We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina Katz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christina, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I’ve often wondered if it would be easier to have a “normal” job. One where I can just clock in, do my job, and when I clock out I don’t have to think about it until my next workday. I won’t sugar coat it, being a business owner is hard as hell. You’re never “done” with the work you just basically work constantly. And when you’re not working you’re thinking about work and what you still have to get done the next day. It never ends. There’s always something new to do, some new mountain to climb or problem to solve.

There have been days I wanted to quit and just get a job working for someone else. And a few times I acted on that impulse. Sometimes taking up to a year away from my business. And the reality I ran into time and time again? It’s not easier. Just a different kind of difficult.

It’s difficult to conform to office politics, to be managed by people who can and will replace you at the drop of a hat, to work in a space that doesn’t “fulfill” your sense of self or purpose. You see, no job is without a struggle. In fact that’s not how anything in life works. Anything worth having or doing is going to take some form of effort and struggle to achieve. You want to be happy in your job or business? You’re going to have to strive for it whether you’re running a coffee shop or working for a Fortune 500 company. That’s just life. The better question is would you rather work your arse off for some other boss that couldn’t give less of a damn if you dropped dead at your desk the next day, or do you want to build your own space where you can thrive on your own terms?

I build my own business so that I could thrive in a space made for me doing what I love. The rules I set are my own, I get to set the pace and choose who I work with and when. I have never been happy in a “regular” job, and I never will be. There are many souls out there who are perfectly happy chugging away 9-5 in an office building but me? I’m one of those goofy souls who like to have a say in how I make a living and support my family and I chose to do it by following my passion. It’s hard, it’s grueling, sometimes it’s devastating but the highs are more powerful than any lows being a business owner can bring and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’ve never been happier than when I’m at my bench bringing to life a new design.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hello! If you haven’t heard of me before, my name is Christina. I’m the owner/designer/everything else of Luna Flora Designs. To put the intro simply, I’m a Jewish mother, wife, creator, and fantasy nerd.

I created this brand back in 2020, where I design and hand craft one of a kind high fantasy inspired fine jewelry. I draw inspiration from many places; nature, literature, fantasy realms, and the Art Nouveau era. My goal is to create heavenly fine jewelry that makes the wearer feel like the main character in their own fairytale. Whether on their wedding day, or at their day job, I hope my jewelry designs speak to the whimsical part of our souls that fall in love with stories of riding dragons, daring duels, high seas heists, and magical realms where magical creatures rule.

My start is a long and verbose journey, I began by taking any art class I could as a youth in search of the thing I wanted to do. My whole family are creatives/artists/tradespeople of all kinds, and I knew I wanted to create for a living, I just didn’t know WHAT. In my 20s I discovered metal smithing and decided to take a deep dive, but I didn’t have the funds needed for proper schooling on the subject. So I decided to hell with “tradition”, I was going to teach myself. So I gathered any books I could find on the subject, and slowly acquired the tools I’d need over the years and taught myself everything I know. I’m very proud of this fact, because it was the long way around, but for me at the time it was the only path to my goal. I fell in love with the art form almost immediately.

Since then metalworking has become my whole world. I don’t feel right on days I’m not at my bench creating something new. All of my designs are born of my deep love of nature, faith, literature, history, and magic.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Well that’s a wonderful question! Because I’m in the middle of doing so right now. Back in 2020, when the pandemic first hit I had been going to art shows to sell my work for years. Back then I sold resin and dried flower jewelry and some simpler metalwork pieces. but when the shutdown happened all the art shows were suddenly closed off to me, and those were my main source of income. I ended up finding an office job for the interim where I was moderately happy and it kept my husband and I fed and housed, but I still continued to hone my craft on my days off.

Over the course of the pandemic I had the chance to really sit down and practice and really flesh out what style I wanted to create and what brand I wanted to bring to life. Just as I was about to come back to the art scene and had really started to build up an online presence, I found out I was pregnant! This was wonderful, but due to my various disabilities it rendered me unable to work for the majority of my pregnancy and for some time after. By the time I came back to the art scene, everything had changed. My work was infinitely better than it had ever been, and thus more expensive to sell. Art shows had also become far more expensive and stressful, and due to my disabilities and having a newborn; I could no longer do the hard work it takes to set up a show booth every week.

On top of that, my clientele was no longer frequenting the shows I did and I seriously struggled to break even at every show. Cut to 2025, and I have a new plan. I’m currently in the process of trying to open my own small jewelry store here in Oregon! I’ve found a tiny space just big enough for my store where I am attempting to create a jewelry shop like never before seen. I want it to look and feel like patrons just entered a portal into a boutique in a fantasy world!

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I currently sell on my own website! All my current designs can be found at lunafloradesigns.com. There’s also a page for custom order requests and if you would like to keep up with the store opening journey I highly recommend either following me on TikTok or Instagram @lunafloradesigns, or you can sign up for our email list on the website!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Lunafloradesigns.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/lunafloradesigns
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/lunafloradesigns
• Other: TikTok: @lunafloradesigns

Image Credits

All images taken by Christina Katz of Luna Flora Designs and are copyright to Luna Flora Designs.