Easy talk about business with Kateryna Kovalchuk
30 August, 2023
Kateryna Kovalchuk
Designer, Founder of KateLab Brand
- Clothes, that President of Ukraine, Mr.Volodymyr Zelenskyy wears.
My business idea came to me in 2016
I was a very creative person since childhood, and I still am. After my graduation from law academy, I was determined to follow my heart and connect my life with art. It was in my soul.
In 2016 I started to design and produce exclusive for those days, female lingerie, that became very popular. Soon I added a clothing line for women. And just like that our brand became famous.
Very useful habit is
to create when you have inspiration, only then your product becomes special. All my activity is deeply connected with my inner balance, warmth and candidness. From the very beginning I believe in my product and it has deep meaning.
Our patriotic t-shirt with trident is a vivid example. I wanted to create «Ukrainian things with high quality». Since the beginning of full scale russian invasion, our clients motivated us to restart production activity again. It was a new impulse to show the world, that we still can produce with quality.
The most important advice is to believe in yourself and not to be afraid of anything!
My brother became my biggest support since I founded the brand. Now he is inevitable part of our team KateLab and 70% of organizational work is on his shoulders.
Three main pillars of my business are
frankness, quality and simplicity.
Crisis in business and the way out of it
When you start your business during difficult times, then you think completely different.
There will never be a better, right moment or time, there is just life as it is. It is scary to do business — it has risks, responsibility, problems. It makes a perfect filter, the most interesting things happen behind it. The crisis is a call for action. The main thing is to make the first step. Your team is like a puzzle in painting, everyone has its own place. Then everything works perfectly. Success is a result of experience and hard work.
The best advertisement is our clients
You need to combine quality with product value. We managed it. Little details make a whole picture. Not everyone can notice them, but even if 1 out of 10 clients appreciate that, it inspires us to keep working.
Money is not a main goal
It is work with pleasure.
My business in 5 years
is a worldwide recognition. We work, we move step by step. We don't betray ourselves and brand philosophy — the beauty is in simplicity and Ukrainian things have quality. The world has to see it!
I am inspired by people,
by their actions, by our clients’ gratitude, by the own results.
Our new bestseller are t-shirts with trident,
that thousands of people wear now, because it has a deep meaning. We also created a shirt for the Independence Day, that has design like in old times and combined it with blue and yellow embroidery, with minimal details according to our brand philosophy.
Question that I would love to hear to explain the core of my business
Is KateLab — work of your life and soul? Definitely Yes!
My advice for entrepreneurs
The first step is the scariest one, but you need to make it. All challenges make you stronger, if you make right conclusions. Every next stage of your development starts from discomfort and sometimes rough moments, but this is an indicator if you are ready to move to new level.
Rules/Success/Business
The new column “Rules/Success/Business” by the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office expert Valentyna Liashenko will share with you a lot of breathtaking business ideas, advice, and insights from both Ukrainian and worldwide business owners. We will introduce you to the interviews of company owners from different fields and countries.
Easy talk about not easy situations, challenges, and joy from the victory.