We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kayli Kunkel, Anna Budinger, and Alexandra Wolkoff a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kayli, Anna and Alexandra, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
We are three busy women who are all managing multiple pursuits at any given time – from running small businesses and organizing for causes we care about to fostering community and maintaining personal relationships. We each have to work to keep our creativity alive by creating protected time for ourselves, holding boundaries, and actively fostering creative pursuits separate from our other endeavors. Whether that’s getting outside every day, spending time with our pets, reading on a variety of subjects, cooking for family and friends, or trying a new craft or hobby as a beginner – it’s all about balance, variety, and fostering joy. It’s especially helpful being a team of three, since we can each tap in and out as needed and trust that the work and brand remain strong. This makes it much easier to each lead with our strengths and to take time for restoration, be that a few hours away from the computer or a longer-term vacation. In the same way, we each come from different professional and education backgrounds and engage in varied hobbies, which allows us a diverse pool of ideas to problem-solve creatively and address challenges with more ease than if we were working on our own. We respect and support each other’s need for balance and boundaries, both as individuals who care about one another and for the strength of our team, overall.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Together, we recently dreamed up and launched Our House, a new community gathering, events, and co-creating space in Astoria, Queens!
Kayli is the owner and founder of Earth & Me, a sustainably-minded store selling eco-friendly items and a host of refillable products with locations in Astoria and Park Slope (proudly Queens’ first refill store!). Alexandra joined the E&M team as their community manager, cultivating local connections and overseeing a calendar of events led by artists, authors, and neighbors. Anna is the owner of Babs Home & Pantry, which sells art, jewelry, and home goods made with care by small batch artists. We’re all minded towards building genuine partnerships with independent makers near and far and share a deep sense of purpose in bringing folks together to learn and collaborate. Our passions also converge around using upcycling and lovingly curated products to create spaces that make folks feel good.
Previously, Earth & Me operated two stores in Astoria. The newer, second location was home to many wonderful community events last year, which was a real highlight for us as a team and for the neighborhood. Separately, all three of us had been pining for a community ‘third space’ where we could realize even more and larger events like what we’d started to cultivate at the store. Through talking with friends, we learned that many others felt the same. In December 2023, Kayli made the bittersweet decision to close this second store location due to slower foot traffic amid the challenging economy. In commiserating with Anna over drinks about the stresses of running a small business, the two dreamed up an epic pivot – how cool would it be if we could keep the space and use our respective strengths to create exactly the kind of hub that the neighborhood needs??
We got to work immediately – brainstorming, researching, creating vision boards, delegating roles, and getting our hands dirty. In just six weeks, we transformed the store front into the community space of our dreams, specifically outfitted for events, celebrations, and daily co-working. Anna, with expertise in digital media, construction, and interior design, took a lead on the physical space. Kayli, with expertise in branding & marketing, business development, and finance, took charge of creating our business plan, website, and social media. Alexandra, with expertise in community building, education, and events planning, got a head start on activating our shared networks, gathering input, and setting up initial events.
The vision for Our House is to serve as Astoria’s shared living room: the neighborhood’s new home to gather, co-work, and co-create. Think cozy vibes to host a game night with friends, bring your painting supplies or laptop, meetup with a new date, or attend an awesome workshop. We just launched at the start of February and have been overjoyed to receive such a positive response from neighbors. We are currently working on refining our internal processes and growing the space’s amenities to serve the diverse ideas that folks are bringing (from a baby shower to karaoke night to puzzle competitions). We hope to welcome you soon at Our House!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Without a doubt, our team and teamwork is our greatest strength. The blend of skills, experiences & disciplines that we merge is a true powerhouse that allowed us to reach this point. We regularly remark that there’s no way any of us would be able to do this on our own. It’s actually been a beautiful and healing experience to realize that no one is or should be good at ‘everything’ and that we all work best when everyone is supported in using their unique talents. Second, our care for one another as whole humans. We’ve taken on this process on top of all the other things in our lives – running businesses, maintaining households, furthering personal healing, addressing health challenges, planning weddings and other life events, etc. Things happen, and we wouldn’t have realized our goal (or would have been far worse off for it as a team) if we didn’t approach each other with a high baseline of respect & empathy. We’ve been clear from the start that we couldn’t do this without the skills of each person and that we will be most successful when all three of us are leading from a place of genuine authenticity (and also enjoying what we do!). This requires us to have full trust in one another – both to make decisions for the collective and to know when to ask for help. We all have a tendency to overwork and to push beyond our limits, so we also need to respect the boundaries the others set and our need to recharge outside of the project. And third, our communication. While it has been a fun and exhilarating journey building and launching the space, it hasn’t been without its struggles. Unexpected expenses, building issues, and life circumstances all add stress to the process and compete for our time. While at times challenging, we know that communicating openly and honestly – and assuming good intent – will carry us through, as friends and as business partners. To do so, we each need to continually invest in our own emotional growth, to be as healthy and clear-minded as possible so that we can show up as healthy and whole as possible to our team.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
“All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” is a book that inspires all of us! It helps remind us why we committed to living lower-waste and more sustainably-minded lives, as well as reemphasizes the transformative role that community plays in creating change. The authors’ wisdom shows not only why but how we can transform our societies to save our home and to create more justice and equity in the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ourhousequeens.com/membership
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhousequeens/?img_index=1
- Other: https://www.babshomeandpantry.com/ https://www.earthandme.co/
Image Credits
Anna Budinger Alexandra Wolkoff
