K on �ڰ������� 
• Makes six figures annually 

How did you get started with calligraphy?

My journey began back in college when I took my first calligraphy class. I was a senior, and I just kind of took it as an easy A class. I really enjoyed it, but I didn't know how to turn that into a business. 

Fast forward, I was a mom of two kids under five, and we were living in Florida. I'm originally from New York, and during that time, it was a very difficult season for our family, so I did a Google search for ‘calligraphy classes in Florida,’ because I remembered how therapeutic it was in college.

I met an amazing teacher who taught my first pointed pen calligraphy class (copper plate is one of the scripts that I specialize in right now). Taking her class and hearing her story about how impactful calligraphy has been in her life also inspired me to continue on.

When did you get the idea to teach calligraphy yourself? 

My background before starting my calligraphy business was in a nonprofit religious organization, doing a lot of seminars and teaching, so I naturally really enjoyed teaching and preparing materials to share with others. 

I started casually sharing my progress on Instagram, and people from California, Europe, or Asia, started asking me if I could teach them or host a workshop. Then I got invited to the Modern Calligraphy Summit in 2016, and that was my first exposure to the impact of being able to teach online.

The host asked different creatives to teach little courses as part of the summit, and I think there were over 5,000 people who signed up for it. That experience really solidified what I was already feeling, which was the desire to connect and make calligraphy accessible to people who may live in the remote parts of the world. 

At that point, I was still a mom of two (now I'm a mom of three), and I really wanted to invest my time carefully. Some people do wedding calligraphy, some people do events. But for me, I felt like the most impactful and the most joy-giving option was teaching and connecting with people. Early on in my business, I knew I wanted to focus on creating the best calligraphy courses out there.

‍You’ve built a big audience on . What are some strategies that you used to grow your online presence? 

My dad was a small business owner, so I loved to hear about his experiences. One of the things he told me early on is that business is not about money, it's about connecting with people's hearts.

I'm generally a very open person, so it came natural to me to share my story and my challenges. Nowadays, it's hard to gauge who's being honest or real because social media focuses on highlighting your wins. But for me, I share about my family, my struggles, and what I'm working on—I’m just myself. 

Instagram 10 years ago is not the Instagram we have today. My end goal is not to be trendy or to blow up to a million followers. You can have a lot of followers, but not have loyalty in your followers. 

Social media is just one avenue for me to share my story and hopefully connect with people so they can then sign up for my emails, sign up for my courses, and meet with me in person.  

When it comes to your business, can you break down what you offer? How did you figure out that this business model works for you?

Through �ڰ�������, I offer three comprehensive courses. There's two beginner-friendly ones, and then there's one intermediate course. is the complete package for those learning from the ground up. Someone with zero background experience can jump onto the course. It's a nine-week guided course—it’s very extensive and not something you can learn in a month. You have to invest nine full weeks with homework, exercises, and weekly check-ins. 

‍

I would say most of my students find the best success when they're engaging in the community aspect. It is optional for students to engage, but I highly recommend it because that's where they gain friendships and they can ask me questions. They receive support from me, as well as their students that they're taking the course with. They can post their homework, and then I can look at what they're doing and be able to troubleshoot any errors that I'm seeing or common issues that they might be experiencing. All of the courses have a built-in community aspect, both my intermediate as well as my beginner courses. 

I also have an online shop, and I offer traceable workbook sheets. These are supplemental resources where, if students feel like they just need a little something more, they can purchase those additional downloadable PDFs or traceable workbooks and other calligraphy supplies through my online shop. 

How did you decide on the format of your courses and community?

I wanted to connect with people around the world, and offering online courses was a very attractive opportunity to me. I enjoy teaching and connecting, and having an affordable online option available for people who want to take calligraphy classes was important to me. 

I also took a lot of online classes at the beginning of my journey. Most of those courses did not have lifetime access or lifetime updates or an ongoing support system. For me, I wanted people who took the course five years ago to be able to jump back in now if they wanted to. Sometimes people have life events that prevent them from being able to finish a course. I’ve had students who are moms and had babies in between joining my classes and they always thank me saying ‘I love that I can rejoin again as many times as I want.’ 

I also have live sessions available within my course structure. Most of my instructions are prerecorded videos so students can always stop and go at their own pace. But I also do two live sessions per round so I can really focus on what they’re submitting for that round and be able to pinpoint areas that I can help them. 

‍

Each course has a separate community. Within the community platform, the way I organize it is in subgroups by lesson, ‘Week 1 Questions’ or ‘Week 1 Homework.’ I can easily go into each subgroup and see what the students are posting. 

I formatted the structure of my courses this way because these are things I wanted as a student early on in my journey. I felt that regret with courses I’d taken before, wishing I was able to maximize my course experience. I didn’t want my students to have the same feelings of regret. 

‍How has diversifying your revenue streams helped you scale your business?

It’s helpful to have multiple streams of income and product offerings because not everyone is going to be able to afford the price point of your courses. 

In 2022, I published my first book, “Classic Calligraphy for Beginners” and it’s around $22. That is more affordable for people who are just trying to see if calligraphy is something they’re interested in. 

Maybe someone isn’t ready to pour $400 into a course that they aren’t even sure they’ll enjoy, so you want to have different price point options for people. This is something I want to continue to expand because there are so many other downloadables or resources I still want to create. Even now, I’m trying to think of different ways to spread my net wide.

In the beginning of my funnel, I try to get people interested and create educational content on what calligraphy is even about. Even providing free content like traceables or free guide sheets, it gets people hooked and curious to learn more. 

Younghae’s calligraphy community is a prime example of how creating multiple revenue streams can help scale your business. With the right blend of products–from communities to courses to coaching–you can grow your audience, boost engagement, and increase revenue. Want to find the perfect blend for your business? Take our quiz to find the right mix.