Meet Katrina Rivera | Owner & Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katrina Rivera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katrina, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I used to work the typical “9-5” for a very long time. And I was O.K. with that, for the time being. Everyone knows it’s not really 9-5. You have to get enough sleep to wake up with enough time to eat, get dressed, and if you’re especially vigorous, throw in that extra time for a work out and a shower because you know for sure you WILL NOT do it after work. Then the commute! Oh the drive there… it’s something serious.

It wasn’t until my separation from my last full-time job that I realized, all my time was so focused on work that the only “me” or “us” time existed during dinner-time to bed time and the weekends. Being at home, figuring out what to do for work, had my husband and I really thinking about how terrible it feels relying on someone else for a paycheck and how replaceable we all are in the workforce. We’ve always talked about starting our own business but we could never figure out what. “What can we do? What do we know how to do? What do we have to learn in order to do this?”

It was while I was at home that I realized how much I loved spending time with my husband, working on something that involved the both of us. I also was able to focus more on my relationship with God and to focus more on my body. It was then that we both realized how important it was to for me to find something I enjoyed doing.

I no longer have to devote so much time to just waking up, getting ready, making the drive to spend eight or more hours working for someone else to then drive home, get ready for bed to sleep just to do it all over again. No, my primary focus is my relationship with God and my family. THEN, I make time for work. And I work when my priorities are taken care of, not the other way around. And it feels liberating.

I’ve always heard that you make time for the things that are important to you. This is us making that happen.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Komfy Owl Designs… We’re a small business aimed to help other small businesses. Everyone needs advertising and/or uniformity and our custom apparel does both. When a business orders from us, not only do we provide comfortable garments with their custom logos, but we also help promote their business on our accounts when we show off our work. It’s a win-win!

We not only make custom clothing as a way to offer uniforms to service related industries; we love providing our services for those who want to create their own brand. We offer a print-on-demand service. Instead of having to buy the merchandise in bulk and worrying about inventory, the owner of the brand charges the customer for the product and then we provide the apparel. What makes us different from other print-on-demand services is if there is any change in material or substances used to create their apparel, the owner is notified and given a sample. So the designer is always in control of quality of their merchandise.

We’re also have a branch called Komfy Owl Studios where we create eye-catching five to fifteen second videos to help other businesses attract more customers. This is still in the beginning stages but we have already created content for several clients for their Instagram and YouTube channels.

When it comes to our growth as a business, thankfully, it has been steadily increasing. I believe our greatest struggle is wanting to be self-sustaining by now. We are still a baby of a company and we are always learning and growing. But just a child looks up at adults, wanting to be big and strong already, that’s how we are when we see other businesses in our field who are able to just focus on doing what they’re doing. I still have a part-time job because, realistically, this is our side hustle that is growing into our main hustle and we just want to be there already. But we know we have to be patient. My husband’s favorite phrase is “slow and steady wins the race.” And that is what we’re living by.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m more of a homebody to be quite honest. I believe there is nothing better than having a bonfire with some drinks and smores to get all comfy and cozy with your best out-of-town friends. But my go-to places in Atlanta are the Georgia Aquarium, the Botanical Gardens and Ponce City Market. I can’t decide which restaurants I’d take them first because there are way too many to choose from. Everywhere we’ve gone has always been delicious. We’d just eeny-meeny-miny-mo it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Obviously, God gets the credit first and foremost. I’ve made these changes in my life primarily because I want to serve him more fully in the ministry.

But second to Him, my husband. There is no one more caring, responsible, considerate and sacrificing than my husband. He is my number one fan, before we had a business, before our Instagram account, and way before YouTube. He has supported any and all of my endeavors. It is because of him we’ve gotten this far. He knows my weaknesses and vulnerabilities and yet he’s stuck with me through EVERYTHING. He’s kept pushing me since day one and he is my cheerleader through it all. None of this would have been possible if I didn’t have him backing me up.

I love you Chuchu. You’re my favorite.

Website: www.komfyowldesigns.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/komfy_owl_designs/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/komfy-owl-designs-saint-cloud-2?osq=komfy+owl+designs

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQDu1Osi5cqsw9i6AEkXSg