We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Catherine Landis . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Catherine below.

Hi Catherine, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I am Catherine Landis, the founder of Oat What Fun. I have a M.S. degree in Education, taught middle school reading, and was a preschool educator and director. I am a mom of three children and through all of my personal experiences, I have become a natural living expert who is passionate about helping families create healthier homes.

Oat What Fun was created for my son, William, who went on an extensive medical journey from ages 2-4. He was ultimately diagnosed with Crohn’s and put on multiple immune suppressing medications, but I begged his doctors for an alternative treatment plan. His doctors told me I could explore natural living and change our lifestyle. There were no guarantees, but I saw a beacon of hope and decided we had nothing to lose.

I spent countless hours researching all natural living and tackling every aspect of our lifestyle by swapping out personal products, cleaning products, plastics, and foods for natural alternatives. Through this process, I could not find play products that met our all natural living standards. I know as an educator how important play is. I spent the next five years developing safe play products. Oat What Fun was born. William’s Crohn’s is in remission, and my entire family lives in a happier, healthier home.

Now I am on a mission to spread the joy of safer, natural play products to all children. Let’s create healthier homes together!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a former teacher and preschool director. I have always known and believed in how important play is. When my son kept coming home from preschool with rashes on his hands and mouth, even after we changed our lifestyle to all natural, I eventually realized it was the play dough and other sensory materials he was playing with. I had never thought about the ingredients in those products. Play dough and kinetic sand are full of toxic, harmful ingredients. I decided to create a product that would be safer for my son and advocate for other children! Oat What Fun play dough and sand is gluten free, dye free, fragrance free, and taste safe. I have committed to never using any artificial ingredients and believe in ingredient transparency- everything is listed on the website. I ended up creating play products that are safer for children and the environment. It is a win, win for everyone!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I created Oat What Fun sand first and ran with it. I probably launched my business a little premature, but it built resilience and I have learned so much. You do not need a perfect website, logo, product, etc to start a business. If you have an idea, and believe in it, go for it! Will the journey ahead be tough? Yes. You will grow along the way and learn from mistakes. I have never worked harder in my life, and I keep telling myself the future is bright no matter how many struggles I face.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Showing up and being authentic. For awhile I was getting wrapped up in listening to too much advice from others instead of listening to my own heart. Once I made the commitment to stay true to who I am and what I believe in, I saw immediate growth. Be confident in who you are and what you offer!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oatwhatfun.com
• Instagram: @oatwhatfun

Image Credits
@blip.photography @ktrimblephotography