Episode #60 - Kana Meilicke Sugiyama
This episode was recorded on 11.09.2024 in the studio of Sébastien (#1)
in Kunstfabrik HB55 in Berlin, Lichtenberg.
Name: Kana Meilicke Sugiyama, @kaiko_artisans
Topics: handcraft, supporting women, entrepreneur, travel, diplomat, international, parenthood, Buddhism, Islam, Tokyo, London, New York, Berlin
Landed in Berlin: summer 2017
I am very happy and grateful to have had the opportunity to record this conversation with Kana. We met about two years ago at a conference on the importance of corporate culture in times of crisis. Looking back, it said a lot about our dreams and actions in life.
At the time, Kana had just founded Kaikô: she sells handmade products and supports the women who make them. In this episode, discover the entrepreneur, the mother, the ex-diplomat and surfer to be, but above all a passionate, friendly and visionary person. Have fun!
Notes from episode #60
Kana was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She studied law and worked at international organisations for refugees, and for the right of women and children in developing countries. She experienced and believes those countries preserve their culture and human relationships than so called developed ones.
During a trip to Rwanda, she discovered a group of women with disability sewing baskets in a unique way and decided to support them by setting up an online shop and starting a business to promote the sale of their creations.
Kaikô is about serendipity, the miracle of every encounter and how life can redirect your path to bring you ever closer to your true self. Kana gracefully takes us on her journey from Japan to Europe, through America, Asia, Africa and how she combines a new job with the daily life as a mother of four.
And also:
- I.S.I. Initiative Selbständiger Immigrantinnen e.V.
- Harvard Business Review
- Arte documentary about IKEA
- Kaikô’s blog
- SEP shop in Berlin
- Factory Network
More about the guest
Date of your arrival in Berlin: summer 2017
Why did you come to Berlin? Family reason
What do you like the most about Berlin? Spacious streets and interesting, unconventional people
What bothers you the most? a very blunt reply from Berliners
What are your 3 favorite places in Berlin? At the moment:
- NOVEMBER Brasserie (a Japanese restaurant)
- Schlüterstrasse
- Prenzlauer Berg
What is the most Berlin-like thing about you? being creative
Your recipe for a successful integration? Learn the language… (which I haven’t mastered!)
Your recipe for homesickness? To be grateful that you have home to long for.
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Anyone who is stuck and seeking something new, especially mothers
Do you want to add anything? I wanted to say this in the podcast but I didn’t! Be curious, not judgmental, and everything else will follow