Krista Leben is bursting with energy.
Arriving in Ottawa less than a year ago, Krista Leben is someone with serious momentum who really gets things done! While working hard to build her creative business urbanite jewelry, she has also begun producing independent craft shows, including this weekend’s Capital Craft Market, and initiated The Craft Co-op, a new organization to help foster a stronger craft community in Ottawa. Within a very short time, Krista Leben has already made quite a contribution to her adopted new city, and this girlaboutOtown thinks she is definitely one woman to watch.
Since meeting her, I have been consistently amazed at how productive and positive Krista Leben is. How does she manage to do it all? How did she decide to follow her passion? What insight might she offer those around OTown who may be considering craftier, creative endeavours? Thankfully, Krista agreed to answer a few of my probing personal questions! Here is what I learned:
What brought you to Ottawa? How long have you lived here? Someone once told me that people only end up in Ottawa for love or money. Luckily, I ended up here because of love! After finishing grad school last fall, I moved to Ottawa to be with my beau, and have lived here for about 8 or 9 months now.
What are 5 things you love about Ottawa? 1) All the wonderful urban enclaves in a notoriously government-centric town. 2) The amazing number of clever female entrepreneurs in the city. 3) The stunning architecture all around us. (How many people can drive by their country’s parliament regularly?) 4) The lovely natural surrounding of the city. 5) Being able to hop, skip and jump to some really great cities nearby!
Would you call yourself a solopreneur? What is your background and how does it relate to where you are now? I would definitely call myself a solopreneur, although I certainly didn’t set out to follow this path whatsoever. In fact, like many fantastic things in life, creative entrepreneurship sort of found me. My background is actually in political science. I have a Bachelor’s and an M.A. in politics and international politics, respectively.
How did you get into jewellery design? Very serendipitously. In 2007, I was living and studying Arabic in Morocco. I had a series of dreams about jewellery designs, literally out of the blue. I would wake up from these dreams, vividly remember pieces, and then scribble them down furiously. When I moved back from Morocco, I bought my first beads and started to experiment with creating pieces. Then an established jewellery designer looked at the first piece I ever made, and gave it her stamp of approval, I knew I was onto something. One year later, I had a company name–urbanite jewelry– and about 6 months after that I released the first piece of my collection which fittingly, was Tangier, Morocco.
Your designs are named after cities. Have you traveled a lot? Where is your favourite destination? I have been incredibly fortunate to live in a lot of different countries and travel to many more. My favourite destinations are a close tie between Stockholm and Paris. Paris is poetic, and I sincerely believe that’s the only word that can truly describe it. Stockholm is so beautiful (even in winter), the people are so friendly, Swedish design is fantastic, and they have my favourite chocolate in the world: Marabou.
Tell us about your projects/productions Wed by Hand, The Craft Co-op and the upcoming Capital Craft Market. You are clearly working hard to bring more attention to crafting in Ottawa. Why? When my partner Robin and I moved to Ottawa last fall, we searched far and wide for craft shows for urbanite jewelry to participate in. More often than not we were finding out about craft shows after the fact, which left us incredibly frustrated.
We realized that while Ottawa has a craft community, but it really isn’t as cohesive as it could be. We decided that in order to make the craft community stronger and to encourage the public to buy local and handmade, Ottawa really needed three things:
- A central resource for people to find out about vendor opportunities, craft shows, and crafty happenings,
- More opportunities for vendors in the form of hip, modern, well-managed and well-promoted craft shows, and;
- A central organization to bring crafters–both professional and hobbyists alike–together to foster a stronger craft community in Ottawa.
So, The Craft Co-Op was born and we are already filling some of these gaps.
In February we produced Wed By Hand, which was half of Ottawa’s first “indie” wedding show, with a focus on sustainable, local and handmade vendors. The event is one of only 4 in all of North America and was incredibly successful. Then, we decided to take advantage of the momentum from Wed By Hand and launch The Capital Craft Market, which is a unique 3-day market coming up this Canada Day Weekend.
How do you manage your time and stay organized? To-do lists are key, and documentation as I go is essential. Lists (both long & short-term) keep me on track and remind me of what I have coming up, while the documentation comes in handy when we’re planning our next show, when I’m pricing a piece or for when I need to remember what the hell I did in a day!
Where do you find inspiration and motivation? In the past year or so, I have come to realize that inspiration is literally everywhere if you’re willing to open your eyes and be open to the world. I find inspiration in architecture, in patterns, and am constantly impressed with and inspired by other designers. I also find the diversity in this world to be incredibly awe-inspiring; I try to honour that and bring attention to the beauty of diversity through my jewellery designs.
What advice do you have for other aspiring solopreneurs, crafters, jewellery designers and/or show producers? First, don’t be afraid to pursue a life full of passion! Although I have switched career trajectories in the past year or so, I have always been passionate about what I’m doing. I know pursuing a creative career can often seem scary, unpredictable and out-of-the norm, but being passionate is essential. So much of our lives are spent at work. I believe that loving work could even revolutionize our economy and our society! Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all did what we loved?
Also, as a solopreneur the list of things you have to tackle, manage and accomplish is daunting, and sometimes it may seem tough to get yourself and your products out there. However, I believe in creating opportunities for yourself. Put on an event; host a gathering of like-minded people; become a resource for your niche; provide opportunities for your colleagues/competition. Don’t be afraid to stand out, be different and to make a difference. You will make valuable connections, help foster a stronger entrepreneurial community and probably make sales too. Bonus!
What are your favourite Ottawa shops?
- La Bottega in the Byward Market (or any of the Nicastro family’s amazing fine food shops).
- Workshop Boutique on Dalhousie for the latest and greatest handmade goods from talented ladies.
- Wabi Sabi. I’m not a knitter but their colorful & comfortable space with a communal & friendly atmosphere is so divine.
- Magpie Jewellery. It’s a great place to go to be inspired by the jewellery designers I aspire to be like someday!
Don’t forget to check out the Capital Craft Market for yourself, coming up this Canada Day weekend, July 1-3!
