BORN AT DAWN FOCUS: KAROLINA BARNES, ESTILA MAGAZINE

December 20, 2016

BORN AT DAWN FOCUS: KAROLINA BARNES, ESTILA MAGAZINE

This week for our BORN AT DAWN FOCUS we chatted to Karolina, Founder of Estila Magazine. Estila is a monthly lifestyle magazine which launched in 2015 with a mission to “empower through style”. It doesn’t focus on trends and instead looks to inspire through timeless, understated but beautiful living. We love the philosophy. 

We spoke to Karolina about her life….

Why did you decide to set up Estila?

I set up Estila magazine out of frustration. Since childhood, magazines always have played an important role for me as a source of inspiration. I remember my mother used to buy and collect, and still does, magazines. As an interior designer I was subscribed to all of them at one stage.

However, I slowly unsubscribed from each, one by one. The main reason was that I found them predictable and the same. To me, it looked like they all use one design template and clutter the pages with trends and skinny, young models. Shortly after I set up my interior design studio, I got into the world of blogging. I learnt everything I could about it and social media. One thing I have noticed was that bloggers embrace their personal style.

I played with the idea of launching a monthly newsletter but in the end I launched a monthly digital lifestyle/business publication. That was 15 months ago. Within that time we have managed to attract close to 1 million views on our issues and we just released our first print volume. 

Describe yourself in three words.

Creative, risk-taker, open-minded. 

What makes you happy?

Being with my family and finally doing what I love. 

Who and what inspires you?

I get inspired by all the women I work with and interview for the magazine. Learning from them about design, creativity, imagination and business is always very inspiring. 

How do you personally define success?

For me, success is about finding your purpose and living with intention. So many people are just drifting through life because they cannot work out who they are. Success isn’t about money or material things - you can’t take those to your grave. It’s living life to the fullest, creating extraordinary experiences for yourself while having an impact on others. It’s about constantly learning and growing as a person. 

You seem like you're very busy, how do you cope and manage to juggle it all?

It’s super hard. I guess not seeing my work as a job but as a passion helps tremendously. It doesn’t feel like I’m working all the time but others might assume that I do. 

What’s been your biggest lesson?

The true meaning of time. After being diagnosed with a benign brain tumour while pregnant with my second daughter 9 years ago, I learnt that time is so vital to everything we do. It changed my outlook on life greatly. I don’t waste it anymore. I don’t keep putting things off. If I can do it today, I go and do it. While interviewing Sharon Costi from Decology for our Estila Edit November 2016 issue, she said: “Today is earlier than tomorrow.” And that’s exactly my outlook on everything I do these days. 

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Never give up. It may seem such an obvious advice but I find that many give up too early. Find who you are inside and just for go it. Even if you fail at it, just keep going. There are many times in life when you think you finally found your purpose, only to find out that it wasn’t IT. Keep searching and eventually, you will end up on the right track. If you give up early, how would you ever find out what your real potential is? 




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