Meet Kate Kellogg Kim Richter | Owners & Designers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kate Kellogg Kim Richter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate Kellogg, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The seed for our business was planted years ago when, together, we first learned about the spiritual, vibrational, and healing powers of a gemstone mala. Through our own journey we learned how to use the energy of the mala in our everyday lives to create positivity, set intentions, and manifest our dreams. While enjoying the powerful benefits of our own malas we decided to put our creative talents together to design Radiant Malas. Our intention is to share what we’ve learned about the vibrational power of gemstones and how working with and wearing a mala can support you in your steps towards deeper self-awareness and inner-transformation.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
All of our malas are made by us in our Boulder, Colorado studio. We curate each one using hand-selected, high quality gemstone beads, a unique guru bead and a hand- tied tassel. We use the traditional over-hand knotting technique – a simple, strong knot between each bead. Radiant Malas are all one-of-a-kind made with love and intention. We source all of our beads from a trusted vendor who has their own production facilities to ensure high-quality, ethically sourced crystals. We pride ourselves on choosing the the highest quality gemstone beads and we love finding unique guru beads – some sourced from a local vendor, some sourced from specialty shops found on our travels. Our process is thoughtful and creative. Our first step is to lay out all of the beads and cleanse them with sage. Then we work creatively to choose a complimentary guru bead, knotting thread and tassel thread. (We also hand make make each and every tassel.) Throughout this process, and the knotting production process, we play mantras, meditate and work together. We consider our work to be a spiritual art form.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There is so much to see and do in Boulder. We’ve lived here for more than 25 years and have experienced it all! But during these last few months of Covid restrictions, we’ve focused on being outside as much as possible. If a dear friend were to visit now, we’d take her on one of our favorite hikes right out our back door or head up to Rocky Mountain National Park to a high mountain lake. After a good day of being outside, we’d head downtown for tacos and a margarita at one of our 2 favorite restaurants, T/aco and Rio Grande – both on Walnut St. The next day we might take it down a notch and go to an outdoor yoga class with Patricia, visit our favorite local shops on Pearl St., and head up to Chautauqua for a picnic in the park. For a final fun day we’d go for a mountain bike ride over at Marshall Mesa, relax in our back yards and end the day with a drive-in movie at Red Rocks. Now that we think about it – these are things we’d do even if Covid restrictions weren’t in place!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our dear friend, Patricia Gipple has been our yoga teacher and spiritual / meditation mentor for years. Through her teachings and practices, we were able to tap into our own spiritual journeys. We became curious about ways to support our meditation and mindfulness practices and discovered the spiritual and healing powers of crystals and gemstone malas. It was on a yoga retreat with Patricia that the idea to create a business around our passion of making hand-knotted malas came to light. She has been an ongoing source for guidance and support throughout our journey.

Website: https://radiantmalas.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radiantmalas/