“Creative space can be anywhere as long as you let yourself just be in the moment.”

— Angie Myung

Interview by Dan Golden

Angie Myung and her partner Ted Vadakan are the founders of the iconic Los Angeles design & lifestyle brand, Poketo. Together, they have developed a unique approach to living and working creatively that is expressed through the products they design, their home environment, and their circle of friends.

Dan: I’d love to start by talking about your book Creative Spaces, published by Chronicle Books.

Angie: From the title, it could come across as an interiors book, but it is more than that. It’s about the creatives that we’ve worked with or admired for the past seventeen years of running Poketo. We wanted to talk about creativity and artistic pursuits in general while featuring our friends and collaborators from an angle of spaces.

We can’t quite remember how the idea of spaces came about but being a 100% independent business, having the right space was always a challenge for us. From a tiny studio apartment in SF in 2003 to moving into Ted’s parents home in 2004 when we first moved down to LA, to working out of our home for 2 years, and moving into a loft space in DTLA in 2007 and outgrowing that and finally opening our brick and mortar shop in 2012 and several more since then, we’ve always had to juggle growing business, hiring more people, and growing out of spaces while also providing a good and inspiring working spaces for our employees and ourselves.

Poketo’s first brick and mortar location opened in 2012

So we also wanted to see how the creatives dealt with spaces, whether they are homes, studios, or both. We were also interested in how they differentiated their home from workspaces. For us, our shops tend to be very colorful with a lot of objects, but our home is completely different in that it’s very minimal with very few objects. The walls are all white with very few pieces of art, most of the furniture we have is made by friends and colleagues of ours, and the objects we display are things from our travels and artwork made by our friends.

Dan: How was it working with Chronicle?

Angie: Working with them was great. There have been talks in the past with different editors and publishers approaching us about writing a book but we never had the time or the energy to put together a proposal. But this time, we were lucky enough to not have to do that since our editor really championed us and the timing felt right enough that we felt ready for this huge undertaking.

Dan: Who are some of the creatives featured in the book?

Angie: We feature people from all disciplines and backgrounds. I wish we could have included all the fascinating and interesting people we’ve worked with over the past seventeen years of running Poketo. So it was challenging to cut it to twenty-three creatives. Several factors mattered when deciding who to include. They needed to have interesting stories to tell about their creative journeys with uniquely, naturally interesting spaces. Like we talked about before, this wasn’t meant to be an interior decoration book. We didn’t want staged, overly decorated and manicured, and unattainable homes that you see in decor magazines. We wanted to feature real working spaces and homes where they felt warm, lived in by real people.

Everyone from Sonoko Kasai, cook/Japanese food educator, sisters of Blockshop Textiles, lighting and furniture designer, Brendan Ravenhill, renown hip hop DJ and owner of Stones Throw Records, Chris Manak ( Peanut Butter Wolf), a dear friend, Eva Goicochea, founder of Maude, some of our favorite design couples, Jean & Dylan of of Ladies & Gentlemen, Adi Goodrich & Sean Pecknold of Sing Sing, and Terri & Adam of Chiaozza and Tamer of Bower & Caitlin Mociun of Mociun jewelry, and Tina Roth Eisenberg, of Tattly & Creative Mornings, Windy Chien, former owner our favorite record shop in SF turned textile artist and so many more.

Terri Chiao and Adam Frezza  of Chiaozza at home with their baby, Tove. Photo by Yerin Mok — Terri Chiao and Adam Frezza of Chiaozza at home with their baby, Tove. Photo by Yerin Mok

Dan: You describe creative space as “not purely physical, but a mental state of being where you feel free to be creative and to ultimately, be you.” Can you expand on this idea?

Angie: This is definitely a more philosophical point of view. Creative space can be anything that you give yourself to feel creative. Going to the park, coffee shop, or anywhere to read, write or draw but don’t bring your phone otherwise you might be tempted to look at it. We’re all guilty of this but the constant state of being busy, looking, scrolling, watching, listening, doing something doesn’t free your mind to be wondering, imagining, and just being bored. It’s no wonder how one place you can’t be using electronics, in the shower, is also the best place to think of a good idea. Creative space can be anywhere as long as you let yourself just be in the moment.

Dan: How would you describe Poketo?

Angie: I would describe Poketo as a brand, creative hub, retailer and a philosophy of living the
most creative and adventurous lives. At the current state, we own and operate 4 shops across Los Angeles, we design and make our own goods and wholesale them to hundreds of different retailers around the world. We also hold art shows and workshops by working with creatives of all disciplines. We collaborate with like-minded brands on licensing.

The thing that sets us apart is that Poketo is ever-changing, a living brand that shifts, grows, and expands. We’re small and completely independent, made up of twenty or so people, so we only answer by our own rules and are quick and nimble. We only have to be true to ourselves. Are we excited by what we’re doing now? Are we and our team having fun? If not, what can we do to change it and make it more exciting? Those are the questions we always ask ourselves.

Pens from Poketo’s Bauhaus inspired collection

Dan: I’d love to hear a bit about your backgrounds.

Angie: I grew up in Seoul, Korea until I immigrated to LA in 1988. I attended UCSD and got my BA in Communications and Minor in Chinese Studies. I lived in China from 1995- 1996, which was over twenty years ago, but culturally and economically, about 200 years ago.

Ted grew up in the OC, Laguna Hills, skating, and surfing his way through high school. He found his love for the film during college at UC Santa Cruz.

I first remember seeing him DJ’ing at a mutual friend’s new year’s party the last night of 2001. He was with someone and I had just started to date someone also. A few months later, I ran into him at his work. Ted was working at a non-profit post-production house that cut all the Sundance films and PBS documentaries. I was taking a few workshops there. We chatted for a bit and realized we had a ton of mutual friends in common. A few months after that Ted went away for a year on sabbatical, and while he was away, I kind of took over his job teaching youth. He came back a year later and took over the job that I was doing, essentially getting me laid off. (Haha!) But I didn’t really mind since he was a much better teacher and I was going back to school to study graphic design as my second degree at California College of the Arts.

We started dating pretty much right when he came back from his sabbatical. He didn’t have a place to live when he first came back so he moved in with me, and then I moved in with him and six months after dating, we found a tiny studio together in the Mission district of San Francisco right across from the Dolores Park. This tiny studio is where the idea of Poketo came about.

Dan: Who were some key creative influences/inspirations as you were coming up?

Angie: We both love to travel so we would travel to Asia and loved all the design shops selling beautiful housewares, stationery, and wished that we can bring everything home. We were especially inspired by Muji. They made everything from packaged food, clothing, stationery, to housewares with the very special Muji aesthetic throughout different categories. If you were a real Muji fan, you would never have to shop elsewhere. It was truly a one-stop-shop.

Multi-used retail spaces that are common in Asia also inspired us as well. So many retail shops in Asia combined everything into one. You would see so many coffee shops/cafe/restaurant/retail shop. You can spend hours in one place eating, drinking coffee, meeting friends, and shopping.

All the travels we’ve done really informed us in the design of our spaces as well as all the product categories we make.

Poketo’s Flagship Project Space @ROW DTLA

Dan: Considering you both come from art & design, but not retail, what inspired/drew you to launch a company that develops products?

Angie: With us, things always evolve organically. Poketo was pure accidental business. We threw an art show and made some products with our friends’ artwork for fun but then seeing everyone’s response, and seeing the wallets selling out the first night of the launch, we knew that we hit on something. We always say we didn’t start Poketo, Poketo started us. I guess what we did was to see the opportunity and worked hard. We never thought about starting a business and were so naive that it didn’t scare us. We went little by little learning as we go. We didn’t study business or knew anyone who had a business so everything we learned, we learned by doing it.

We developed our very first products of artist wallets but we didn’t want to be pigeonholed as wallet makers so we made apparel, housewares, and stationery. When we needed a bigger office, we found a big warehouse space in a then-a-desolate street of Arts District so having a big enough space, we carved a space for retail and that completely took us by surprise. We were named the best shop by various blogs and magazines and people started coming in droves. Travelers from all over found out about it through different travel guides and then we opened several other shops since then.

Dan: What is your favorite art or design object/possession?

Angie: I’m not a huge collector. I always say that I collect experiences, not things. My favorite piece of art is by Terri Chiao and Adam Frezza, AKA Chiaozza, wooden sculptural art that was part of our show we had with them at Poketo Project Space at ROW DTLA It now hangs above the staircase below the window.

I also love the things that we’ve collected from our travels & Tracy Wilkinson’s ceramic pieces that we bought from her sample sale (She literally lives across from us and we can both see our houses across the canyon :), and gifted ceramic hanging.

We display a few things that we collect like rocks and trinkets from our travels. Other than that, some art books and gifts from friends like knots by another contributor, Windy Chien and some other ceramic pieces from friends.

We joke that our house can be our friends’ showroom. Most of our furniture is made by Eric Trine. Some of the funny pieces are just one-offs that he made for his art show at Poketo and it’s so fun and one of a kind. The dining chairs are made by our friends at Scout Regalia, and our lighting is made by one of the contributors from the book, Brendan Ravenhill. The only art on the walls is by our friend, Gabriel Stromberg, whose work was also part of two art shows we’ve had.

Angie and Ted in their kitchen with a selection of Poketo tableware. Photo by Bonnie Tsang

Kitchen detail. A minimalist approach to objects. Photo by Bonnie Tsang

Interior view of Angie and Ted’s home in Los Angeles. Photo by Bonnie Tsang

View of Angie and Ted’s bedroom. Artwork by Gabriel Stromberg. Photo by Bonnie Tsang

Dan: Going big-picture conceptual here, I’d love to get your thoughts on the relationship between “Art” and “Design”. Do you see them as entities that are independent but related, distinct and separate, or intertwined? (or other?)

Angie: We use the term artists and designers, art and design interchangeably. Our ethos of “Art Every Day” is very that. Poketo is all about creativity: we design, create, make and curate things for everyone but especially creatives, whether you are fine artists, designers, students, professionals that want to be more creative, and want to live with beautiful design and art. Art and design should be accessible. Art and design are for everyone and everyone should be able to afford things that are beautiful and that brings them a little bit of joy in their lives. It can be well-crafted stationery, accessory, decor, houseware, or a piece of original art.

Dan: You and Ted have been together for a number of years, collaborating through both the ups and downs of building a business and life in general. What do you consider to be the keys to your success as partners? What advice do you have for people considering going into a partnership with someone?

Angie: This is probably the most often asked question. We’ve actually been together since 2002, so partners for over eighteen years and we just had our twelfth anniversary as a married couple. I think the fact that we’re so different is what makes the working relationship and life relationship work. I always say that I’m the pessimist (realist) and Ted is the ultimate optimist (dreamer). Being so different from each other is beneficial in both areas because you can look at a problem from different angles and come up with different solutions. We not only work well together but also love spending time with each other every single day. We’re BFFs :)

Dan: What have been some of the greatest joys/thrills of running Poketo? Conversely, what have been some of the greatest challenges?

Angie: I always say that running a small business is the hardest thing that one might ever do,
especially a small pure independent creative business like ours. Our team of twenty plus passionate creatives themselves has to wear so many different hats, just like us. With very limited resources, while doing so much can be very taxing at times, but it’s the small victories that we achieve that gets us going. Especially now more than ever, running a retail business is so hard competing with the behemoth giants that make it almost impossible not to buy from them, including us, it’s really freaking hard, thus always trying to innovate and putting in the hard work of having in-person events, workshops, and beautiful and ever-changing brick and mortar and online shops.

Dan: What is your vision for the company in five years? Ten years?

Angie: Hard question to someone who’s never written a five or ten-year plan. Our dream would be to continue expanding the creations of beautiful products, events, and workshops, and possibly open more outposts in NY, SF, Chicago, Tokyo, Seoul, and more.

Dan: If you weren’t running Poketo, what do you think you would you be doing? What would you love to be doing?

Angie: Probably working as a creative director at some agency or design company or maybe I would still be searching for the dream job?

Dan: Can you share a few things that you are obsessed with right now?

Angie: Currently, I’m obsessed with NYT crossword puzzles that I've never done and downloading books from our LA Public Library. Just in one month, I've started and finished six books. Hoping and activating positive changes to come in the world in less than two months.

Dan: Since we originally spoke last year, we have been hit by a worldwide pandemic that has affected lives and businesses drastically. I'm curious to hear how these past months have been for you and Poketo. Looking past the darkness, what are some positives you've taken away from this experience?

Angie: The pandemic has been hard for us for obvious reasons, as it has been for everyone. We've unfortunately had to let go of some people due to the closing of two stores. It was just two of us and our COO fulfilling all online & wholesale orders for a few months, but luckily some of our core staff have come back, and it's so great having them. We opened one of the shops in a very limited capacity with all safety restrictions in place. As all businesses, we've had to cut back costs on all fronts and are taking a temporary hiatus on making and ordering new products. One positive takeaway is for us to slow down, enjoy every day, taking care of our health, not taking anything for granted. Seeing our friends and neighbors walking more and playing with their kids brings to mind that everyone is slowing down, too.

Angie and Ted relaxing at home with their dog Scooter. Photo by Bonnie Tsang

All images courtesy of Poketo
Feature portrait of Angie and Ted by Bonnie Tsang