Her own life story is testament to the power of dreams. For kikki.K founder Kristina Karlsson, the challenge for 2020 is to empower others to join her in living their best life.

How did you formulate your mantra of ‘Dream Do Enjoy Share’? Our purpose at kikki.K is to inspire and empower people through beautiful Swedish design to live their best life every day by dreaming, doing, enjoying and sharing. I believe it all starts with dreaming – if you could do anything in your life, what would you do? ‘Do’ is all about taking action to make those dreams come true. ‘Enjoy’ is about enjoying every day and re-energising so you can dream big and take action on those dreams. ‘Share’ is all about sharing your gift with the world. There is always someone you can share your magic with, someone who is starting out in life, someone who needs support, and there is always someone less fortunate than you.

What do you think is the power of dreaming? My own personal experience has shown me what can be achieved when someone takes action to work towards their dreams. I had no previous business experience or money but I imagined what my dream life could look like and set about making it happen. I believe that something magical happens when we dream and something even more powerful happens when we write those dreams down on paper. By dreaming, I truly believe we can help make the world a better place.

Now you are on a mission to encourage people the world over to create and follow their own dreams – how does kikki.K fit into that mission? My big crazy dream is to inspire 101 million people to write down three dreams and go and chase them, and through kikki.K we have been able to reach so many people and make a difference in so many lives. Our products help to inspire and empower people to live their best lives every day, helping them get closer to their dream life. My book, Your Dream Life Starts Here, has now been carried across to a diary, a planner and a journal to help people get started and stay on track when chasing their dreams. We also share a percentage of the profits from my book and selected products with Dr Tererai Trent’s foundation to support her dream of providing access to quality education for children in rural Zimbabwe.

Success stories like yours can be intimidating for some people – do you think anyone can achieve what you have? Absolutely. We can all dream and do things we are passionate about, whatever that is for each person. I started kikki.K by writing down what was important to me at the time:

• A career I’d love driving to work for every Monday morning.
• Something that would keep me in touch with my family and friends in Sweden.
• Something that could be a business of my own.
• An income of $500 a week.

I then started taking action on my dreams and eventually came up with kikki.K – I started my own business in a new country, in a second language, without a network, family or friends. And on top of that, no business knowledge or money. So yes, if I can do it, anyone can but you have to have the passion and absolutely love it, as it requires lots of hard work, making a lot of mistakes and persevering when things get tough.

Did you ever think you’d end up where you are now? I had a big dream and a clear vision but I didn’t know how hard it would be, how fun it would be or any idea about the challenges I would have to face. It’s good to not know what you don’t know, though. The best thing is that I still love what I get to do every day.

Who’s your personal hero? There are so many people I admire so this list could be long. If I had to choose one person it would definitely be Dr Tererai Trent. She is a big dreamer like me, and by sharing her story we are inspiring other people to dream while also supporting her schools in rural Zimbabwe. The Tererai Trent International Foundation provides access to quality education for children regardless of their gender or socio-economic background, and I am so proud that a percentage of profits from my book and selected kikki.K products helps to support this.

Is there a particular book or author that has inspired you in your life or career?  I love reading and being inspired by others, so I think it’s impossible to choose one. The ones I love and re-read every year are The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and Principles: Life & Work by Ray Dalio. I could go on and on and on!

For your podcast you have interviewed many inspiring people – any that particularly stand out? Ah, I love them all, all for different reasons and inspirations – I don’t think I can choose just one, but I loved my interview with Dr Tererai Trent – her story is just remarkable. I also loved the episode with Robin Sharma. When I interviewed him it was 3am due to different time zones but when I drove home at 4am I was just feeling so inspired.

Who is there that you most want to interview for it? Again, there are so many people on this list. At the top, though, are Oprah, Richard Branson and Stella McCartney.

I can’t leave the house without … My gold pen and a notebook. I take notes all the time – I write down my thoughts, ideas and dreams, and always want to capture them in my notebook. I also always have a copy of my book, Your Dream Life Starts Here, in my bag as I am constantly meeting people who want to start living their dream life and I believe my book is a great starting place for them to do that.

If you could give the world one lifestyle tip, what would it be? To take time to dream about what you want from your life and to dream in all areas of your life.

What food will you never get tired of? I lived on soup in the start-up days of kikki.K and still love it.

What advice would you give to your younger self? To dream big, and once you have done that, dream even bigger and take action on those dreams every single day.

If you weren’t doing what you are now, what would you want to be? I actually can’t see myself doing anything else – it would always be something around inspiring people to live their best life.

How do you relax? I spend time walking in nature, reading books and spending a lot of time on my own. I love my full life but need some solitude and self-care in between it all.

What’s your personal goal for 2020? And your business goal? My personal dream for 2020 is to be the fittest I have ever been, and my business dream is to continue working on my big crazy dream to inspire 101 million people to write down three dreams and then go and chase them.

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