Happy Friday! Today on the blog I wanted to share with you a chat I had with PAPAYA's co-founder, Gina Katkin (pronounced Gee-na). Gina is a driving force behind PAPAYA and our fearless vision keeper. Please leave any follow-up questions in the comments section and we'll try to address them in later posts.
How did you start PAPAYA?
I went to a trade show with a friend of mine to work in her booth. While there, I walked around and thought “I want to make products” that saying kept going around in my head, but didn't know what kind of products. Then Anahata (my daughter) called and said “Mom, I am coming home from Belize I guess I will go back to Seattle”. I said," No, go to Seattle get all your journals and come to LA I have an idea." She did. We bought a Mac and a scanner and put her in a Photoshop class. I would go to my “day job” and Anahata would work all day at home. I would come home and find images taped all over the walls and we would work with them till we had images we liked. Once we hit 30 Images we printed cards and started hand glittering them……How long did it take before you were able to quit your other jobs to focus on Papaya full time?
I was working as an “PeopleSoft Functional Analyst” - Whew that was a ride for a creative creature. It took 1 and a half years before I quit my “day job” - I remember it well, my last day was 5/5/2005…I like 5’s a lot now! It was, as one of our favorite images says “A leap of Faith”. I jumped and PAPAYA! caught us.
What were the first products ever created? We produced cards 1st b/c that was the cheapest product to put art on. However, if you could see the walls in our apartment (Anahata and my Grandson, Rowan all lived together for 3 years to get PAPAYA off the ground) you would have seen Anahata’s sketches of bags, jewelry, shower curtains, bedding, pillows, wall art, and lot’s of paper/stationery products. We had a strong vision and could actually see our visions on the wall b/c Anahata is such a great artist. We still have not made all the items we had on the walls from the beginning – there is so much more fun to be had. 
If we were to take a snapshot of you on this day three years ago, what would you be doing?
I was managing 25 “glitteriest” – we were still hand glittering and putting together all of our cards and products by hand and not keeping up with the demand. We were all smashed into a small warehouse, I had my desk in the front of it and all the glitteriest were at tables…it was like school… I was feeling like if this is what my life will be like, managing people doing repetitive labor I don’t think I want to do this…..but machines saved me – I like that!
What advice would you give to aspiring business women and artists in this industry?Believe…..and when you don’t…close your eyes, take a deep breath and believe. See and feel “it” inside of yourself first, then don’t let that feeling fade. I remember spending Memorial Day week-end glittering cards and shipping orders after working a very long week at my “other” job….then I had to load all the boxes in the car and take them to the UPS store. I fell down the stairs, I dropped the boxes, I was tired and I started to lose it………something inside me said “QUIT – This is the difference, right here, right now”….and all the FEELINGS of my vision of PAPAYA! flooded in and it was easy to believe again – The rest of my day was great. It may sound cheesy or like this is not the important stuff to build a business, but it is how I did it. Which books, television shows, and/or magazines do you like to read to inspire you?
My reading is off and on – when I do read, anything by Jerry & Ester Hicks (Abraham) – Love Them …uhhh, I am in my non-reading cycle right now so my mind is blank.TV – HGTV…I got cable about 2 years ago and I am just starting to get tired of it but, I have been addicted to HGTV….ohhh and super chessy Dog the Bounty Hunter (what is wrong with me – maybe I should not cop to that). As for magazines, Anahata has subscribed to lots of European Mags – art, fashion and home ones– I am loving them all.
What is one of your favorite memories of Papaya?
Paying off the last of the massive credit card debt I went into to fund PAPAYA!(From a Facebook fan, Tasha) What's the worst business decision you made and how did you recover from it?
For me, it is relationship based – keeping someone on staff that should be gone (it sucks firing people) or if a vendor does not deliver on something. The recovery has been to be solid in my role as the keeper of PAPAYA! and say what needs to be said, not “put up” with circumstances that are not a fit. It has helped me grow as a person, it has freed me in many ways – feels great.
Where would you like to see Papaya go in the future?
Ohhhh –this is so exciting! Besides the growth of new products, we have 2 really wonderful projects that are just in the “vision” stages, they will grow and change us for the better as a company. I am holding them close right now, not to be secretive but to nurture them so they sprout strong roots. But….so fun and exciting!What is it like working with your family?
Sooooo great! How wonderful that we all really do well together and it is really fulfilling for me. I can’t wait till my grandson is old enough to come join the staff! It has pushed us all to see each other as the people we are and not just family. Working for PAPAYA is such a fulfilling experience in several different ways. How do you maintain this vision for your entire team?
PAPAYA! is a creative place. If it is not beautiful, nurturing and a place that staff WANTS to come too, the creativity will not flow. I want to work with this wonderful staff for years and years, I want to see them grow and love work as they love life. I want them to help stretch PAPAYA! into more and more….the fun must never stop…and it is not as much fun to do it alone!
