An Inspired Chat with Chelsie Kliese of Aurora, IL

We recently had the chance to connect with Chelsie Kliese and have shared our conversation below.

Chelsie, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Out of intelligence, energy and integrity – integrity is the most important to me.

Integrity determines how both intelligence and energy are going to be used. For better? For worse? The results of all actions boil down to the integrity that action is built on. Are you comfortable putting your personal gains above another person’s well being? Are you confident in saying no to something to avoid the exploitation of another?

If one’s actions aren’t built on a strong foundation of integrity, the actions become a house of cards. That makes integrity the most important of them all.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
name – My name is Chelsie Kliese and I’m the artist behind House of Ivy.

same – I create home decor out of concrete some of which includes vases and trays, all of which double as both art and functional decor. Each piece is reminiscent in function and style of the decor you’d find at Anthropologie or West Elm.

fame – I’ve exhibited the last three years at Chicago’s prominent One of a Kind Show and been featured on multiple podcasts including Marketing for the Uninhibited.

aim – Currently I’m working on developing my skillset to create larger decor pieces as well as furniture.

game – That goal plays into my larger vision to work substantially and more directly with interior designers to supply them with unique, quality and stunning concrete pieces for their projects.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
My last romantic relationship was crucial in exposing how I see myself.

I spent 7 years with someone, sharing my life and home with them. I gave them an abundance of my energy and commitment and realized quite abruptly that it wasn’t reciprocal. In the almost two years since that realization unfolded I’ve learned so much about myself.

After that relationship ended I felt the craziest feeling of worthlessness and being unwanted – but at the same time I knew wholeheartedly that wasn’t true.

I didn’t know how I was going to get on with my life, my mortgage and quite frankly my self-worth but I knew that it was better to figure that out on my own than retreat to the safety of that relationship. In the time since that relationship ended I’ve come to see how hard working and resilient I am. I didn’t want the end of this relationship to send me back to corporate America and I wanted more than ever for my business to succeed. This relationship and experience made me see how loving and compassionate I am, when I’m surrounded by the right people. It showed me that I can do very hard things from walking away from bad relationships to setting big goals and achieving them.

While it was extremely difficult in the aftermath, this person and experience showed me more of myself than I ever would have seen had the waters not gotten choppy.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering is the greatest teacher I will ever have.

Pretty early on in my entrepreneurial journey I realized that there is no success without failure. Every memoir, every biography, every interview, every path to a goal includes stories of failure and suffering. Now that I understand that, I can comfortably treat those moments and outcomes as part of the plan rather than a setback.

Sure, they’re inconvenient at best and test your will to go on at worst. But without suffering we would never truly understand WHY something works, by means of seeing why it doesn’t. If we understand why it works, we’re able to replicate or systematize it. Understanding why something works gives us insights and abilities that allow us to create better versions going forward, better than we could have even imagined the first time around.

I believe that suffering reinforces the things that we truly want and need. When we suffer, we feel pains that get imprinted within us and either reinforce why we started in the first place, or provide the opportunity for the weak to surrender.

Suffering has taught me more than success ever could and although not always in the moment I’m experiencing it, there’s not a moment of suffering in my life that I’d take back.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
Two truths that I rely on so foundationally in my life are that both transparency and follow through are non-negotiable.

Transparency and follow through are such a part of who I am and how I operate that I never think to question that in another person, because I assume everyone acts in the same way. That belief has gotten myself into some unfavorable situations with less than desirable people. But it has also reinforced within me the value in keeping that foundation myself.

I have realized over time that there is power in saying aloud that those things are the foundation of who I am and what I expect and appreciate in the people around me. It may not sort out all the bad seeds, but it certainly helps.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I knew that I had just 10 years left, I’d stop working for success and dollars and only work for joy. I’d see some of my favorite people more often and work even harder to spread love and light every where I’d go. I’d talk to even more strangers and spend more of my “free time” trying to help the people and animals who aren’t in the positions to help themselves. I’d honestly probably max out a credit card or three traveling to some places in the world I can only dream of being right now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.houseofivy.shop
• Instagram: @houseofivy_shop
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsie-kliese/