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Ekaterina Krytskaya: "Each of us is here to find our way back"
After a long break, the Ogonka blog is returning — and it is no coincidence that we open the "season" precisely on this festive day. Today's interview in the section #VyOgonyok is a conversation with a man who for me is the embodiment of femininity, taste and style. A person who has been with Ogonka since the very first year — initially as a client, and then as a partner and friend. I have been preparing for a long time to talk with Katya Krytskaya, the owner of jewelry boutique Matière79, and I was looking for a suitable moment to share it with you. And I'm glad to do it precisely on March 8 - on a day when everything is about women, their beauty, strength, wisdom, courage, their ability to express themselves and do what they love. Happy reading.
Jordan: — Katya, hello. You recently returned from a long-awaited trip, and I would like to start today's conversation with a question about rest. What place does he occupy in your life?
Katya: — In connection with all the quarantine restrictions, the thought of going somewhere on vacation caused a certain discomfort: how will it be, is it worth it. But the mode in which we worked for the last hour made me understand that rest is necessary. This is always a switch for me — from the "squirrel in a wheel" or "Groundhog Day" mode. There is a discipline, a regime in which we are used to living and working - sometimes it is necessary to leave this regime in order to switch our consciousness to another wave.
Most thoughts, ideas and plans come to me precisely on vacation, so for me it is also part of my work.
I always approach the choice of a place for recreation independently. I don't like beaten tourist paths, and I always do all the research about where and how to go on my own - I don't follow the beaten path. In principle, this concept can be applied to all aspects of my life. While studying at a university in Canada, I once and for all remembered a phrase that guides me absolutely in all spheres of life: "Think outside the box" . Even after collecting information and recommendations from friends, most likely, after reading, watching and listening, I will choose my own path. In this regard, I have good karma - I always have it. Therefore, you can safely follow my travels and trust my recommendations.
And: — The Maldives was your penultimate country, and the last one was the Arab Emirates, right? I still can't forget that magnificent place, similar either to Morocco or to the south of France, which you showed on your Instagram.
K: — On the way back from the islands, after the Maldivian Robinson Crusoe, we decided to spend four days in civilization — to visit good restaurants, to meet people. In general, I can say that Dubai is not my thing from the point of view of aesthetics, please. I prefer something more soulful. But I knew that in such a large, advanced city, there must surely be islands of aesthetics that resonate with my understanding of beauty. I just set a goal and conducted research. As I already said, all my trips rest on him. In my opinion, if you want to have quality rest, work quality, if you want something quality in your life, you should put effort into it, and not follow someone's imposed ideas about beauty. I am a personal travel agent for myself and my family. If you want something different, different from what everyone else has, take your knowledge of English and go searching on Western sites. I noticed that there is a completely different culture of recommendations.
And: — How often do you manage to get away from work to go on vacation?
K: — Fortunately, my work, like yours, is connected with foreign trips. I did not calculate - I fly out as necessary for work. As for rest, it is most likely two, maximum three times an hour - often on birthdays and New Year's. For work, I sometimes have to fly often - sometimes four times a month. It is difficult for me to differentiate trips to work and rest, because I do what I love, and for me, work trips are also a breath of fresh air. And time alone with myself, because I'm an introvert. My daughter is an extrovert, I wonder about her energy at home and admire her endlessness.
But time for myself, time for silence, often happens precisely during business trips.
I appreciate this time very much. Therefore, for me, the lack of the usual number of trips during quarantine is felt. Again, we flew to Dubai twice: once for vacation, and the second time for a work exhibition. I made this decision literally in a day: we passed the tests, flew away for three days, managed to do everything and returned satisfied. Although on Instagram it seemed that I was resting. In fact, we had only two hours in the morning, when we could enjoy breakfast, listen to the birds singing, look at the views, and then intensively visit the exhibition until the very evening.
And: — Tell us about your work in the past difficult year. Its beginning caught us all by surprise - how was it for you?
K: — We managed to slip through then and still went to Paris — it was our last trip there. And for me she was one of the key ones, because I took my daughter Sonya with me. I decided that this would be her dedication to what I do. You know, the work schedule in Paris is very intense: from showroom to showroom, often forgetting to eat. But last year quarantine measures were already in effect, Paris was less active, so we had time for everything. Sonia is a grateful child, the trip was very interesting for her. I wanted this trip to become an inspiration for her, as I am inspired every time I visit showrooms and get to know new brands. Upon returning, while the sensations were fresh, while she had a stream of thoughts and ideas that she was digesting, I suggested that she come up with a joint collection, which we recently realized. So Sonya learned from her own experience how many steps need to be taken from an idea to its implementation.
I often hear from jewelers and young people: "I thought about it, but they took it and did it." This is all nonsense - you can come up with anything, think a million thoughts, but I find the most difficult thing in their implementation.
It is a huge effort to find all the puzzles in order to assemble them into a cool finished product that you are not ashamed to show and offer to people .
I am glad that we managed to implement this project - the collection "Sofia". These are ceramic products, colored pendants on chains, saucers, each of which is accompanied by a personal message from Sona. She herself is delighted with her collection, wears it with pleasure, can recommend it. Today, before the official presentation, this project is already successful, because we practically sold it to our customers. And I am very proud that part of the proceeds from the sale are transferred to charitable purposes. For us, this trip was an impetus not only to a new collection, but also to production in the domestic market. We understood that in Ukraine there are masters who can be involved in production, and that it can be organized.
And: — I am very interested in the topic of production. Before "Sofia", you had already produced your own collection called "Alchemy", and I know how difficult it is to start production where so much has already been created. How did it happen for you?
K: — It's difficult, especially when you see really talented, kind of genius designers, whose works are similar to yours, and you think: "Who am I to compete with them?" But you have to give yourself permission, understand that in this niche, not everyone is necessarily competing.
I believe that jewelry art is a form of materialization of thought.
And I gave permission to my thoughts to acquire a material form, endowing them with the meaning and message that is in my inner world. The most difficult thing was to assemble a production team, but I have the ability to assemble people who complement what I lack.
It is difficult to find jewelers who will bring your thought to the form you need, and not to the standard they are trained to. The biggest problem of the jewelry industry in Ukraine is the Soviet school, the standard by which jewelers work here. And I faced the fact that it is very difficult to break this standard and explain to people that the product does not necessarily have to look exactly like that, which can be tried otherwise. It was the biggest challenge, but in the end we managed. With each product, we break the jeweler and his idea of how it should be, but as a result we get a great product. I believe that there is no limit to perfection, but I see that we are moving towards it - this gives me confidence and the desire to continue. Yes, with my experience in the jewelry business, it was possible to go to Milan or French factories and place orders there, being sure that I would get the specific product I needed. But I want it to be as Ukrainian a product as possible, I want to develop this culture in our market. I believe that more and more talented jewelers will appear in our country, that this industry will experience a boom. Now we are only at the beginning of the journey.
And: — Reflecting on your story about the joint trip and collection with Sonya, a question crept in: did you have a similar experience of interaction with your parents, were you involved in the family business since childhood?
K: — Yes. My parents have been in the construction natural stone business for thirty years: marble, granite, travertine, and everything related to it. My shop is my brief background. The stone used in its design is the influence of my family and all my experience accumulated before the beginning of the jewelry business. I started traveling with my father to exhibitions of natural stones at the age of fourteen, and I can say a big thank you to him for introducing me to this business from an early age. This gave me the opportunity to travel with him around the world, as well as the experience of visiting and working at exhibitions.
I remember that there I always paid attention to the most unusual stones - those that were not mass market.
Before we made repairs in my store, I had never seen such a stone. By the way, after the opening, many customers and passers-by were interested in where to get such a stone. Then I began to see the ego more and more often in other projects, but initially we found the ego for ourselves. I always knew that marble is a luxury item, it is an expensive material in the interior, and I dreamed of having a project where I could use it. I knew that this could be done in the book-matching technique , which we used on our wall.
Four years ago , no one here had heard of it - it is a technique in which a stone block is cut in such a way that it folds or opens like a book. Because of this asymmetry, many people still think that the stone on the wall is artificial, but this is not so. Ever since dad started taking me on trips, I had an idea that I would work in the family business after graduation. My dad always knew that he would send me to study abroad - one more big thank you to him for his efforts. "Katya will study abroad - that's it." So, at the age of seventeen, I left for Canada, realizing that I needed to learn a profession that would help continue the work of my parents. I entered the Faculty of Arts and Business .
Arts is something that is close to me, and Business is something that I could apply in family business.
I liked Canada very much, everything worked out for me with it, I made many friends — and in the end, instead of four, I lived there for seven years. Thanks to my parents for giving me the opportunity to spend so much time there and absorb that culture. After that, I returned home and started working in my father's company - in the Kyiv branch. But it didn't work out for me with Kyiv - he was just on business. I took on import management, that is, my job was to go to exhibitions, order stones, select them and offer them to projects in which we participated. I had many interesting hotels, private facilities. I liked my work, but I always had the feeling that I was playing by my father's rules. He, as a person who was successful in business, had his own vision. And with my experience of working and studying in Canada, I understood that I would have done some things differently.
And: — I want to clarify right away: did you have a connection with the decorations before that?
K: — Not at all.
And: — What prompted you to do them?
K: — Eight years ago, my father and I went on a business trip to India, where at the same time there was a jewelry exhibition — I saw an announcement about it in our hotel. It was a wholesale exhibition - non-professionals were not allowed there, but I realized that I needed to go there, and got there by trickery. At that time, Loree Rodkin was in fashion - at, in my opinion, an inappropriate price for trendy jewelry. And then in India, I saw that jewelry with almost the same aesthetic costs completely different money. In aesthetics a la vintage, with a large number of stones of any cut - India is rich in them.
I developed a slight gold fever there - the world decorated with these things greatly inspired me.
There, I met an interesting Indian family that was engaged in handmade jewelry from generation to generation. We talked with the patriarch of the family - grandfather, a very pleasant man. He saw that I was flirtatious at the exhibition and asked what I was doing there. I admitted that I choose jewelry for my mother, grandmother, and sisters. He looked at what I had chosen and said: "You know, you have a disposition for this." We talked with him for a long time, he met my father, we had a very heartfelt conversation. And then he said: "I see that you really like it. I suggest you choose decorations to your taste - pick up a box decorated, take it with you to Ukraine and try to sell it to your friends." I was surprised, because I did not expect to spend such an amount, but he said: "It's okay, you'll return home - you'll settle with me." It was a shocking experience for me, I asked for a couple of days to think. And in the end, this grandfather gave me a decorated casket, which I chose, absolutely trusting that I would settle with him upon arrival. Papa said that if I like it, he will support me.
I was very scared, I didn't know if it would work, but I felt that I had to try.
I came to Ukraine with this box and literally in a month everything I brought was scattered among friends at the prices I could offer. That's how it all started. Naturally, I settled, and we worked with my grandfather for many years. We still have very good relations with him and his son. Here is such a story.
And: — Do you believe in the predestination of fate?
K: — Yes, I believe it. In general, I believe that each of us is here to find a way to yourself, to know yourself. Each of us has a predisposition to something that we do, through which we recognize ourselves. In my case, I follow my nature exactly.
And: - Judging by this story, you very clearly hear your inner Katya, which guides you: "Katya, go to the exhibition. Katya, talk to grandfather. Katya, take a chance."
K: — I believe that people do a lot of things unconsciously, following their predestined nature. Following intuitively. Often when a person asks the question: "What should I do? I can't find myself," you have to wait. Each person will come to the answer to this question perfectly accurately and intuitively, and he will fulfill his mission. No matter how the threads are twisted, they will still lead to what you must do with your life.
And: — Earlier, we talked a lot with you about him. Tell us about how it happened in your life and how it affects you today.
K: — I came to him because of inner pain, because of loss. There was a close person in my life, a friend who left when I was 23 or 24, and it was a shock for me. Due to my youth, this was my first contact with the death of a loved one and a very serious shock. I urgently needed to get some answers, I wanted to understand if there is a continuation, if there is something bigger than the physical shell that we see. I began to devote a lot of time to reading on this topic - in search of some evidence for myself, to calm my mind.
As a result, six years after I began to be interested in this question, the path led me to a guru in India, who is currently, in my understanding, the only person who has the wisdom and experience to give qualified answers and practices to self-knowledge, global questions that personally concern me very much. Over time, it is very difficult to react to a situation philosophically when you are in it, and you can look at it from a different angle only when you are already at a distance from it. Probably, this situation was given to me in order for me to find this way.
And: — Listening to you, I come to the conclusion that your decision on the way to yourself and your professional decision are two parallel, but at the same time synchronized processes. How do you get along with such different Kats?
K: — This is very much about self-acceptance. You understand that commerce and spirituality conflict with each other. Often you can lose yourself in this business - the spiritual part suffers. But I have answers for myself and for these questions too — this is my nature. I have to realize myself both in business and in the spiritual direction. Of course, this conflict sometimes arises again in my head, but in these cases I remind myself that this is my nature.
Now I'm more interested in commercial issues - and I'm all about it.
When I satisfy this part, I will return to the spiritual. I began to accept this in myself, because I understand that I am not in conflict with my nature - this is what my planets and my horoscope, which I studied, say. We all follow the path that we have on a subconscious level. Everything is answered within us - sometimes we unconsciously answer questions with our actions, continuing to move in the right direction. It is difficult to connect these dots instantly, but after the passage of time you begin to understand why it happened exactly like that.
And: — Let's now move on to my favorite part of short questions and answers. Your favorite part of the day?
K: — Evening. Relaxation period. And a lot of ideas come to me in the evening - while watching a movie or during meditation.
And: — What is your favorite trait in yourself?
K: — Peace.
And: — What is your least favorite trait in people?
K: — Rudeness.
And: — What is your favorite pastime?
K: — Journey.
And: — Dinner or breakfast?
K: — Already breakfast, and before that it was dinner, because it was the only meal. I once lived in such a mode.
And: — I think that all people sooner or later come to the fact that breakfast is an important part of the day.
K: — 100%. For me, today's breakfast is the most delicious and the most useful. But once I couldn't have breakfast, it was physically uncomfortable for me to eat in the morning, and before that I was always running. It's not that I didn't eat on purpose - I didn't have such a need, I just had dinner.
And: — What is your favorite food?
K: — Avocado toast has been my favorite for many years.
And: — Your main achievement as a mother?
K: — I believe that my mission with Sonya is to raise in her an independent and self-sufficient person, a personality. Not a girl or a woman — it has nothing to do with gender. She must be independent and self-sufficient, she must be comfortable with herself, she must stand on her feet, regardless of the situation.
And: — How did clothing become an important part of your life?
K: — This, most likely, I have from my mother. She always loved shopping, took me with her, always dressed me well. I liked how my mother dressed, I always watched and admired her style and the images she came up with. The environment in which I grew up, in addition to my family, also influenced my style - there was a cult of clothes in our school, and from the first grade. The parents of the children paid a lot of attention to this - apparently, they had a competition between themselves. Therefore, I remember that I felt very good in new clothes. Going to school in new clothes, I received compliments and felt very good about myself. I have a story from my life, which now causes me mixed feelings about clothes. As a child, I spent every summer at my grandmother's house with my cousin. I was there dressed like a dacha: T-shirt, shorts, and ran. I remember, we had very fashionable rollerbladers in our area, and among them was a super talented roller - a nice guy who I really liked. I looked at his skills and decided that I needed to learn roller skating. I bought myself roller skates, learned to ride perfectly, but did not attract much attention to myself. Later, we were invited to a joint birthday - a neighborhood party, and I decided to dress up in my best, as they say. And that evening, the boy confessed his love to me.
And: — That's how it works!
K: — But it completely turned me away from him on the same day. Therefore, I have a mixed feeling about how much you need this attribute. The right balance is important to me, so that the clothes you wear do not cover your personality.
I want people to see me, not the clothes I wear.
And: — Tell me about your acquaintance with Ogonka.
K: — When Ogonyok first opened, I was one of the first customers. At that time, we did not know Vykoy Ogonyok at all. I even remember the first dress I bought from Vyka - the AKHMADULLINA dress, on March 8. Vika then, not knowing me, offered me a rather generous discount, I was very pleased. Since then, we started talking, I started buying things from Vyky, and it all turned into a warm friendship. For me, Ogonyok is not a clothing store, it's space, it's people, it's a connection, a lot of common thoughts, a vision of things. You yourself know how I like to come to your place and just sit, even though I have somewhere to sit. I really like how Ogonyok develops organically. Moreover, in addition to everything that I have listed, and the fact that most of the things in my wardrobe are from Ogonyok, I can safely say that Ogonyok gave me a start in my business. The first pop-up event with decorations that I held was in Ogonka. Before that, I met people in a cafe where I could show my magic box, and I laid it out at Vyka's — and we made a very successful pop-up. That is, we have a connection that has sprouted roots.
The end
I want to once again congratulate all readers on the holiday of spring! Let this special day be filled with the same lightness as our conversation with Katya was imbued with. I hope you found something that resonated with you in this interview. Below, according to tradition, are some useful recommendations from Katya.
Here is Katya:
Favorite book: Yogananda " Autobiography of a Yogi".
Favorite place for breakfast: " Gaia " restaurant.
Advice to our readers: Look at life philosophically and with a smile. Learn its lessons to develop further. Learn to listen to yourself and not be afraid to act.
Accept yourself and others as nature intended.