Meet Katarina Tickel: Refugee worker/Artist/Founder

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

Hi Katarina, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
I wouldn’t be where I am right now without embracing failure. When the other co-founders of our company and I sat down to talk about our vision for the company, it was very idealistic and pure. Some of us were coming right off of a big success at our previous endeavor and feeling like we could accomplish anything. So the first year of building was very heady, and then as we passed through so many months and meetings and money, there was a slow realization that we weren’t accomplishing what we wanted to accomplish. Hanging on to the original vision was pushing us to the edge financially and emotionally. About a year ago we had a meeting and I had to admit that there was nothing left to give- we weren’t going to be able to give life to this idea. But we had built a strong structure with some original components, and when we focused on the supporting structures we saw that there was still something to offer, just not the thing we originally set out to do. We had to let go of the original idea, which was very sad. We actually cried. And then the supporting ideas moved to the front and it turned out that those were what customers actually needed.

I’ve had to learn that one over and over again- to get out of my own story and learn to embrace the idea as a separate living thing that needs to be nurtured. I don’t have to keep every idea I find. There might be a better home for it with someone else.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m really fortunate in that I’m able to intertwine several pursuits at once. What they share is me being able to bring my perspective, which is usually about removing a piece or two. There’s a Coco Chanel quote about always removing one piece of jewelry before walking out the door. I’ve always responded the most to art that takes off one piece of jewelry, so the viewer can add a piece of their own back on. It’s the binding thread in doing visual and creative consulting, refugee aid, building a company, parenting- it’s the recipient that adds the final piece. It doesn’t mean not being specific, specificity can actually be liberating, but there should always be a final piece that I leave for other people to add.

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?
Little Ethiopia for the food, and for incense and icons (I have a little icon wall at home). Cooking class (can also be a great date) at Hipcooks and Gourmandise.
Groceries in Thai Town to cook at home.
Griffith Park trails- I love getting lost with people.
Outdoor restaurants- Inn of the Seventh Ray, Manuela. Cara is my current favorite.
Rock n’ roll tour of Laurel Canyon, Hollywood, recording studios, clubs with great stories attached.
Black Dahlia tour- it’s very meandering and has a lot of incidental events attached. The Last Bookstore in DTLA.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Like most teenage girls I fell in love with JD Salinger’s ‘Franny and Zooey’ from the first time I read it. The passage that’s stuck with me over time is when one of characters is agonizing over whether to become an actress or a nun, really making herself sick over it, and her brother tells her “The only thing you can do now, the only religious thing you can do, is act. Act for God, is you want to- be God’s actress, if you want to. What could be prettier?” That quote is my little worry bead when I feel like I should be more monogamous, passion-wise. If creating something out of love is a form of prayer or connecting with something higher, all of those prayers are going to the same place.

Website: verdigriscapital.com

Facebook: Grassroots Reconciliation Group

Image Credits
Star S.