This November, after months of hard work, Teakie.com finally came to life. Inspired by salty tiki huts and a love for all people, Teakie is a curated marketplace of digital goods and services, directory of talented creatives and educational blog devoted to helping people and businesses build their brands online.

Ever since I was a little girl, I was a highly sensitive, perceptive and curious person. Right and left brained. Good at math, loved the arts. I had dreams of becoming an actress, but having lived through financial difficulties growing up, that path was quickly dismissed in lieu of more “professional pursuits.”

My parents often told me I’d make a good lawyer. Looking back, I’m not so sure about that (entrepreneurship seems right up my alley). Nonetheless, I ended up pursuing a similar corporate career but in finance. Mergers and acquisitions. Valuations. Financings. While the analytic (and business) person inside of me enjoyed this, it eventually came up short.

Truth be told, I wasn’t fulfilled. I missed using my creative and entrepreneurial side.  I missed making things with my hands. But most of all, I missed making an impact on real people every single day. I wanted to work with more passion, more purpose and more creativity and help others to do the same.

A creative at heart, I turned to the web and discovered the world of design and digital media. Before I knew it, it blossomed into a full-fledged passion.

I taught myself to build websites on WordPress, design on Adobe, use social media and learned the ropes from scratch. And I met a community of passionate creatives and entrepreneurs along the way.

This led me to realize that more tools were needed to connect and empower people to pursue their dreams. It inspired me to create a space to share knowledge, create connections and help others navigate the digital era in a fraction of the time.

Inspired by salty tiki huts and a love for all people, Teakie.com was born. Teakie is a curated marketplace of digital goods and services (Teakie Shop), a directory of talented creative professionals (Teakie Tribe) and educational blog (Teakie Academy) devoted to helping people market their businesses and blogs online.

What does that mean? Well, our marketplace has premium website themes for WordPress and Squarespace, gorgeous fonts, social media and ebook templates and more amazing items to help you save time, money and look great online. Our directory is filled with talented people ready to help with your next project (and growing!). For the rest? You’ve got the Academy. So if you’re looking to learn how to build a website (or see if yours is up to today’s standard!). Create an e-commerce business. Brand yourself. Use social media. Build your email list. Generate traffic. And cultivate a community of happy, loyal followers, fans and customers. We’re here for you.

You see, my experience has shown me that people that are fulfilled build happier homes, stronger companies and, ultimately, greater societies. That business is an important force for good. And when creativity, integrity and meaning are added to the equation, remarkable things can happen.

I believe in changing the way businesses are run so that people, and not resources, are at the core of it. I believe in doing all things wholeheartedly and with heart, or not at all.

Our mission is simple. To empower people to do work they love. And we do that by giving them the tools and resources they need to get there.

Connect with us over on Instagram and Facebook! Don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can help you in any way.

This post was originally published on daynaelyse.com on November 17, 2017.