ABOUT
Daniella Caruso
worked through college and graduate school, holding down various jobs in the restaurant industry ranging from pastry cook to server, bartender to general manager, eventually landing on co-owner after opening a restaurant with her former partner in West Town, Chicago. After parting ways, she transitioned into an independent marketing and design position, consulting with hotels, restaurants, and their PR companies offering specialization in concept formation, brand identity, social media strategy, operating and procedure, and overall company culture. After struggling to find steady and fulfilling work during the height of the pandemic, she leaned into her passions and founded Casa Janara in July of 2021 and began sourcing vintage furniture and home decor to resell out of her apartment before opening a storefront in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.
Daniella now resides in Los Angeles, California with her rescue pittie Phoebe and is a recent graduate of the UCLA Extension program for Interior Design. She intends on using her ongoing education, commitment to sustainability, as well as her knowledge of ancient Italian folklore and spirituality to create thoughtful spaces that tell a story.
Casa Janara
“In the small mountain villages and countryside of Southern Italy, there still lives a magical female tradition shrouded in mystery. These women are called Janare (singular Janara), and in popular folklore they are considered witches, devoted to the darkest and most evil of practices. But if you look beyond these negative and superficial stereotypes—which have been present throughout Europe against all such ‘witches’ since the early medieval period—you will discover a very different reality.
The Janare, in their very long journey, have been herbalists, midwives, animistic priestesses and trans-dimensional travelers, but above all they have been free women.”
- Massimilano Palmesano, Italian Witches of the Sacred Trees
