Colleen Stieb of Kreative Koala Design on Custom Gifts, Handmade Decor, Creativity, and Crafting Joy
A conversation with Colleen Stieb, owner of Kreative Koala Design, about building a custom gift and decor business around creativity, customer relationships, personalized products, vendor shows, family, and bringing joy to people through handmade gifts.
Crafting Joy Through Personalized Gifts and Creative Entrepreneurship
In this episode of the UpState Press Podcast, we sit down with Colleen Stieb, owner of Kreative Koala Design, a custom gift and decor business specializing in laser engraving, wood signs, acrylic pieces, UV printing, 3D printing, personalized ornaments, interchangeable home decor, custom tumblers, corporate gifts, and more.
Colleen shares the powerful story behind Kreative Koala Design, including how a serious health crisis in 2016 changed her perspective on life, purpose, creativity, and serving others. What started as a search for something meaningful grew into a thriving creative business built around personalized products, customer relationships, vendor shows, family, and bringing joy to people through handmade gifts.
In this conversation, Colleen talks about starting Kreative Koala Design, investing in her first laser, growing into UV printing and 3D printing, building a recognizable brand around the koala, creating popular interchangeable decor pieces, handling custom orders, traveling for vendor shows, and what it really takes to run a handmade product business behind the scenes.
Whether you love personalized gifts, support small businesses, attend craft shows, or want to hear the story of a creative entrepreneur turning hardship into purpose, this episode is full of inspiration, practical business insight, and heart.
Full Transcript
The transcript below is separated by chapter. Click any chapter title to open that exact timestamp in the YouTube episode.
Introducing Colleen and Kreative Koala
So, my name is Colleen Stieb. Um, I have I own Kreative Koala Design. We do laser engraving on wood, acrylic, um, glass, 3D printing, UV printing, all the printings. All the things. Um, we are in year six. Wow. That I've started with. So, um, I'm pretty excited about that because it's been it's been growing by leaps and bounds. Tell us a little bit about Colleen. Tell us about you, the person behind Kreative Koala. Okay. Um, well, I I was in kidney failure in 2016 and um, my platelets were down to 22. Chapter 2:
Health Crisis and Finding Purpose
And by the magic of modern medicine and a wonderful doctor and every other power we could have, I was saved to be here. And I always wondered why that I was saved. And it was because I wanted to do something to help people. I wanted to do something to make people happy. I wanted to serve people. And so I started with other home businesses and then they didn't work out. And then one day, you know, Kreative Koala came along and the laser came along and it's all history after that. So tell me a little bit about that. You were saying, you know, that your your health declined. How did that start? What did you notice? like what changed about your life? Um, I just I couldn't keep anything down. I I just was not feeling well at all and I knew something was wrong. And when I went to the hospital, they basically said, "Well, you know, something's really off in your blood work. So, we're going to send it to a hematologist." and she is now my hematologist that she looked at it and said seen the condition in another patient that she had and she said if you don't get her transferred to Greenville Memorial she will die and I was transferred and given magic medication that came in a nice little gold bag which as to my husband responded wow when I buy Advil they don't even call but you know hey we're going to bring this to you the drug rep brought it so um yeah and it took it was an infus infusion a week for 5 weeks and then every two weeks and now it's every 8 weeks and it's the rest of my life and I have to have it to keep me alive. So, so it changed a lot of your perspective on on a lot of things on a lot of things. Yeah, absolutely. So, when you're down in that hole, which is I'm sure what it feels like in the moment. Um, then you start going through these treatments, you're realizing everything's pretty much going to change daily from here on out. That kind of make you examine what was going on. Mhm. And the first year of the treatments, I went to some dark places and my life was run around infusions and and I had to be home for two weeks and I had to be home for two weeks and now it's just a matter of it's just life and I usually don't even know when they're coming until the nurse calls and goes, "Hey, I'm getting ready to send your medication." And I'm like, "Oh, okay." You know, it's that time again. So now it doesn't it doesn't run my life by any stretch. Yeah, I could see that probably feeling a little out of control of certain things made you grab on to what you could control. Is that kind of accurate? Accurate. Yes, definitely. Chapter 3:
Building Customer Relationships Through Stories
So when you when you started thinking about your purpose and your why when you're in these moments, what led you to express yourself creatively? [sighs] I have never been able to do that. And I the more I started looking into it and looking at what I could do instead of looking at what I couldn't do, that helped a lot. That made a huge difference. Mhm. To start looking at the things I could do and the ability I had to do it. How do you change the framework in your mind for that? Life or death. There you go. It'll do it. It'll change it. So you grabbed onto the creative thing. You started bringing brightness and joy in ways. Exactly. And you said that you wanted to help people and and serve people. And I can see how what you do does. It creates a little bit of happiness in their life a little bright every day. So Exactly. And I like I love building relationships with customers and and just you know they start as customers but they end up as friends. So a creative way to make friends. Yeah. [laughter] Yeah, it is. Is that what you find that like a lot of times you do make those connections that way? Absolutely. I do. I do find that I make more friends that way just because I hear their stories. And if you can relate to their stories, you know, it just makes it makes it better. And I'm I don't want you to just come in and buy a product from me. I Chapter 4:
Creating Meaningful Products and Enjoying the Process
want you to tell me your story. I want to know what brought you here and why you came. into my booth. When you started acting on your creative goal, when you when Kreative Koala became an actionable thing, uh what were those first stages like? Um busy, nervous, and I I mean, constantly, you know, getting everything and trying to get everything in order because when we ordered the first laser, it was a three-month delivery time. So there was, you know, build carts and, you know, get wood and paint and all the things. So I think it was more of like a rush trying to just get everything done that we possibly could and to prepare for it because we weren't sure what was going to happen. Mhm. So when you when you conceived of making everything that you planned to make, did you how did you see the the workshop? How did you see the space layout? Did you build on that or did it just kind of amalgamation become what it was? It just kind of happened. It was, you know, put a cart here and try this and we can put this here and move that and, you know, just shifting stuff around and just trying to get it to where we thought it was workable and it had a nice flow to it. What's the first thing you buy? Uh, first thing you buy? Wood. Lots of wood. Home Depot is my new friend. Um I spent a lot of money there and uh you know we like I said we you know we've expanded so much that you know to just start with wood and now gotten into UV and 3D printing you know and so many other things. What lead you from from one thing to another? Like when how did how do you make that decision? We when we first started, we looked at laser versus 3D printer and that was that was the choice. We were going to do one or the other. And 3D printers weren't nearly where they are today. So, still super slow and thinking, how are we going to make money from this? How are we going to make a living? How are we going to start a business with this when you have one 3D printer that's taking 22 hours to print something? Mhm. So, he had been following Glow Forge on um Kickstarter. Mhm. And he's like, I really think this should be the direction. He's like, we could make stuff for gifts, whatever, and then, you know, if we want to do it as a business, we can. And then it did. Well, that's kind of how a lot of uh a lot of businesses start, right? It's like a thing that you do because you want to. Exactly. And then you find ways to make that into a business. Yeah. And I do. I I strive because I enjoy what I do now. And you know, if you enjoy what you do, it'll never be work. So, you just get to play all day. Yes. Puzzles and paint. That's awesome. [laughter] Do cool stuff. Now, we've talked about kind of some of the mechanical parts of it like, but as far as Kreative Koala, Chapter 5:
Brand Origin: The Kreative Koala Story
when that sparked in your head, what what was the brand vision? the whole like I know you and we've talked about this before and so you're you're very your koala is like a family member for you that's so how did that start? Um, when I was pregnant with my daughter, we did not know what we were having and we didn't want to know. And if it was a boy, we had already picked out a name and obviously she came out as a girl. And we went to Build-A-Bear and purchased a Build-A-Bear koala. And that's kind of what triggered the koala. And then it was more of, have you ever met a person who doesn't like koalas? True. You know, I mean, they're cute, they're fluffy, and who doesn't love them? You know, I've never heard anyone say, "Oo, I don't like those." Mhm. They Everybody likes koalas. And we wanted something that at shows children would be attracted to because children will come in and, "Mom, come see this. Mom, come look at this. Look at this koala. you know, and that's kind of how it started. And then we wanted to throw the creative in there, but wanted it to be different. So, we did it with Kay, and then that became Kreative Koala. And then Callie is our little koala. There you go. So, it kind of it kind of fell together, streamed together in a way. It did. Do you find that like being creative with your own business kind of helps you be more creative with the products that you make and the way that you look at it? Absolutely. My confidence has gotten so much better in the things I make and the things I I can look at now and know that Chapter 6:
Creative Business Driving Product Innovation
I can make and that I would have looked before and went, there's no way I'm doing that. But now I'm super confident in [sighs] just everything I can do. o, describe your target customer. Who are the people that interact with you at shows that hit your website? Who are the people that enjoy your things? Um, I say mostly people who are looking for gifts. Um, especially since I do Christmas shows, they're not necessarily looking for items for themsel and which could happen, but it's more directed at I'm looking for a gift for my mom or a gift for my friend or, you know, something like that. And I think that's where it when they're looking for that gift, I can try to pinpoint, you know, what are you trying what are you trying to get across? What are you what are you trying to show them? And then I can kind of hone in on the product of what I would recommend. Yeah. So I I totally and I told you this the first time we met, my mother is probably your target person. And like as growing up, it was like on Thanksgiving Day, the boxes were coming down. Yep. And this table, no longer does this table serve a purpose for holding anything or making the world easier. This now has Christmas trees and this now has this. There was like a certain section for reindeer, you know. Um, but and every holiday was like that. And then sometimes I feel like she almost made up things to decorate for, but everything had a counterpart. Everything played with something else. There was variety. There were different areas, different sections. I'm sure that's definitely the type of thing you're looking at, right? Oh, yes. I mean, there's so many things that work together and you can incorporate so many different things with it. you know, if you pick one thing and say, you know, we've got this interchangeable, then we've got an interchangeable wagon, but nope, we've got an interchangeable sign, too, and you know, you can get both. Um, if it's a personalized gift, you know, if it's something like a family tree, um, we do something a little bit different that when somebody purchases a family tree from us, if you need additional if you have additional family members later on that you need to add, all you have to do, all you have to do is call us and we will send you a free heart, paid shipping and everything. And it's just our way of saying congratulations just because if your family's still growing, it's a cool way to do it. It's a human way to do it. It is. Um, if somebody came up to you at a show or something and said, "My mom loves strawberries. Everywhere I look, it's strawberries." How do you start showing them the things to look at? Um, probably start with like the interchangeables and because you could you can customize that. There's probably Chapter 7:
Personalized Gifts and Customer Inspiration
a strawberry theme. Um, and then maybe towards the interchangeable sign and even something as simple as like an engraved tumbler with strawberries on it and their name. I think that's the cool thing, too. You're kind of like a one-stop shop for all this stuff. So, even things you don't have at shows, you can tell people I can tell I Yeah, I don't I don't I can't bring everything. It's just not possible. Um, you've seen my room and you've seen my inventory room which I've now added an entire storage unit to. So, yeah, it's there's so much I can't bring everything. I feel like we need like some type of B-roll of that, right? Like, so as we say, oh, you've seen my room. We just show Yeah. First of all, it's beautifully filed. One one of the interchangeable rooms is so beautifully filed, but like you're right. There's such you're kind of an eclectic person and I think that you push products out in an eclectic way, right? So people can do pretty much anything. We're going to look at some of the stuff here in a second, but that's kind of why I wanted to talk about it. The interchangeables are interesting. That's that's like kind of your bread and butter right now. Right. Absolutely. It's definitely the latest and greatest. What makes those so cool for people that don't know? Um I am a I want to be an extra person. Chapter 8:
Introducing Interchangeable Product Line
I want to decorate all the things and have all the trees and all the decorations everywhere, but I can't because I just don't have the time. And that to me is the simplest way I can do it. That I can be extra. I can have decorations out and it doesn't have to be 50 things all over the house. It can be just that on the counter. So you can set it up one time and decorate it multiple times without having to make a big let's haul out the boxes. Exactly. No boxes, just Where were you when I was 12? Is that's the question because [laughter] like that was always the part. So speaking of some of your products, I think now's a good time. Do you want to show us a little bit of what you brought? Absolutely. Um the first is our interchangeable wagon. This is very popular. Um, I like it because I want to be extra and I don't have time to be extra. So, I can be extra this way by Chapter 9:
Showcase of Interchangeable Wagons and Signs
just taking parts off of here and putting a new decoration in. Oh, so it's not like this isn't a thing that's like a permanent fixture. Move it around, take it up, put it down. Very very temporary thing. Everything can be removed from it. They normally come with three pieces in the wagon and then they normally come with a sign. Oh, and you get to have all like the the different cute little designs in the wagon. Different designs and everything and you can, you know, just change it how you want it. Oo. And if you have two similar themes, you could do a mix and match. You can do a mix and match. And that is the best part. Um, we are we are hoping to get custom themes that would be just for us. Mhm. Yeah, that's that's definitely in the in the mix. And then has a little sign just hangs right there. Oh, that's awesome. And like you said, the kids love doing it. The kids love changing it. And I can see Yeah, I could see mine when they were little and like they don't like getting in the way, but they do like being a part of it. They want to be a part of it. They can just change all the things out. Mhm. Like you said, let me change the sign. Let me change it. Yeah. Let me change the wagon. Yep. And so we kind of went from that to adding in the interchangeable sign. And so the best part about that is you don't have to have a box of wreaths or signs on your doors. You can just have one and then you can actually change the insert on it. We've got probably about 30 or 40 of these right now. Oh, cool. You mind if I see it? Working on some custom ones as well. Oh, that's awesome. So, I get it. And this is like you hang it on your front door, you hang it in the kitchen on the pantry, you hang it somewhere in the living room, and just [clears throat] boom. Y Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Okay. So, then we just and it slides right in. That is sick. And again, you you have constantly growing library of inserts to put in. Absolutely. It's always This is so cool. And so, this has kind of been one of your big sellers lately. It's one of the things that you can evolve with um what you're doing. How do you uh how do you look at some of the other products that you that you put out? I want to when I look at it, I want to have that wow factor. Mhm. I want to look and go, "Wow, that that's that's amazing. That's cool." And I don't because anybody can do it, you know, but I want to I want to set myself apart and I want to make sure that people know that creativity is behind it because we may see it and we'll, you know, we'll just change it and say, "Well, let's do this or let's do that." For instance, that spring backer, I don't I used to hand paint that. Mhm. I can't do it because I can't massproduce it. So now it's UV printed, but it looks uniform every single time. It's the same. So you're like blending the manufacturing style uniformity, but everything is unique and creative and and small batch run and like you're doing right. You're doing some pretty cool stuff here. So the I think the better part that I love about it is I get to be eclectic and also a little lazy. Yes. Right. So, I get to order a couple of You order the base, everything's cool. You order the wagon, everything's cool. And then you can just get inserts to change throughout the year. It's economical. Yes. And you don't have to have 20 boxes of stuff. What's some of the other stuff that you brought over here? Um, I brought some personalized ornaments. These are some of our popular ones. This is our Grinch Shaker ornament. And so all the little people, all the little Grinches in there are family. Chapter 10:
Personalized Ornament and Gift Offerings
Um, I've even gone so far that I I'll put angel wings on people who have passed. I'll put paw prints on pets or anything like that. This is This one was super popular last year, so I'm I'm really excited to see what it does this year. Yeah. And then this is just a classic one that it's, you know, still a family ornament. I think the the best part about this is people look at it and they go, "Well, I don't have four names. I can go up to 15." Oh, now it it gets bigger. Obviously, it's going to it's going to increase the size. We can also customize it here. I mean, it's got our grandchildren here. We can customize that to put what you want. So, when people put family names, they put what Christmas year it is. And then one of the new UV printed ones is we print this on quarter inch acrylic and it's actually UV printed on the reverse side of it so that when you see it through the acrylic it looks like it's floating and it's as simple as you send us a picture and the dates and we do everything else. Well, that's awesome. Um, we will send you a proof to approve and make sure you approve it because if not, I will not do it. Uh this is one of our really popular ones. This was actually one of our first products. Um this is called the hanging heart design and still have a little family. You can customize the title. The only issue with this is you can't add any. It's it's done once it's once it's glued. That's it. Um it's three layers of wood. Uh everything is, you know, like I said, cut by the layer. I I mask everything to where I can protect it from burns or anything like that. Chapter 11:
Custom Puzzle and Sports-Themed Products
And then let's see. This is a new one coming out this year. Oh wow. He's a sloth. Oh, that's my favorite. He's got a snack tray and he is to hold a pint of ice cream. Oh, no more cold hands and no more ice cream running down the shirt. He also has little slots in here to put your spoons. He'll hold your spoons for you. When I package them, they come with a lot of filling and extra sprinkles to start with and things, but you could put your sprinkles in here. You could put, you know, whatever your toppings are. Uh, this is another 3D printed item that it will hold your can and keep it cold. Mhm. So when you take the lid off, fits just a 12 oz can in it. Oh, slide it in. And then it looks like the little the old school Igloo coolers. Looks like the old school Igloo coolers. And then put your straw in and you can carry it around. Only thing I would add is if we could make this functional. That would be cool. That would be cool. That would be really cool. Think that would I think that would work. I think it's neat that you like mix these different styles of things. the the ornaments and stuff. So, in my head as you're going, I'm saying, "Oh, man. I get a different ornament every year. My children get a different ornament every year. My mom, you know, purchases us all of these ornaments." But when I think to myself, like, what do I do for her? What do I do for her with this? Some of those things that you showed where you can add things on, customize it by the are these the grandchildren, are these the kids? Um, I recently lost both of my parents, a year apart. Sorry to hear that. but did that for them. And it is it is a true it's a true puzzle. So, the pieces will come out. Um, we did have somebody request that it not be a puzzle that we just keep the puzzles. They just wanted to edge. They just wanted it in there. Just engrave it. Don't make the pieces come out. Um, it falls out every show at least five or 10 times. Somebody picks it up and goes, "Oh, what's that?" And it tips and falls over. But I'm sure that they're pleasantly surprised that it's an acting puzzle. It is. and that the fact that the the picture is all UV printed on it, so it won't scratch, it won't fade or anything like that. So, that's a a definite thing. And just because, you know, we're big soccer fans and it's World Cup time. See, now that's You were telling me about this and then I didn't really expect it until you brought it, but the level of detail on those is amazing. It Chapter 12:
Diverse Sports-Themed Creations
is when you can see all the little hands and all the pieces of the thumbs and everything holding it up. Um, it's done with a gold silk filament so it really brings it out and and makes it pop a lot. Oh, speaking of that, World Cup. Oh, you have several World Cup things and you've made this US game tonight. First one made this US chain. So, US hype chain. Just throw that on there. He can throw it on. be ready for the game. And I'm going to pull the chain back a little so you can be seen. And it has that same gold filament at in the center of it on the trophy. It's the quality is ridiculous. And honestly, the variety is crazy. How is it that you uh decide how you're going to make because obviously you're selective. How do you decide how you're going to make what you do? Uh, I think that when I prep things, like for instance on wood stuff, I put a paper Chapter 13:
Design Decisions and Quality Craftsmanship
masking on the wood on both sides to protect it from any burn marks. If there are burn marks after I it's either going to get wiped off or sanded off, anything like that. I just I I strive for perfection even though it is a handmade product. But I believe that if people are going to pay and people want something quality, I want them to get that. I mean, I you can see when it's lined up, everything's even. Um, no marks on the back or anything like that, but that's a it's it's a big thing to make sure that you are prepping everything and make sure that you're making it a quality product if you're wanting the people to look at it that way. Mhm. Anyone can sell a $5 frame, but I want to be different. Exactly. Well, and and too, I know you have the website, you have all this stuff, but the way that you interact with your customers is face to face product to hand. They're they're touching it. They're holding it. Yes. They're checking out how everything goes. Um what's that experience like being at vendor shows like that? Um, it was, you know, nerve-wracking at first cuz we didn't know what we could handle. And now it's we do five 3-day shows a year and we travel. We're on the Chapter 14:
Vendor Show Experiences and Growth
road for six weeks, come home and we take personalized orders of the shows and things like that. I think for um, for instance, one of my customers, I had a beautiful patriotic frame. Uhhuh. and a young girl came and wanted to purchase it for her boyfriend. He was active in the military and he was coming home and she didn't want him to know about it. So, we went ahead wrapped it up. She purchased it. She was there by herself and when she came back on another day, he was with her and she's like, "Oh my gosh, that frame sold that you had the patriotic one." She's like, "I really wanted to show you that." She's like, "It was so cool and everything." and she's just looking at me going, "Don't say a word." You know, and I'm just like, "Keep it quiet." And I think when when you can hear that connection, it just makes it so much more enjoyable. Also, you're kind of a part of the experience, right? Exactly. Yeah, definitely. And so, you're getting all this face to face interaction. I mean, that's What was the first What was the first show like or that? Uh, we only had 3 days notice. Um, somebody had to cancel. It was because of COVID. And one of my friends was already in the show and she's like, "You need to do this." And when I called Russell, he said, "No, no, no, and no." Mhm. And I said, "Well, let me just talk to her." And so [clears throat] I I called the the person up and we talked and she's like, "I really want you in the show." And I said, "Well, my husband's concerned. we've only got three days. We don't we'd like to do the show again, so we don't want to make a bad showing. And, you know, make a really good impression. And he I was like, we just don't I don't think we can do it. And she's like, what can we do to get you to do it? And I said, well, um, I guess I can call him and just tell him I did it. And so, so you did the ask for forgiveness thing. Exactly. And I got lots of words of how are we going to do this? And three late nights of 2, three in the morning, we were making signs. We were making frames. We had already had the wagons. The interchangeable round had not been brought into it yet, but the wagon was there and the hanging hearts were there and a couple of ornaments. So, um, we got there, set up on a Thursday, and of course, you know, changed everything because you have to change it four or five times to get it to where you think you know what it looks like. And they had a VIP night that Friday night. You had to purchase tickets to come in just for that event. And it was only for like six hours. And I have never experienced someone to walk up and look at a product and go, "How do I buy this? How do I How do I do this? Do you do it here?" No, I don't do it here. My laser is about 850 lbs. It doesn't travel. It It stays in its place. But we sold close to 65 of these frames in a 3-day period on top of, you know, welcome signs and things like that. It's very hectic. Um, I think it was a good experience because we kind of got thrown into it and so it was more of a sink or swim moment. Yeah. Well, but you figured out how to swim, right? We did. We did. I didn't drown so that was nice. Um, and then we got into the Christmas Made in the South shows, which are it's a whole season of shows. And they do six shows. We're doing five of them. So, we're on the road for six weeks total, and then we take personalized orders, come back and make them, and have everything out by December 15th. So, you basically have a season of chaos is what you're telling me. I do have a season of chaos, but it seems like you thrive in it. I do. I think it's I think it's fun and it's enjoyable to just to get that rush to do it. How does it change over time? That's that's kind of a big thing. How does it Are you still like anxious like in the early days or No, not really. It you know I know what I have and I know the quality of my work and I I know what to expect and I am not Chapter 15:
Evolution, Challenges, and Joyful Growth
a person who sits back in a chair in my booths. You're gonna see me right out front. If you walk, if you walk by, I'm like, "Hi, how are you today? Have you seen this? Have you seen on your ornaments?" Um, I'm a big thing for veterans. I And any kind of officers or anything, I have veteran ornaments that if I see a veteran, I'm going to walk up to them and thank them for their service and give them the ornament at no charge because it's the right thing to do. Um, same thing with any kind of officers or anything like that. I do the same thing. You have to put yourself in the business. Yeah. How you feel is how it refers. How I feel. Yep. That's beautiful. Now, all these interactions that you have, I know you told me about a few things, but are there any customer interactions that have really really stuck out and kind of changed how you view it or or how you do it? I have a lady that drives from Alabama to come to uh she came to four of my shows last year even though I begged her not to come to one of them because it was too far for her to drive, but she did come. And one day we were talking on the phone and she said, "I need to give you my list of everything I need to get." And I was like, "It's fine." I was like, "You know what? I've got an appointment this morning." I said, "But when I'm done, just text me and we'll we'll get it knocked out. we'll get the list started. And while I was at my appointment, she texted me and said, "I'm sorry, I can't give you my list today." And I was like, "Okay, I'm is everything okay?" And she's like, "I'm getting a new heart." And she was waiting on a heart transplant. And so she now has a new heart. Um, and it it was just the fact that I knew about that and that she felt comfortable enough to to tell me that. And we talk usually once every couple weeks she'll call me just to see how I'm doing. You know, you did say in the beginning they come they become your friends. And you kind of mean that. I do. I I really do. Um, I donated uh a bunch of scrap wood to one of the local schools where our daughter teaches. They have a laser there in their challenge classss and I donate a lot of scrap wood. Usually at after the Christmas season I'll bring her four and five foot stacks of wood which they never get. They don't get painted wood or anything like that. They can just they just get regular stuff. And so it's really cool. and their challenge classss made earrings and sold them to parents, whatever, and made enough money to give to the special to the special ed class to bring them to the special Olympics, get them t-shirts, get them bags, and she's like, "We could not have done this without you, man. Cuz you gave us everything to start with to be a part of those things. And then on top of that to see other people enjoying the products. Exactly. And I just it it's so rewarding. Pieces together some joy. Mhm. Now we talk about a lot of the stuff with the the warm and fuzzies with with customers and things like that, but I think what a lot of people want to know is I mean what are the challenges of it? Chapter 16:
Future Planning and Vision for Kreative Koala
There there are a lot of moving pieces. It's it it was a learning curve definitely from the start of trying to figure out how to do things and now I'm I'm definitely more comfortable in doing just about all the machines. You know, I can do the UV printer. I can I can change filament in the 3D printer. That's not my specialty, but I can I can do it if I need to. Um, but it's the challenge of having to do all this stuff at one time. Yeah. And you know, you're trying to watch three or four machines at one time and get them to make sure everything's running. I print I custom print my own business cards. So, my business cards are wood and they're all they're all custom printed. I print about 2,000 every year. So, you're in it to win it. So, I am in it to win it. How many how many machines? You say I got to watch two or three machines at a time. I've been there. I want people to understand the scope. How many machines do you have that you're having to watch? I have three in the koala room and then we also have three 3D printers. So, six total. That is a lot. That is a lot. And it has taken over the house. Yeah. The I guess the challenge with that too is growth. Exactly. And that's we are preparing for that. We are um we currently bought some land and we're building a new shop and it's going to be 40 by 40 and amazing and I'm going to have all the space in the world. A lot of people are so focused on getting through getting the orders filled getting things done that there's not a whole lot of plan for the future. What does Kreative Koala look like in the future to you? I would like to build it to possibly, you know, 10 or 20 years Chapter 17:
Long-Term Vision and Family Legacy
down the road, retire, sell it, you know, give it to one of my grandkids, you know, or something like that. Just I want it to be I want it to be a generation thing. I would love to give it to one of the grandkids and have them run it. It seems to me like family means a whole lot to you. So, what role does does that family dynamic play? It's hard to get that separation where you're, you know, I've got to get all this work done and then I have to spend time with family and we have, you know, we need to do a camping trip or something. We need to do a trip with the grandkids. It's hard to get that balance. I mean, it's one of the most difficult things to do. I have tried to set myself up to where I can have a cut off time and just, you know, now if we're if we're home by oursel, then it's it's nothing that we, you know, he'll go upstairs and work and I'll go upstairs and work and we'll get stuff done that we need to get done. There's a lot of things that um that end up tying together with what you do. Like I see you in the business. You're an eclectic person. and you have an eclectic uh variety, you know, moments and family seem to matter and you you're kind of encompassing this in a way where where that's part of it for you. Yeah. Um from going from the health issues to the inception to the first show to now being well-traveled with the shows. What has this ride been like for you so far? Absolutely incredible. It really has. Chapter 18:
Balancing Family, Expansion, and Corporate Orders
just to look at where we started and think, I can't believe this is my life right now, that I get to do this, you know, and and there there are hard parts. I mean, I that's, you know, everybody thinks, oh, it's you're owning your own business. You can make your own hours. And yes, I can choose which 24 hours I would like to work. That's that's how you make your own hours. You're like, yeah, I can pick which 24 hours I'd like to work today. and it is a constant thing. Um, but I feel like we have we haven't grown super fast, but we've grown at a a good enough rate to where we're improving every year and not getting slammed. Um, but like for instance, things come in. I just got an order to UV print a logo on 48 dozen golf balls. It's going to take some time. And so that's a thing that I don't um I don't think we touched on is you're not just producing these products for people to buy one off at at or at, you know, craft shows or vendor shows. You're not just producing stuff to be personalized on on the website or whatever. You're not even just focusing in on the interchangeables and the cooler stuff that you're kind of being creative with, but you can do large orders, you can do corporate orders. Yep. We're definitely, we've got a corporate order that we're working on now that's probably 20 to 25 gift boxes, thank you boxes with products that are going out to school districts and they are all full. I will package them, put the thank you note in it, everything, ship them. I'll do the fulfillment, all of it. So, you don't have to do any of that. So, it seems like you've creeped the joy even into the work aspect of it. Like you give a lot of joy to other people. But I guess my question for you would be what's the joy that comes back to you? Chapter 19:
Personal Joy and Impact of Creative Gifts
The relationship and friendships and the happiness I get to see and and to get a message of, you know, I gave that to my grandmother and she loved it so much, you know, and just little things like even a personalized tumbler. I mean, we've got a tumbler that you can have your children draw on a piece of paper and give it to us and then we will take that and we will engrave it into a tumbler and it's all in their handwriting. And we gave one to my son-in-law and he was like, "That's the best Father's Day gift I've ever gotten." Putting a little bit of heart into every piece. A little bit of heart in it. I saw um and got to meet Julia Cole, a m musician that I follow, and custom made her a tumbler. got to give it to her in person, which was really cool. And when I told her I made it, she was shocked. She was like, "You you made this?" And I said, "I did. I designed it and everything." So that was, you know, it's a really cool thing to see that joy when somebody gets a gift and truly appreciates it. When she reposted it, she said, "When a fan gives you the best gift than any man ever has." That's awesome. And that meant a lot. I'm sure that a lot of the interactions you have end up meaning a little bit more and I think it's because it's such a personal it's such a personal thing. Um, how is it that people find you? I've got my website which is Kreative Koala.com both with K's and then I've got a Facebook page as well as you'll Chapter 20:
Finding Kreative Koala Online and Offline
see me at the shows. I'll be at Concord, North Carolina, uh, Columbus, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia, Macon, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida this year at the Christmas Made in the South shows. Um, I'm at my same booth that I have been in for the last four years. So, we're working on making sure people know where the booth is and things like that. But, and you know, they can Facebook message me, they can there's a chat button on the website. If if you don't see what you're looking for, just hit the chat button. It comes directly to my phone and I can tell you. Oh yeah. You know, and help you there. And I've noticed that uh you're kicking up on Tik Tok a little bit now. Yes. Definitely getting better on Tik Tok and Instagram. So, well, now you can put a little bit of heart into that stuff, too. And kind of show people who you are. Exactly. Yeah. So, I think it's going to be really cool. That's fantastic. I'm so glad that you decided to join us today. Um your website is Kreative Koala.com with Ks with Ks. Kreative Koala with Ks.com. and they can find you on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook. Anything else stuck in there? Um, nope. That's about it. All right. That's where they can find you. That's where they can see your stuff. Um, do you plan on adding any new stuff uh in the near future? Absolutely. There will be changes. We are looking into doing custom wagon designs and custom interchangeable signs. Chapter 21:
Upcoming Product Innovations
So, you'll be able to, you know, say, "Hey, I want a football one or I want this." and we can make it happen. Awesome. Well, thank you, Colleen, for joining us today. I hope everybody checks you out at Kreative Koala.com. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Good talking to you. Thanks. You, too.
