Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Leong.
Hi Katie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
In general, my family is very versatile and good with detailed work/art so I grew up with that influence and have always had a love for arts and crafts since I was young. When I was in college finishing my master’s in engineering, I wanted to find an outlet for that creative itch and found myself trying my hand at polymer clay sculpting. Somewhere along the way while excitedly shopping for new supplies, I started experimenting with my mixed media pieces of glass, resin, pigments, etc. This hobby came with me to San Diego, where I moved for work in 2017. I started to share my pieces with my friends and coworkers and discovered that I had both a newfound joy and my own little niche. After a point, I figured that this had the potential to be a business, and I went to file for a DBA in 2019.
The first year was a lot of prep work – working on designs for my logo, determining a name, getting packaging, etc. Even if I didn’t expect to spend a ton on advertising or blow up immediately, I knew the aesthetic and quality I wanted to convey for my business, but I also wanted to do right by all of my friends and family that helped support me. I may be the owner and designer behind it all, but my logo design was done by one of my childhood friends, the current Kokomi lettering was done by another childhood friend, website layout by a college friend, other friends that come out to support and help me run recent craft fairs… the list goes on and on.
For being an almost 4-year-old business, it is still relatively in its infancy. I had to take several hiatuses for my mental health, but the worst was end of 2021 through the start of 2022. Due to several issues with getting the website up and a suffering relationship, I had stopped posting and let my Etsy listings expire. With stress at an all-time high my health and delicate work-life balance started to deteriorate. I went on a trip in the fall with some friends to decompress and while there, I lost my ex-boyfriend to suicide. For several months I was completely distraught and effectively shut myself off from the world. Just as I was starting to try and pick up the pieces though, my dad suddenly passed away at the start of 2022. That period of my life was by far the lowest I’ve ever been and the hardest experiences to try and recover from.
Flash forward into the spring/summer of 2022 and I felt that I was picking up the pieces and redefining what I wanted to do with my life. For a time, I wanted to be a life coach. I had just gone through a coaching program back in 2021 but knew that it wasn’t the right time to go into that line of work and trying to add another business on top of my current one was going to be too much to handle. With all that had happened, I knew that I needed to make some huge changes for myself and do some soul-searching. I learned to start putting myself first, respecting my own boundaries, and stop living with a push/pull energy to name a few. Around this time, a new love sprouted from an old friendship. It felt like I was reborn a new me, with a new lease on life. After all, they say that when you’re at rock bottom, things can only go up. Thankfully, I can say that it really did. I was able to rebuild my confidence, regain a spark for the things that I wanted to do but never felt I had time for. With the support of my loving partner, friends, and family, I started to really get my life back and relearn what joy was. Finally, by the end of 2022, I was able to get the website up and running. Come 2023, I started to do a couple in-person craft/vendor markets and just set up a display shelf of my products at Seahive Mini Mission Valley. There’s still a long way to go and work to be done to grow the business and gain a greater following but getting to this point is such a huge and meaningful milestone that I can’t quite put into words. I put my heart and soul into my pieces, just as the name “Kokomi” (Love & Heart) suggests and the wonderful support and feedback is what makes it all worth it.
That’s quite a story, I’m so sorry to hear that. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Of course, all the normal struggles that come with trying to run a business, balance my other hobbies/interests, health, and a full-time job make for a serious juggling act! I wouldn’t say that anything is ever a fairly smooth road haha, but it’s all part of the journey. Not just with a business, but in life as whole. It’s really all about learning how to navigate through it all in the best way that we can while having compassion for others and being genuine.
That’s great advice that I think we can all agree on. Is there anything else we should know about what you do?
As I mentioned before, I am an Engineer by degree and did that for the first several years of my career. I then moved into IT where I’m a Business Process Specialist. Truthfully, all my experience has helped me to better my business and even influence the way I make my pieces.
For Kokomi (by Kal) I specialize in making handcrafted resin and glass jewelry with all sorts of mixed media. Each little globe is entirely unique, and there’s a bit of engineering & physics involved with the more complex pieces to achieve the specific visual effect. That being said, there’s a bit of chance involved too. At the final stage, even when I planned it to be a certain way, the pigments and resin can be a bit unpredictable and slightly change the final product. I think this adds a bit to the charm of each piece as you can tell that it was handmade and not something off an assembly line.
My proudest pieces would have to be my Succulent Crystalerriums. The first (and currently only) batch consist of a mixed media resin base with hand sculpted/painted succulents and a mix of crystal embellishments in a mini 25mm terrarium. It’s also especially meaningful to me since my dad handmade me a small batch of wooden display stands specifically for them.
It’s the level of care that I put into my pieces and the thoughtfulness in the packaging and handwritten cards that I think really represents me and Kokomi as a whole. There isn’t anyone else that makes the pieces that I do. Even if one day my business gains a large following, I intend to remain a small batch, handmade business that provides the best customer service and quality that I can.
The last few years have been rather difficult with the pandemic. Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I would say that I learned to really appreciate all the time that I have with my loved ones. At the height of the crisis, it was very hard to be living away from and not be able to visit friends, but especially family. Having the business really helped me in a lot of ways because it was a time for me to set aside and be in my own space, totally focused on the piece(s) I was making.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kokomibykal.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kokomi.by.kal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kokomi.by.kal
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kokomi-by-kal-san-diego-3
Image Credits
Kevin Koyanagi
Julia Serrano
