LOCAL: Brands, Businesses + Entrepreneurs | #16 | Scandinative
Kitsap is full of incredible brands, businesses and entrepreneurs who make shopping for unique items in Kitsap a fun adventure.
About Vada
What was your first job?
“Outside of babysitting, my first real job was as a cashier at a tiny little burger stand in Chelan, WA called 'Lakeview Drive-In' when I was 15.”
Where do you draw inspiration/creativity in your life?
“I spend a lot of time on Instagram browsing other artists work, as well as Pinterest— but I feel like most of my work just comes to me in the moment, or is the reaction of something emotional I am dealing with, or a certain lyric in a song I heard struck me a little too hard.”
About Scandinative
How did the idea of starting Scandinative begin?
“I feel like I am just now starting to treat what I do as a business, though I have been doing it all for as long as I can remember. I feel like it's just been a slow and steady evolution of who I am as a person. I have always had a deep obsession with art, always with a paintbrush in hand and flecks of paint in my hair. The Makeup / Photography side of my business has also just been a slow and steady growth. It started with a friend asking me to do her makeup for her wedding, another friend asking me to help her photograph her first wedding and it’s just slowly grown from there.”
The Genesis
Tell us the story of how Scandinative came to fruition.
“I believe I am still in the process of things ‘coming to fruition’ — there has never been a clearly defined starting point. I’ve been selling art / creating websites / taking photos / doing makeup since childhood. I suppose the earliest moment I can remember would be when my father brought home an early version of Adobe Photoshop on a CD Rom and a book about HTML when I was about 11 or 12 and I spent the entire summer teaching myself how to use Photoshop and build Myspace templates. From there I had friends that would ask me to do their makeup for school dances or take senior portraits for them, and things have just grown steadily since.”
Tell us what/who drives you to keep working hard towards your goals.
“I come from a very chaotic/abusive upbringing. Most of my motivation stems from a finely attuned survival instinct and the desire to make something of myself despite my upbringing and where I’ve come from.”
Love Kitsap
Tell us your fave local drink spot - coffee, tea, wine, tequila, whatever!
“I just moved here in July (in the middle of a pandemic) so I haven’t actually been inside a local building for drinks, though I regularly get my morning coffee from the Reality Coffee stand. I should probably be paying close attention to other people’s responses.” :)
Live Kitsap
Out of town guests are coming for the weekend. What is the most important thing you share with them about Kitsap? Where do you absolutely have to take them?
“I’ve spent quite a bit of time getting lost on the Illahee Preserve and would probably take them on a walk around those trails.”
Thrive in Kitsap
Where are your favorite place(s) to get outside. What do you do when you go?
“I go on lots of walks with my husky Clover around the Illahee Preserve and Illahee State Park.
our connections + friendships with local brands, businesses + entrepreneurs is something that makes living in kitsap truly unique. You aren’t just supporting a business, you’re growing relationships.
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