Name: Laura Karasinski
Current Position: Founder & Design Director of Atelier
Karasinski
Favorite Quote: „You need 10 years to be an overnight success“
Recipe for Success: Life is a continuous journey – where life is our teacher and we are the lifelong students
Just a Matter of Time
As the daughter of two self-employed parents, Laura observed early on that there are alternatives to the regular 9 to 5 route and that turning your passion into your profession can be feasible with the necessary work ethics. While studying Communication Design & Advertising at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna she always carried a black book with her, which she used to draw her daily inspirations, ideas, and surroundings into. “It was my visual diary”, she told us.
Slowly but surely, more and more people started noticing her scribbles, drafts, and drawings and asked her to draw some designs for them. As time went by, those inquiries got more serious and more demanding, which, eventually, lead her to her first “real“ job in 2010/11 – designing Christmas cookie packaging for Ströck. This was the spark of encouragement she needed to found her own company Atelier Karasinski, in 2012, while still studying.
You Need 10 Years to Be an Overnight Success
Already having her first clients at the age of 19 and founding her company at the age of 21, Laura has now been in the industry for roughly 11 years. It has been a long journey ever since that was necessary to establish herself as the founder and design director of Atelier Karasinski, a Vienna-based design bureau that specializes in branding & interior design concepts, ranging from restaurants to bars and hotels, and working with a broad range of local partners such as architects, light designers, and carpenters.
From the outside it might look like Atelier Karasinski was pre-destined for success; in reality, every single year of preparation, perseverance and patience was crucial for Laura and her team to get to the place they find themselves in now. And we are looking forward to what else the future will bring her.
I Do Not Want What Does Not Want Me…
…has become some sort of a mantra for Laura over the past few years. “I consider my work life a continuous journey, where life is my teacher and I am a lifelong student. Everything you do, see, touch, feel, learn and everyone you meet is either a lesson or a blessing. And everything that happens, happens for a reason: to learn, to improve, to do better.” As we already discovered from our past interviews of our Entrepreneurs of Austria series, this is exactly the type of mentality pivotal for a successfully trajectory as an entrepreneur in this volatile journey called life. We can’t always control what happens in the world around us, but we can control how we react to it!
Practical Tips
Laura also shared with us three major skills she has acquired in her life that helped her build her business:
1. Time management – minute-to-minute and day-to-day you don’t have time to think. You need to have already thought.
2. Curiosity – try out new things at least once, so you know how it is like and get help if needed. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.
3. Rest – taking one step back can sometimes lead to jumping two steps forward.
Freedom Also Means Leading
“The best part about being self-employed is the freedom that comes with it”, she told us. She praises the flexibility that comes with it and the ability to (most of the time) choose for yourself when, where and how you want to approach that upcoming task. The difficulty, however, is finding and keeping the right team. Proper leadership is key!
Love More…
…would be Laura’s chosen words for a billboard on Vienna’s most famous trademark, the Stephansdom. To this we agree, Laura!
In our weekly interview series, we will be featuring various inspirational entrepreneurs of the Austrian startup scene. Each Monday, you can expect useful insights into their lives and practical tips that you can follow in order to walk your entrepreneurial path. Like, share, comment – and feel free to reach out to us. Suggestions, ideas, remarks are all welcome – let’s shape the ecosystem together.
