So excited to be back with another Brunch Babes! Ya’ll know I love me some breakfast food and creative entrepreneur talk!
Today I’m thrilled to be spending the morning with Kaeleigh of Cair Paravel & Co! She has been a part of my life since I was a wee little one and I have loved watching her journey as a creative and business owner! She is so talented ya’ll! Let’s jump right in!
Introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you do?
Greetings! My name is Kaeleigh Joy Gjeltema and I am a heart happy, creative. I own my own photography and design company, Cair Paravel & Co, where I provide a myriad services and products. I do portraiture, wedding, and creative conceptual photography, graphic/logo design, and I have my own stationary line. I live with my husband in a very old farmhouse with a white picket fence and we couldn’t dream of being anywhere else. When I’m not working I enjoy playing with my ducks, watching Frasier, kayaking, drinking tea, and eating Thai food.Â
For real guys, her house is dreamy!
What are your favorite brunch foods? Any recipes to share?
My favorite brunch food would have to be breakfast empanadas from San Chez Bistro, in downtown Grand Rapids. Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking about them! Otherwise I think a good donut will always make a heart happy when searching for food at anytime of day.
If you are in Grand Rapids and haven’t been to San Chez, Kaeleigh is right, go there now!!
Tell us how Cair Paravel & Co came to be?
I grew up in a creative household with my father being a designer and photographer so I had lots of resources for creating. In high school I would borrow my father’s camera to do fun shoots with my friends, which turned into me doing senior shoots for my friends, and then I just never stopped shooting. I found my own flow and creative concepts just started pouring out of me. I did three years of college for everything except photography, got married, and my husband actually made me quit everything and focus on my business. I would be nowhere without my husband, Max. His support is what has carried me through to now. I have had the freedom and the time to not only focus on photography, but expand to beloved logo design and watercolor painting for my stationary.Â
Okay, the name! Love!! What made you choose this C.S. Lewis reference for the name of your brand?
As a child I was always enamored with fairytales and fantasy. My room was laced with fairies and paintings of mythological creatures. My father used to read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe with me and I think that story holds a dear spot in everyone’s heart who reads it. Cair Paravel is the name of the castle in Narnia and I couldn’t think of a better title for my company. A place where people were not only safe, but cherished, and where true magic happened.
Pulling the heart strings, I tell ya.
What does an average day look like for you?
 You recently became a mom of 3 baby ducks! So cute! What has this been like?
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my job is actually shooting my creative work, bringing a concept, that you have sketched and refined, to life. It truly is a magical experience that never gets old. There is an energy, when people create together, that is very bonding. This energy can come when doing a creative shoot or doing portraits with a bride. It’s opening a window between people to say “wait, let me show you what I see.”
I just LOVE that way of describing it!!! Yes! Yes! Yes!
I get a lot of inspiration from keeping my phone in my pocket and my eyes open. We are constantly surrounded by beauty and we all miss it sometimes. I also know that when I’m stuck I need to reach out. Good friends, like Katie Grace, help ground me and lift me up at the same time. I also try my best to not let my paid work affect my creative work. If I have a raw feeling I need to express, positive or negative, I see it as an opportunity to shape it into an image, and separate it from myself to help me process. Beauty is not always bright and colorful. Beauty can be shown in the form of raw depth, honesty, and pain. We create not to be stagnant in those feelings but to process them and move forward. You will always find new inspirations by moving forward.
1. A bathing suit. You know not what adventures lie ahead! And I am ALWAYS up for a dip.
2. My phone. Not because I have to be on social media but because I have a bad habit of letting my gas run out and getting stuck places. #shoutout to anyone who has come to rescue me or who has been a victim of my bad habits. Haha
3. I would love to say my camera, but I often don’t carry it with me because sometimes I feel it gets in the way of me truly experiencing the world, and I seek to experience it in the most sincerest form. Â So my final answer will be a few bucks in my wallet. Thrift stores and donut shops are always calling my name.Â
 What is something you can’t stop telling people about?
The baby hippo, Fiona, at the Cincinnati Zoo. Â I actively disapprove of zoos and aquariums because I do not believe that healthy animals should be held captive and often donate to organizations fighting animal cruelty and capture. I’ll be honest though, baby Fiona stole my heart and it is a joy to watch her grow everyday.
Any guilty pleasures?
So many. Haha Hot Cheetos are like my favorite junk food in the world but they literally destroy my body. Needless to say I don’t eat them often. But they are hard for me to say no to. My other most common guilty pleasure is the Thai restaurant down the road from me. I eat there at least once a week, sometimes more, and am often alone while doing so. They know my name. #noshameÂ
Kaeleigh and I share a mutual and deeply rooted love of cheetos. I want some now!
If you could have brunch with anybody who would it be?
This is a difficult question. Admittedly, the first person to come to my mind was Peter Pan. But I’m going to have to say either Richard Avedon or with my 75 year old self (since time obviously isn’t an issue ;).
Kaeleigh, thank you so much for joining us today! It has truly been a joy! Be sure to check out Kaeleigh and her duck children everywhere below!
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