Much loved the world over, Swedish-born Kristina Karlsson is the Founder and Creative Director of Dream Life – an inspiring & empowering brand turned global movement.
She’s also an engaging sought-after international speaker, coach, passionate learner & self-improver, and the proud mother of two children, Axel and Tiffany, with her partner Paul.
After growing up on a small farm in Sweden, at the age of 22 she found herself in a new country, half a world away from family and friends, with little money and no idea what to do with her life.
So, what was a girl to do? Imagine what her Dream Life could look like – write her dreams down on paper – and then make them happen.
Initially, that led to Kristina selling all she owned to found and create the globally loved Swedish design and stationery business, kikki.K. She built it from the ground up. kikki.K grew to have award-winning retail stores worldwide, a passionate team of 1500, a reputation for innovation and service excellence, an online presence serving stationery & design lovers in over 150 countries …and annual revenues of over $80m.
And what a ride that was, for over 20 years from start-up until mid-2021.
Kristina won the hearts and minds of millions worldwide as the creative force and personality behind a genuinely authentic, founder and purpose-led brand – driven by her personal philosophy, purpose and Swedish design aesthetic.
After a difficult and tumultuous business experience through the COVID-19 pandemic with the forced closure of retail stores, which tested her and her team to the core, Kristina lost control of kikki.K. She parted ways in heart-breaking circumstances – a riveting story – and one that came with many learnings and silver-linings (as most hardships do).
The biggest silver lining of all is the freedom to do what she loves again, with a creative team, on a mission to continue inspiring & empowering people the world over to discover and chase their dreams. Leveraging all she’s learned through the ups and downs about staying well and thriving through good and tough times.
Kristina is now a sought-after international speaker and coach – passionate about human potential and helping people discover and chase their dreams.
A few years ago, she wrote her first book, Your Dream Life Starts Here, to share what she’d learned about the power of dreaming and her experience chasing and achieving big dreams against the odds – selling over 100,000 copies.
It was her answer to the thousands of people she’d spoken to at events, workshops & conferences around the world who had asked her, ‘where do I start if I want to live my best life?’
She’s since turned the book into a coaching business and digital course – and associated events and services like her Your Dream Life Podcast, which has over 2.5 million downloads in over 160 countries.
Kristina’s latest venture, www.TheDreamLifeStore.com has stationery lovers and buyers of inspiring gifts drooling… presenting a curated collection of beautiful customisable products. Winning the hearts of those who fell in love with her design approach.
With deep personal experience of the power of dreaming and then doing, Kristina’s big crazy dream is to inspire and empower over 101 million people to write their own dreams on paper and set about bringing them to life.
Why?
Because by dreaming, we can all help make the world a better place, starting with us.