Meet Kali Rocha

We recently connected with Kali Rocha and have shared our conversation below.

Kali, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Everyone- and everything thing- has a story. Being curious and open enough to ask, being fully present and truly listening with empathy is, to me, the very definition of how to keep creativity alive. I became an actress because I love crawling into the skin of a character whose story I can tell, as authentically and humbly as I am able. It may seem like a leap, but I have collected vintage treasures, antique jewelry and found objects ever since I was little, because learning the history behind each unique piece, without judgement and with an appreciation for the context in which it was worn and used, sparks the same creative energy as learning a person’s story. I suppose in the same way that I create a character as an actress, I reimagine these special pieces into distilled, accessible and wearable jewelry that honors its unique history. As long as there is something new to learn, I keep creativity alive.

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?

When I was 15, wearing musky thrift store dresses before it was cool, my happy place was a small room in my family’s basement where I set up my first jewelry studio. I squeezed a table into this curious bunker, under the light of a single bulb, and filled it with my bead collection- broken vintage necklaces of jet jewels from my grandmother, antique finds from yard sale outings with my artist dad, donated single earrings from family friends who supported my passion, anything that I found, liked, and saw potential in. This collection followed me and grew as I moved away to college for acting, then to NYC for 8 years, and finally out to Los Angeles, where I have lived since 1999. I’ve been a lucky professional actress for 30 years, but what has been my steady constant companion was my always-expanding collection of beads. Now, after a pandemic, a brutal months-long strike and the destructive fires of Southern California, it has become clear that the industry is now my side hustle. Opening ilak designs 5 years ago has given me the chance to create freely and on my own terms. Filling my days with creativity and connection feeds me on the deepest of levels, and every single time I make a sale on Etsy, converse with appreciative customers at a jewelry show, pop-up at a festival, lead a workshop in reimagining vintage heirlooms into wearbale pieces of jewelry, I am, without fail, moved by how much it means to people to connect with my jewelry, and in turn, their own pasts. I have the honor of hearing people share their stories, offer their memory associated with one of my creations, express a connection to a relative who has passed. These moments remind me that my life-long passion for stories and history are why I do what I do today. My bead collection now fills an entire room of our home, and shows no signs of stopping…

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

As a mother of two teenagers, I have always heard that what is your greatest frustration with your child will eventually become their greatest asset in life. Certainly, this was true of me growing up. I was a magical thinker in a house of academics. We can joke now that my mother and brother were shocked that at age 12 I didn’t know Detroit was the car capital of the world. But how would I know that? I was busy picturing myself as Sister Carrie, the heroine of Theodore Dreiser’s novel, moving from farmland poverty in rural Illinois into the big city of Chicago during the Industrial Revolution and finding her way to corsets, fine silks and buttery soft kid gloves with pearl buttons. Next, peers at school always called me gullible. I was confused by this “accusation,” as it seemed a far better thing to be disappointed if what someone told me turned out to be a ruse than believing them initially. It seemed, and still seems, simpler to me to lead with optimism rather than cynicism. Lastly, I am a big fan of boundaries. Artists are inherently empathetic people. Knowing what drains me, costs my well-being and what restores and replenishes my energy bank has helped me be a more present and open friend. Understanding my personal balance of creative time and connective time is key to the health of my journey, and one I wish I’d learned just a little earlier. Magical thinking, a little touch of naiveté and hard won healthy boundaries have stood me in great stead as an entrepreneur and adult.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

If the conversations I have had with fellow entrepreneurs in the past year are any indication, most of us are simultaneously obsessively driven by our unique artistic passion AND deeply unsure if it has any value beyond our studios. If there is anything I have learned this past year- and this is true for all art forms (acting, writing, drawing, etc)- doubt serves no productive purpose. Is my jewelry for everyone? Absolutely not. But I now know that the special meaning that stories and history have for me and that I translate into my work find simpatico people who are equally drawn to these things, who have a deep appreciation for what a piece has seen in its long and interesting life, and who will treasure the new creation that I am offering or that we have created together. These are the people I would want as friends, too, as their ability to hold and cherish a person (or thing’s) story is an inherently beautiful quality…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://etsy.com/shop/ilakdesigns
• Instagram: @rochakalim @ilak_designs
• Facebook: kali.rocha.5
• Twitter: @kalimrocha

Image Credits

Kali Rocha
Angel Rocha