Karisa Lima (Entrepreneur)

What gets you excited about life?

I get very excited by the endless opportunities to learn and discover new things. I also love culture and I can’t say no to new experiences, as they always end up teaching me something.

What do you wish you spent more time doing five years ago?

I wish I could have spent more time with my family.

I came to Canada four years ago, and as an immigrant it is not easy to see them. It's easy to take these things for granted until you can't have them as readily as you once did.

What life lesson did you learn the hard way?

That time does not stop for you to figure yourself out, or literally figure out anything. Learning how to appreciate time and people were things that I had to learn the hard way, like experiencing homesickness and feeling regret for not “fully enjoying” some moments.

Enjoy the people that you love while you have them, and truly experience those moments in the present.

Be there! Life sometimes goes at such a fast pace and you can easily lose track of time. Make sure you make the most of the present, don’t be stuck in the past or only dream of the future.

What are you most grateful for?

I am most grateful for my family and friends. All the things I have experienced in life wouldn’t be the same without the people I have shared those moments with.

How has the pandemic changed your life? How did you cope?

The pandemic forced me to focus on developing my personal projects and working hard in other areas of my life that I was not able to focus on before.

I try my best to approach situations with a positive attitude, but of course it was a mental challenge to concentrate and keep working as you have no clue what will happen next.

But besides graduating from college, I was able to find a business partner and started a small business on Etsy called Owl Joy Creations. A positive of the pandemic was that we were really able to focus on making that business a reality.

When you are 80-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

That I lived my life without regrets.

Tell us something about your business/brand Owl Joy Creations? How did it start? and what inspired you to build it?

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and this is not my first experience with a small business. Before I moved to Canada, I used to run a small business in Brazil to help me raise money to pay for my schooling here.

My business partner and I started