Four years ago, Kristina Karlsson was a high-flying entrepreneur, thanks to the success of her global stationery brand kikki.K.
But then a confederacy of calamities arrived and in 2020, the dream she’d built into a multi-million-dollar brand used by more than 20 million people, was over after 20 years.
“Unfortunately, over COVID, I lost kikki.K in administration, so that was a very, very sad period of my life. We had a perfect storm. We had Brexit in the UK, we had stores in the UK, we had all the issues in Hong Kong, and we had bushfires here in Australia,” she said.
“But as entrepreneurs, we go down and then we come up again. And that’s what I’ve done. And I have now created an even more exciting business than my first one. It’s called Dream Life. And my dream is to inspire 101 million people to write down three dreams and go and chase them.”
Karlsson, went from running a business in five countries, to losing it all and starting again from scratch, ensuring she’s stronger and even more resilient with her new brand ‘Dream Life’.
And now she’s back telling her story as the headline speaker at the free Mums & Co Be MPowered Conference this Thursday, October 26.
She hoping to inspire women and encourage entrepreneurs to dream big, make wise choices and most importantly, always get back up when life knocks you down.
“The lessons that I’m going to share are lessons that work regardless of where you’re at on the business journey,” Karlsson said.
“I’ve experienced stunning success and difficult failure and I think it’s great to share honest and vulnerable learnings from both, to help other people.”
It’s now six years since Mums & Co Founder Carrie Kwan, and her team hosted the inaugural Be MPowered Conference, with the challenges women face in mind.
“There aren’t enough events that actually work for women with caring responsibilities, so we decided to create our own,” Kwan said.
“We needed something that could be done in school hours, allows Mums to network effectively and enjoyably #Chatworking with one another and could be done from the comfort of their own home so no babysitters are needed.”
Be MPowered 2023, for business-owning women, is online and free this Thursday, 9:30am – 1:30pm
Other speakers will include Kate Toon, Jade Warne and Michelle Klein covering topics such as ‘How to Sell with Video’, ‘How to Ruthlessly Prioritise in a World of Endless Distraction’ and ‘How to Make Six Figures in School Hours’.
Kwan said she wants every woman in business to access support no matter where they live, their financial status or stage of motherhood or business.
“It’s a really tough time financially for lots of families and businesses at the moment. The Be MPowered conference is free and online so literally anyone with an internet connection can tune in,” she said.
“We are so thrilled to have Kristina Karlsson sharing her incredible story with us. The way she has shown resilience and founded Dream Life while juggling her role as a mother is inspiring, and I know many Mums will take away tips they can implement in their lives.”
Details at mumsandco.com.au.
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