Karepango's Philosophy of Communal Dining and Taking Leaps of Faith
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Time to read 4 min
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Time to read 4 min
I'm Emu! I'm based in Brooklyn, New York, but I was previously in Chicago and the Bay Area. I am the creator of Karepango, an apparel and lifestyle brand featuring original characters with cheerful messaging. Last year I got my Sake Sommelier certification!
I wanted to create a brand that was reflective of the same loud and proud lifestyle I want to have. I’m an introvert by nature, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zones and be unapologetic about who I am and how I am where I am today. Today, the purpose of my brand is to invite everyone to the same dinner table, family style. I want to invite the world to dine with me and for everyone to come as they are.
The Taiwanese and Japanese cultures I come from have ingrained the idea of the family-style dining table into me where the best gatherings happen from unintended conversations, connections, and memories over good food. However, I did not grow up in a stable household or family so it was difficult for me to find where I could feel the “family style” I wanted to have. And so, I turned to the world. I turned to the communities that adopted me and I finally found the “family style” I was looking for. The “family style” came in the meals and the days when I least expected them, and that’s the magic of dining at the same table.
My brand is grounded in Taiwanese and Japanese hospitality but inviting of everyone who might stop by along the way. Its loud designs encourage the magic of finding the smallest joys in everyday life, intended to bring a smile in the most unexpected times. We can always find reason to laugh if we look hard enough.
It’s cliche, but life has truly taken me in directions I would never have expected 5 years ago.
However, my life looked very different up until less than a year ago. Up until less than a year ago, I was working in tech by day and managing a restaurant by night. On the weekends, I would work on my brand. I always straddled myself between three “jobs” — my tech job to pay the bills, my restaurant job to fulfill my hospitality passions, and my brand to satisfy my creative passions. Unfortunately, that lifestyle no longer became sustainable after I landed in the ER from overwork a few months ago. This turning point forced me to re-evaluate my life's priorities, and where I wanted to spend my energy.
"I decided to spend the next chapter of my life purely on creating art that I can be proud of and can stand behind."
Without a doubt, my biggest area of growth in the past 12 months has been in prioritizing myself. It has been a challenge to believe in myself and the leaps of faith that I am taking in my life, but I do not want to be hesitant or second-guess the decisions that I make. If I were to be hit by a truck tomorrow morning, I want to know that I did everything I wanted to do the day before. I want to be proud of who I was when I leave this world, and that begins with being proud of myself while I still am here.
Growing up, my environment and community constantly compared us with one another, creating an extremely low sense of self-esteem in me despite any of the accomplishments or achievements I had. I was raised to believe that I could never be good enough so I would need to work endlessly on improving myself. Though I may never be able to completely divorce myself from the past and the habits ingrained in me, I hope to slowly but surely build up that broken self-esteem from the younger version of me. I want to be able to accept compliments gracefully and forgive myself when things don’t turn out how I want them to. I’m already so proud of myself and the growing faith I have in me everyday.
When I first began Karepango, it wasn’t anything serious. However, I’m honestly really proud of myself for turning it into the six-figure business that it is today within a year of operations. I know a part of me is still hesitant because of the “starving artist” mantra I grew up around, but a larger part of me wants to prove to the younger version of me that I can do this.
I’m passionate about a lot, and I have to thank the past version of me for doing something about feeling like a fish out of water. I have to thank past me for taking the leap of faith in myself and letting myself just try something new. Whether it’s with moving to NYC, starting my brand, writing a book, being vocal about mental health and my experiences… my life is a story of all the bets I’ve made on myself, and this version of myself that I’m learning and building from each one.
I’m hoping to grow this brand to be much more than I can fathom now, at the start of the year. I’m still figuring out its direction, but largely I want to focus on expanding within retail and wholesale opportunities. Despite being based in New York, I am planning on building roots on the West Coast as well.
Website: karepango.com
