HH Muse : Kristiana Tarnuzzer of The Cause Bar
Our Ultimate HH Muse: Kristiana, CEO and Founder of The Cause Bar.
Kristiana believes in you. She believes that everyone has the ability to create change that is impactful and important—and she’s making the philanthropic, environmentally conscious and socially responsible businesses and charities around the world more accessible through her platform, The Cause Bar.
After years of friends and her own network reaching out to her for advice on brands, charities, and events that serve the greater good, she decided to take her encyclopedic knowledge of the giving community to a larger audience through The Cause Bar. Since she launched just a short year ago, she’s supported a community of people that have integrated small acts of giving back into their daily life with resources and access to a wealth of information.
She’s dedicated her time to getting through the hurdles of navigating brands, causes, and events, carefully curating all of the above, to make The Cause Bar a one-stop shop for the conscious consumer and thoughtful citizen. Whether you’re looking for an environmentally friendly sweater or a cause with high impact in your community, you can visit The Cause Bar to find a wealth of digestible information you can immediately implement into your daily life.
We were thrilled to sit down with Kristiana and pick her brain about The Cause Bar, what she does to keep herself grounded, and how she integrates her passion for giving back into her travel plans.
HH: Hi Kristiana! Let’s dive right in—why did you start The Cause Bar?
Kristiana: I saw that there was a need for resources. It’s hard for people, even the best-intentioned ones, to constantly be thinking, “How can I do more, and do things better? What can I do, and how do I do it?” I see The Cause Bar as the friend who is always thinking of those things, and can be a reminder and source of inspiration for people who want to integrate better, more thoughtful practices into their daily life, but don’t necessarily have it ingrained in their thinking to consider it everyday and for every decision.
HH: What have you learned from the community you’ve built since launching the platform?
KT: Since launching The Cause Bar, I’ve seen that there really is so much untapped good out there. People want to be involved, and who are literally asking “how can I do more, more often?” I’m so excited to see The Cause Bar continuing to be the go-to for this community of thoughtful people!
I see The Cause Bar as the friend who is a source of inspiration for people who want to integrate better, more thoughtful practices into their daily life.
HH: I love your belief of “one small act can make a huge impact”, which is also the core reason you founded The Cause Bar. What are some practices you’ve integrated into your daily life that align with this?
KT: My daily practices are fully integrated into this phrase, because I think every day, probably hourly, about what more and how else The Cause Bar can be putting this message and the right tools and resources in front of our audience. So much of my impact right now is through The Cause Bar, and that’s also so integrated with the education I get every day from meeting inspiring people doing their own incredible work.
Personally, the most important practice to us is having conversations with our kids – sharing the work I do and the causes we support – and things that are happening in the world – in the way we feel is best. It’s cool to see them start to understand, and as a result, want to get involved and feel how amazing it is to have a big heart and give back.
HH: Shifting gears a bit, I know you grew up traveling a lot with your family and you enjoy traveling with your own family now-- how was travel affected the development of The Cause Bar? And, how do you travel consciously?
KT: Tremendously. Travel is what ignites my creativity. I feed off the energy of new places and people, it gets me to think differently and see things differently – every time I travel, I come back with about 20 new “ideas” scribbled down in a few places!
As for conscious travel, it’s all about respecting the authenticity of the place. I travel to fully immerse myself in the destination, from the experiences, to the people, to the food. Supporting the local community is really important to me when we travel, and I love scooping up beautiful pieces made by local artisans – they make the best souvenirs.
HH: Shifting again, Do you have any rituals you practice? Yoga, morning routine, evening routine, etc? What are they?
KT: Yes! My husband thinks I’m insane, but they actually keep me sane. This has been a really emotional, bittersweet year for me with a cross country move, a lot of change, and the start of The Cause Bar. I have gone from feeling completely alone one minute to riding a complete high the next. It’s been radical. Rituals have kept me grounded.
In the morning, I start with breathwork for a few minutes, followed by my affirmations and saying “Thank You”. Not to anyone in particular, just showing gratitude for the day ahead. Then my kids come running into the bedroom and the craziness kicks in.
At night, I stretch (you’d be surprised how much tension you hold in your neck at the end of the day when you focus on it), I spray a lavender spray on my pillow, and end the day with gratitude again by writing 3 things I’m grateful for that day.
Kristiana’s Mantra: Trust that I am exactly where I am meant to be at this very moment.
HH: We obviously love what you do with The Cause Bar, and you’re literally our muse for living a full, thoughtful and intentional life. Who is your muse?
KT: It changes often, but the constants are my kids, and since I’m extremely fortunate to meet trailblazers and changemakers through The Cause Bar, I’m constantly inspired by those that just DID something on a gut intuition. The people that didn’t think too hard or too long – they just felt something needed fixing or attention, and started something. People like Justin Dillon, founder of FRDM, and Elsa Marie Collins, Yolanda Walter Meade and Zoe Winkler of This is About Humanity.
HH: And our one materialistic question-- do you have a favorite style or color from the AITCH AITCH collection?
KT: I love all things that let you go hands-free (with kids, this is a lifesaver!) so I’m partial to the Rosa Crossbody and in the multi-color nude because the colors remind me of The Cause Bar colors ;)
Follow The Cause Bar for digestible information on ways to easily give back and integrate thoughtfulness into your everyday life on Instagram or via their website.