Founder Interview with Anna Vos, Anna Parade
Anna Vos discovered hand lettering in 2016 while navigating life as a new parent, craving something creative. With a background in music and a lifelong love of words, lettering became a natural outlet. What started as a personal hobby quickly turned into a business as friends commissioned artwork, leading to vending at craft shows, Pride festivals, and boutiques nationwide. Over time, their creative practice expanded beyond lettering to include illustration, figure drawing, painting, and soft sculpture. As the business grew, so did its reach—Anna Parade is now sold in over 20 boutiques nationwide and featured in Walmart’s first-ever Pride campaign in 2023 and 2024. Through it all, the mission has remained the same: to create work that feels like a soft place to land and a joyful celebration of queer identity.
Anna Parade is a bright, affirming brand for LGBTQIA2S+ identities. With bold designs that spark conversations, joy, and self-love, the brand’s accessories and home decor reflect a commitment to softness, celebration, and liberation. Through playful stickers, super cute prints, or thoughtful handmade pieces, Anna Parade’s work invites people to embrace their identity unapologetically. As the brand continues to grow, the vision remains clear: to uplift queer joy, expand into more retail spaces, and eventually create a physical home for Anna Parade—a space for art, community, and creative collaboration.
Check out the interview below!
What inspired Anna Parade, and how did you get started?
I first found hand-lettering in 2016, when I had just had my second baby and was craving a hobby. I felt lost in the sea of diapers and milk, and I needed something that was just mine. I really loved this new outlet, and soon, friends began commissioning me to make art for them to put in their homes. As my babies grew, so did my business, and I started vending at craft shows that holiday. I also began teaching classes in hand-lettering at the Rochester Brainery, a community classroom space.
In the beginning, I focused on modern calligraphy, but I have since branched out to illustration, figure drawing and painting, and soft sculpture (making sculpture out of fabric and foam and thread!). The business has grown from taking a few commissions to selling our extensive product line to folks at Pride festivals, craft shows, and over 20 boutiques nationwide. I was even lucky enough to be chosen as one of the few businesses featured in Walmart’s first-ever Pride campaign in 2023 and then again in 2024!
My aim for Anna Parade remains the same: to be a soft place to land and to celebrate the everyday unabashedly! For us, that means celebrating LGBTQIA2S+ identities with bright accessories and home decor that start conversations.
What is one challenge you faced as the founder of Anna Parade, and how did you navigate it?
I really struggle with the administrative side of running a business. I am a neurospicy artist with a music degree and two kids–I definitely need help! When I started, my then-spouse graciously helped with the bookkeeping and paperwork of having a business, which freed me up to keep creating. Over the years, I’ve brought on a bookkeeper, a shop assistant, a social media manager, and an operations manager. All this help means I can use more energy dreaming and making art that feels like a soft place to land.
I found many of my key resources through personal connections and entrepreneurial networks. My bookkeeper came through a support group I was part of, and I really appreciate how direct and efficient she is. Over time, I’ve hired temporary help for things like packing orders and assisting at craft shows, especially for long event days when I can’t do everything myself.
I’ve also learned some tough lessons—like hiring friends without really knowing if they could do the job. I once took a recommendation and it ended up being a costly mistake, with things not getting done properly. That experience taught me to be more careful when hiring and to make sure I’ve actually seen someone do the work before bringing them on.
I’m super grateful to work with other queer folks who believe in my art and my business just as much as I do. We want to bring the message of softness and celebration and liberation to as many people as possible, and it’s really an honor to do so.
What is your long-term vision for Anna Parade?
At its very simplest, my vision is for my art to remain a soft space to land in our community. As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward us, it feels vital to keep making art and making room for queer joy. As for our shop, I will continue to form partnerships with shops that want to carry our products. My team and I are planning to attend our first trade show in early 2025 to make more of those connections!
Long-term, I dream of Anna Parade having its own physical space where my team and I can house our shop, inventory, meeting space, and my studio, with room left to feature other artists and hold public events all in one place. I dream of employing my team full-time and offering health care! These feel like big dreams for a tiny business like mine, but we are well on our way.
If you could give one piece of advice to future LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, what would it be?
I truly believe there’s no such thing as too many queer or trans businesses. We’re not a monolith—our community is diverse in income, experiences, family structures, and needs. Just because someone else makes t-shirts or stickers doesn’t mean there’s no room for more. They didn’t invent t-shirts. Your take on something will always be different.
I’ve had moments of doubt, like when I made a self-care sticker sheet and worried because someone else had done something similar. My therapist reminded me, “They didn’t invent sticker sheets.” That stuck with me—there’s room for all of us.
I’ve also seen a scarcity mindset within the queer community, where people feel like they have to compete. But it’s not about just one person—it’s about the greater good. Not everyone will resonate with what I create, and that’s okay. A rising tide lifts all boats, and we’re stronger when we support rather than limit each other.
The world needs your story! No one else can bring to the table what you can, and each of us has a unique and important story to share. There is no such thing as too many queer or trans businesses! Don’t be afraid to put your work into the world, and don’t undervalue yourself: your voice and your work matter.
Tell us about one of your values and how you have incorporated it into your brand.
My main values for both my life and my business are softness, celebration, and liberation. All three of these are heavily featured in our brand, but I want to talk about softness for a moment. I think of softness as a posture toward life: I am soft, tender with myself, asking myself what it is I need and making sure I get enough rest, food, water, and sunshine.
Out of the softness to myself grows compassion and softness toward others. I choose to remain tender through hardship, and in my work, I encourage others to do the same. That softness isn’t weakness–it’s choosing to pull my strength from my love instead of my fear.
How do you take care of yourself, especially during this moment in history (a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being passed / an increase in violence against our community)?
I prioritize my fat queer joy! I only realized I was queer about 7 years ago (before then I was the biggest ally you could imagine!), and finding my queerness brought me home to myself in a way I didn’t realize was possible. I have learned how to listen for my needs, I have built a community of friends who love and support me, and I have learned to be at peace with and love my body. Taking care of myself means making time to be alone, making time to be with my queer community, moving my body, making music, and pouring love and time into my relationships with my kids.
What LGBTQ+ owned brands are your go-to's and why?
One of my favorites is LanniMade! Lanni and I are both fat, queer, pink-haired, non-binary artists, and we get mistaken for each other all the time around our city! Their stickers are some of my favorites.
Another queer brand I love is Transfigure Print Co.They’re a trans-owned screenprint shop in Michigan. I love the work they put out!
Lastly, I want to shout-out my friends at Wild Within! One spouse makes incredible handmade bags, grows organic herbs, and makes witchy blends. They’re lovely!
Who is your favorite LGBTQ+ celebrity, public figure, or icon, and why? (musician, actor, author, artist, etc.)
I am continually grateful for the work Alok Vaid-Menon does in the world. Alok is an award-winning non-binary poet, speaker, and stand-up comedian. I have learned so much from them about gender, expression, and living joyfully in the face of an increasingly unkind world!
Share one fun fact about yourself.
For almost a decade, I taught a community class on how to make homemade pierogi! I learned from my Polish grandmother as a kid, and I still make them every year for a big group of friends around the holidays.
