Fashion stationery icon online with new venture.

 

After being the co-founder and the face of international boutique stationery chain kikki K, Kristina Karlsson (pictured) has resurfaced with renewed hopes for a ‘Dream Life’.

 

When the business she launched with partner Paul Lacy in 2001 started to unravel in 2019; and a US buyer got nervous to commit to a buy-out a year later, Karlsson found herself out of a job so she created The Dream Life - a podcast-driven business that creates print-on-demand journals and hosts workshops.

 

“People always ask how did I not get burnt-out running my business,” Karlsson told Harper’s BAZAAR Australia/New Zealand.

 

“I truly believe that journaling helped. I never kept things in my head. I always wrote about it, and I am sure that played a part in how I proceeded with things I couldn’t control when the business collapsed,” she said. 

 

In 2021, the twice-collapsed chain was thrown a lifeline by Brandbank Group, which picked up the group from the administrators and later reduced the global store count from 120 to around 30 outlets.