The Beginning of Saulīte Studios

Saulīte Studios started pretty casually.

I was working at a cute little coffee shop in Decorah, Iowa while I was at Luther. Our social media manager quit unexpectedly, so I asked if I could take over. I was surprised that my manager allowed me to, but I LOVED it. I enjoyed curating posts, planning events, U learned a lot on the fly, and it pushed me to think more intentionally about visuals and how businesses show up online.

Working at the coffee shop meant meeting a lot of wonderful people and small business owners. One of them was a woman who wanted to take her jewelry store online. She needed a website, so we talked and I was happy to do it. It was the first website I built outside of my computer science classes. After that, more people started asking for help with websites and branding.

At the time, I was more focused on photography, so I didn’t take web or brand design as seriously as I do now. It was something I liked doing, but it wasn’t my main focus yet.

A couple of years ago, I started working with a company I really cared about. That experience helped me realize how much good design and consistency actually matter, and that’s when Saulīte Studios started to grow more intentionally.

I still work my 9–5, but Saulīte Studios is the work I’m most excited about. It’s where I get to be creative, work with people I care about, and build something slowly and thoughtfully.

That’s how it started, and that’s where it’s going! I can't wait to see where this leads :)

xx Karisa