Kristina Karlsson

Kristina Karlsson built one of the most recognisable Swedish design brands in the world, kikki.K, serving as its founder and creative director for more than two decades before later launching Dream Life, a movement now followed by people in over 160 countries.

Her story began on a small farm in rural Sweden. At 22, she found herself starting a new life on the other side of the world, far from family and friends, with very little money and no clear direction. Rather than let that uncertainty define her, she began writing her dreams down on paper and setting out to make them real, a simple practice that eventually led her and her partner Paul to sell everything they owned to launch kikki.K, a stationery and design business that grew into retail stores and an online presence serving customers across more than 150 countries.

Over the following 20 years, until the business changed hands in 2021, Kristina became the creative force and public personality behind what was widely regarded as an authentic, founder-led brand, one shaped directly by her personal philosophy and distinctive Swedish design aesthetic. The Covid pandemic brought genuine turmoil for the business, and Kristina eventually parted ways with kikki.K under difficult, heartbreaking circumstances, an experience she now speaks about candidly on stage.

That chapter has since given her the freedom to return to the work she loves most, leading a small creative team with a mission to help people rediscover and chase their own dreams. Her current ambition is to inspire more than 101 million people to write their dreams down on paper and begin bringing them to life, driven by her belief that the simple act of dreaming can genuinely help make the world a better place, one person at a time. Based in Melbourne, Kristina is available for keynotes and events internationally.