Who We Are

We are doers. We are makers.
We transform the ordinary,
expect the unexpected and
translate products from old to new,
from culture to culture, simply,
sustainably crossing global markets.

The facts. The friendship.

leo co lab is a global innovation design company built on a collaboration between two good friends: Mike Li and Sotera Tschetter.

You cannot talk about the business without first talking about the bond.

While China and Minnesota seem worlds apart, a farm upbringing with a deeply instilled work ethic and appreciation for things that were both beautiful and proficient proves we are more alike and aligned than we are different.

Collaborating for over 10 years, their shared and deeply seeded passions and beliefs constantly motivate, inspiring them to balance the functional and emotional, the strategic and the tactical, the ethereal and the practical.

Sotera Tschetter

Sotera can’t remember a time when she wasn’t curious. As the daughter of a hardworking math and science teacher, she has always sought to understand how and why things work. A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BS in Applied Design and Visual Communications, she specialized in computer graphics. Her career began in set design, which led to her position as Creative Director for Prince. Her passions include film, video and gardening. An avid collector of historical, rare trade catalogues, she is inspired in how things were made in the past, and motivated to make things better in the present.

With over 30 years experience in trend analysis, intellectual product design and development in home and outdoor decor products, Sotera lives and works in Los Angeles and the Twin Cities, designing and inventing products for some of America’s largest retailers—including Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Crate and Barrel, Urban Outfitters, Home Depot, Lowes, Costco, Martha Stewart, Disney, Energizer and Behrens Metalware.

Mike Li

Mike grew up in a very small farming community in China, the first person from his village to attend a prestigious engineering school. A Senior Engineer with degrees in mechanical and electronic engineering from Cheng Du University of Electronic Science and Technology, today he is the owner of over 500 global patents and patents pending in LED lighting technologies. He's won multiple innovation awards, including the 2008 inventor of year in China.

Like a chef, he puts his focus on only the premium ingredients, in order to produce products that offer a great user experience. With over 20 years of experience, Mike believes that to be successful in a fast-changing market, a company must control its own destiny. Being able to integrate full resource capabilities from a supply chain perspective and combine them with an integrated distribution, marketing and development team is the ultimate long-term solution for success.

Meet Our Team

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3D Staff Designer

(Model Citizen)

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User Interface Architect

(UX Whisperer)

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Graphic Designer

(Graphic Astonisher)

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In House Maker

(The Alchemist)

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Market Researcher

(Anthropologist with Human Intelligence)

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Project Manager

(Hunter Gatherer)

The Cortex

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The “co” stands for collaboration, and the structure of our company relies on guidance from our advisory board. A collection of people who have spent their careers in the business. On the industry side, we are fortunate to have close relationships with several experienced director level consultants based in the home decor and lighting areas. We lean heavily on their recommendations.

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“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”
– Phil Jackson
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See Our Spaces

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Curiosity Factory. Maker Space. Home to Historians. (While it all feels like family.)

A place with people full of radical energy.

Los Angeles
621 Lunar Avenue,
Brea, CA 92821
Nestled in the Northern part of Orange County, an industrial warehouse building with an abundance of natural light sits. The siren's song of California, wooing all innovators, dreamers and doers. This is the Head Office, the home base, the hotbed of technology ripe with talent and even lunch around here is creative. There are experience rooms for all your senses; come in and smell, look, listen. What you'll hear is the sound of atoms coming together, energy being created. And it's music to the ears, a veritable feast of inventive intention.
WORK HERE! LET'S TALK JOBS!
Jobs in CA
Minneapolis / St. Paul
755 Prior Avenue North, Studio 101,
St. Paul, MN 55104
The San Fran of the Midwest, the Twin Cities, with it's roll up your sleeves work ethic combined with mad creativity is our birthplace. You know that when you're next door to a place called CanCan Wonderland, you're indeed, magical. It's an old Can Company with the original douglas fir beams and warehouse windows. It's industrial chic, next door to railroad tracks and old elevators and proof that sketchy is sexy. We used to complain about snow and freezing our butts off and that our igloos were drafty, but you kind of get used to it. We just wear layers and invest in wool and good slippers.
WARM OUR HEART! WORK WITH US!
Currently, there are no job openings in MN
Shenzhen
No.7, Gongye 3rd Road, Shekou, Nanshan District,
Shenzhen, Guangdong 518067
The modern metropolis that links Hong Kong to China's mainland, this leading global technology hub, the silicone valley of the east, is home to over 30 on staff designers and engineers. Lending support to our other offices, engineering our dreams, and turning our concepts into reality. Plus, it's just cool to say. Shenzhen. Shenzhen. Shenzhen. We take up three stories with over 20,000 square feet dedicated to Research and Development, Design and Engineering.
TRANSFORM THE ORDINARY!
Currently, there are no job openings in Shenzhen
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“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”
– Peter F. Drucker
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