Meet Joy Karakas | Owner & Creator of Kailuna Co.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joy Karakas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joy, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My intention is to always follow my heart. I love myself enough to allow myself to express my creativity through art. I truly enjoy the process of creating art. From my close friends and family’s support, I decided to take a leap and begin selling my handmade goods at popups and local maker’s markets. What I didn’t know was how much I actually enjoyed doing the markets. I love seeing people interact with the products that I make. I enjoy connecting with my community through my handmade goods. There is a special connection when someone truly appreciates the things you make and knowing that each of them are one of a kind. As I continued to pursue more and more markets, my brand and products gained more popularity and I noticed that there were more and more returning customers. I continued to find ways to expand our brand and products to physical retail locations. I still remember the first time I ever sold my first soap in a retail store location. It was incredibly humbling and exciting! I will continue to create for as long as I am able to because this is what keeps my heart happy.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I only create art from a place of love and peace. If I’m not feeling good, I do not create. I find ways to move and release negative and stagnant energy so I can make space for creativity. I would either dance to my favorite music or write in my journal. When I’m energetically ready to create, it can go three ways – I either create something beautiful or something absolutely disappointing or something appears beautiful at first but then transforms in a different way over time. It takes a lot of time, energy, and patience to create anything new. Before I create anything, I would spend a lot of time (weeks if not months) researching and gathering as much information as I possibly can on the topic. Once I decide to commit to a project, I would spend more time sourcing and gathering all the material I need to create the product. Once everything arrives, it is finally time to create. To be honest, the first couple of tries doesn’t look promising. Failing so many times can feel so discouraging at times and sometimes the thought of giving up comes up. But I don’t listen to those thoughts. I keep going. I keep creating. I continue to show up for myself day after day. I stay up late working on new ideas. I wake up excited to create a new product. This is what I love to do and because I love what I do, I am motivated to keep going. As a mom of two young kids (one and 4 year old), I mainly work on the business during naps or when they are asleep. I never imagined that I would be running my own business with two young kids. I didn’t think it was possible until it is done.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I think the best time happens when there is no plan and we follow our heart’s desire on where to go, eat, and play. I do enjoy a good boba with good company. I also love the local farmer’s market. I also love freshly baked breads at local bakeries and coffee shops in downtown Campbell. I love watching a good movie in the theaters. I also love buying fresh cut flowers from the farmer’s market – they smell the best! I also love eating sushi, ramen, burritos, and frozen yogurts!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Gabe deserves tremendous kudos for being my biggest supporter in this business adventure. He encourages me to take rational risks in order to grow. He also helps with brainstorming new ideas for the company, designing new packaging for the products, managing the books, and most importantly being a wonderful father to our two beautiful children, Kai and Luna.

I also feel lucky to have so many incredible and ambitious women around me that encourage me to keep going and showing me that my dreams are attainable. Shoutout to Lynna (Owner of Woofboard), Michelle (Owner of Boho Moon Art), Suzanne (Owner of In Situ), Cristiana (Owner of Candle Buds) for supporting and encouraging me in many different ways.

Website: kailuna.co

Instagram: @kailunaco

Image Credits
Cait, Alvin, Gabe