I have known Kaja Kulinicz for many years. I met her as a violinist when she was a student in a second level music school. After years of studying and practicing music, she graduated from the violin department of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Her persistence to improve, incredible creativity and liberal approach towards music could be heard in her performances. Even though she studied classical and contemporary composers, she used to play very ambitious music that came from a completely different style i.e. progressive and avant-garde metal. I think that her openness to new things, creativity and determination empowered her to follow a new path in her life. This new path led to technology….and fairy tales.
Kaja’s childhood was full of stories told by her mother. There were wonderful and almost entirely improvised stories, full of unusual and funny creatures living extraordinary adventures. The idea of sharing these stories was born more or less four years ago. Three people – Kaja and a very tech-skilled couple – proved to be enough to build a platform for illustrated audiobooks. This is how “Loloki” composed of about 240 original works developing imagination and knowledge for very young children started. However, the road to success was not easy. At the very beginning, it turned out that there were many new skills and competencies required to design tools, acquire strategic partners, write, illustrate and record stories.
Not giving in to pressure and tireless work were instrumental in the kick off of the portal which gets new subscribers every month now. Also, it made me realize how lucky I am to be friends with such a remarkable person. Kaja once told me: „If at a concert you have to play a very difficult piece at a fast pace, even if you have been practicing it for many hours, there is always a risk of error. That’s why the best you can do is just play on.” Since I think this is a very important lesson, I wanted to share it with you.
Filip Szumowski, journalist
Editor’s note: Kaja Kulinicz will be interviewed for the next edition of W Insight.
Letter translated by: Aga Kopeć
W Insight 