An Inspired Chat with Dorey Kronick of Kerns, Portland, OR

We recently had the chance to connect with Dorey Kronick and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dorey, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Would YOU hire you? Why or why not?
F*ck yes! I’m highly creative, intuitive, reliable, communicative, organized, friendly, intelligent, timely, and generally rad. I’ve been working professionally in the creative field for over 16 years. I know how to pull ideas out of my client’s minds and then alchemize them into tangible forms that help them make more money, look super legit online and IRL, and expand in allllllll the best ways.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Dorey Kronick and I’m a Creative Director, Graphic Designer, Visual Artist, and Photographer. I’ve been fully self-employed as a creative for 11 years. I specialize in and enjoy working with good humans who are doing good things in the world. I love collaborating with women, BIPOC, and the LGBQTIA+ communities. I am mostly a one-woman-show, although I occasionally hire contractors to support me with certain projects on an as needed basis.

Some of my favorite projects from 2025 include:

— A hand drawn logo and brand package for a new, small, woman-owned kids resale clothing and toy shop in my hometown of Santa Cruz, CA (Hand It Down Kid to Kid Resale)
— A commissioned abstract painting series for a new, all natural edibles company in Oregon (Nomadic Concepts)
— A website, rebrand, and full set of custom illustrations for a small financial, tax, and estate planning business in Oakland, CA (Reich and Walner LLP)
— A full rebrand for an established, small, woman-owned wedding and events planning company in Chicago (Urban Allure Events)
— Finally rebranding myself, my business, and my own website (DoreyKronick.com)

I love what I do, I love being a creative, and I have big dreams for the future that stretch beyond anything I’ve done up to this point in my career and life. I look forward to seeing how the evolution of my life and career continues to unfold. Every year is a new adventure! 💫

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I’m actively working on shedding people-pleasing and codependent tendencies in my work and in life. I’ve bent over backwards to serve and please others for most of my existence, often leading to exhaustion, burnout, and self-sacrifice. It stopped working for me years ago and I’m finally just completely unwilling to give up my health, joy, sanity, peace, or future for the sake of making others happy all the time. I can’t “pour from an empty cup” and I don’t want to.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I don’t know that I’ll ever fully know how to stop “hiding my pain,” but in recent years I’ve learned that turning pain into purpose — and therefore into power — is an incredible strength.

Looking back, the hard things in my life have absolutely shaped me to some extent, but most importantly, so have the ways I’ve healed, overcome, learned, and grown from those hard things. It’s all a part of becoming the very best, most magical version of myself… and being able to see that now is huge.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to think that I could only share positive life updates and/or professional / work related stuff on my social media accounts. I’d try to keep everything I shared with the world perfectly manicured. I didn’t want anyone to know too much about my personal life and I certainly didn’t want my political or spiritual interests / thoughts / morals / values to cross too far into my public identity, which might negatively impact how clients might view me.

But now…?

I’ve officially decided that’s completely ridiculous!

I very much want to show the world who I truly am, what I believe in, what I value, how I feel, and genuinely be my most authentic self — unapologetically. Because that’s all a part of what makes me, me.

The more that I share who I am with the world, the more that I attract who and what can join me, help me, and guide me on my path forward. And that’s a real blessing.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
An extremely bright, shining, vibrant soul 🌟💓🪩

Contact Info:

 

Image Credits
Dorey Kronick

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