For San Francisco based Designer Katelyn Wood, what started out as a fun way to express her creativity evolved into a fulfilling career. Katelyn is the creative force behind the lifestyle brand of Love. Luck. Kisses & Cake. Starting as a Blogger in 2009, Katelyn’s love for design quickly turned into a full time passion project & in early 2014 she expanded her brand into a popular line of American made stationery and giftable goods. Her delightful designs and contagious happiness have made her brand standout to celebrity clientele and top sites like Martha Stewart and The Today Show.
The perfect combination of drive and passion, Katelyn brings grace and gratitude to a brand that celebrates the everyday and encourages us to brighten the days of those around us. Katelyn is an exceptional role model for young women looking to make the most of every opportunity, even if your unsure of where it will lead you. Today, she shares how she broke into the competitive stationery industry, her transition from starting as a blogger to being recognized by her own personal role model....
When did you decide that you wanted to start your own business?
My business originally started as a hobby & grew into a fulltime passion project! It all started as a Blog back in 2009 to meet my desire to be more creative. As the popularity of the Blog grew my desire to do more grew with it & I realized that my creative outlet had the potential to be more than a weekend passion. So in early 2014, I decided to expand the brand to reach my fans in a more personal way. With a full heart & a bit of gumption my first line of American made stationery & giftable goods was launched.
What were your main goals when opening your businesses?
One of my main goals with Love. Luck. Kisses & Cake is to continue to build genuine connections & lasting relationships with my fans & customers. I really want to share my enthusiasm for “Happy Mail” & make it a contagious cycle of pen pal relationships, special delivery packages & the giving/receiving of beautifully wrapped gifts. I truly believe that nothing can beat the feeling of receiving a hand written note or thoughtfully packaged gift & I hope my products inspire everyone to brighten someone’s day!
Tell us about your vision as a designer. Where do you draw inspiration from for your beautiful designs?
My inspiration comes from all the wonderful people in my life. Their happiness, trials, success & celebrations is what I design for. It is so important to celebrate the people in your life & I feel so honored to make products that are apart of those heartfelt moments.
What is the best part of your job, what is the most challenging?
One of the best parts of my job is seeing my design ideas become products that make an impact in other peoples lives. I love hearing how happy a card made someone or how excited a customer was to give a beautifully wrapped gift to someone they care about.
The most challenging part is trying to balance all the roles that go with running a business …but nothing can beat the feeling of pride & accomplishment when you see the results of your own hard work pay off!
Best moment in your career thus far?
It’s hard to pick one moment because everyday I get to do something creative is a good day! …But I will say having one of my products featured in Martha Stewart Living Magazine was high on my list of pinch-me moments!
Where do you see the future of your business going?
At the end of the day I want to create & share things that make people happy & inspire moments of connection & meaning. My hope is to continue to grow the brand in carefully considered ways & I am excited to see how it changes & evolves over time.
What advice can you give other girls wanting to begin their own business? What words of wisdom do you have for other young women interested in pursuing opening up their own shop?
My advice is to “Go for it!” Create what makes you happy because the love for what you do shines in what you share. You only live once & you will never regret pursuing something that fills your heart with happiness.
Describe for us a typical day in the office is for you.
Having my own business means that everyday is different with new challenges & opportunities to grow & learn. As a business of one that means learning to wear a lot of different hats, finding new ways to balance life with work & organizing what needs to be done. Most days include some sort of crazy mix of social media, customer/fan outreach, keeping up with trends, networking & connecting with press, building relationships with my stockists & pursuing new ones, designing new products, packaging up shipments & samples, photographing merchandise or promotional blog content, tracking my finances & budgeting new projects, keeping up with the blogger community, curating & creating original content for the blog & brain storming new ideas of how to grow the brand….WHEW! & coffee – lots & lots of coffee!
How do you bloom in authentic beauty?
I feel most beautiful when I am happy, with a BIG smile & a bright attitude. I believe that happiness is contagious & is something that should be spread around!
Thank you Katelyn for giving us a tour of your lovely studio and sharing with us what it takes to turn a passion into a full-time career! We are excited to announce that we've teamed up to offer our sweet EnRose readers a chance to win a custom "A Lovely Card" from Love, Luck, Kisses, and Cake! To enter: Simply follow EnRose and LLKCake on instagram and tag a friend in the comments who loves happy mail! 1 winner will be announced Monday Novembef 9th at 2pm Pacific.
See more of the stunning Love, Luck, Kisses, and Cake Studio and their adorable products by clicking through the slideshow.....
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