Name: Mackenzie Ehlers
Age: 26
Title: Owner & Founder of Unika Collections, and Ice Cream Lover!
Married/Single: married
Kids: not yet!
City you live in: Phoenix
A typical day in my life includes…
I always try to start my day at Barre3, which is a local fitness studio. Then I am able to face my email inbox and take some time for my business social media. Once all that is out of the way, I am finally able to CREATE. This looks different every single day…sometimes it means creating graphics for a bride’s invitation suite on my computer, sometimes it means making signage for local restaurants or sometimes it means painting custom handlettered doormats for my Etsy page. Every day is unique and I love that!
I was born…
in a small mountain town called Bend, which is right in the center of Oregon!
My favorite thing about Arizona…
since I am from Oregon, I still geek out every day when I see cactus. I always feel like each one has its own personality.
I’m listening to…
all kinds of different things, I am all over the place! A favorite artist of mine right now is Lauren Daigle.
My family…
means so much to me! I moved here with my sister in 2015 and my parents ended up following us to Phoenix too. So now I have my whole family here with me, and all of my in-laws are here too! My husband and I joke that we don’t actually have any friends, we just end up bouncing between our family members’ homes!
If I could have dinner with anyone, it would be…
Kristen Bell. Love her.
One thing I cannot live without…
my laptop! Boring answer, but a lot of my life lives on that thing.
When I was younger, I wanted to be…
a teacher.
I’m inspired by…
nature! I am a sucker for sunsets in particular. Also, I find myself incredibly inspired by other people that are finding success in a creative industry. I think artists in general used to be poo poo-ed at, and it is awesome to live in a culture today that supports local artists as well as entrepreneurs. It takes a lot of guts and discipline, so I have respect for people who are doing it and ROCKING it!
The one person who motivates me is…
my husband, Josh. He is constantly the one supporting me, encouraging me, and grounding me through all the highs and lows of owning a business. Most importantly, he keeps me laughing through it all!
If I could change anything in the world, it would be…
to supply food and water to everyone in the world. The fact that so many people are dying because they don’t have access to clean water to drink devastates me, especially since we have so much here.
The perfect day would be…
getting to sleep in, go to barre3, a huge BRUNCH, getting to be with family and friends all day, and ending the day watching This Is Us on the couch with my husband while eating pizookie from Oregano’s. DREAMY.
My first job was…
Jamba Juice! I loved it! Lots of smoothies and lots of fun people. I also got to wear a banana suit on the daily – ha!
My favorite escape…
getting out in nature…a hike or a walk generally.
My life…
is not what I ever imagined it being! But I am so content and thankful. I get to create every day, I live in a place with sunshine year round and I am surrounded by the people I love. How lucky am I???
I’m currently working on…
not getting caught up in comparison. My goal this year it to stay in my own lane and keep my blinders on!
Always…
eat dessert! Always, always, always!
Never…
eat hot dogs. Blegh.
Favorite Quote…
“Just because she is does not mean I am not.”
Biggest Dream…
my biggest dream is to get to the end of my life, know that I stewarded my gifts given to me well and that I used them to bless other people throughout my life.
My Pet Peeve(s)…
when people copy others without permission (this can get messy especially with posting work on social media)! ALSO, when people cross the streets while they are looking down on their phones. They never look up to see if anyone is coming and it not only horrifies me, but it drives me NUTS!
