We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Murwin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.
Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
The idea of Sensory Cooking has been with us for a long time. It was a part of our life long before it was a business. We have a son with autism and sensory issues, and food aversions were a part of our everyday life. As he matured, we needed him to learn life skills and cooking is certainly a necessary one. We run an organization called Kids with Autism Can and we host sensory-friendly social events for kids on the spectrum and one of the things we tried to offer was a cooking program, but we could never find the right teacher. When COVID started, all of our other events were put on hold and we needed to find a source of fun and socialization that didn’t require our participants to leave their home, and we did! We were able to partner with a local Phoenix business called Give Garden. They delivered beautifully designed food boxes and we brainstormed and had them delivered to all of our Social Cooking Group participants. We met on Zoom and cooked together. It worked better than we could have ever imagined. It provided social opportunities and cooking skills, and our participants learned how to work in their own kitchens; and since they had an adult assistant, we found it worked for any age.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
In college, I started out intending to get a degree in Occupational Therapy. After my first year, I left the university and attended a technical college. Food was my passion and that was the field I wanted to work in. I earned a degree in Hospitality Management and managed two restaurants after graduating. These restaurants valued the community; they utilized the local farmers markets and seasonal menus, as well as meats and cheeses from across the state. They hung art on the walls created by local artists and hired a neuro-diverse staff. This was 30 years ago, long before most restaurants would have considered these as best practices. I had the opportunity to learn how to run a restaurant that was community-based. I am proud to use some of these practices in my business today, making everyone feel welcome. I am even more proud that after 25 years of being a stay at home mom, I have a loving 35 year marriage and I have raised three amazing kids. In addition, I have been able to reenter the world of food in a relevant way and share my love and skills with participants of different ages and skill levels, many with autism or a similar diagnosis.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I needed to unlearn to expect others to perform as I do. I am an extremely hard worker and I keep going until I get it right! I needed to understand that my personal goals are just that, mine. People can get to a similar end taking many different paths, they don’t necessarily have to follow mine. I also think we have to learn how important it is to do what we love.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think our reputation has grown because we have a niche, working on cooking with a neuro-diverse group of participants. Our business grows by word of mouth. Today that means someone shares a positive post and a great picture of something we cooked together and someone else becomes interested. I have been amazed how far the reach of social media is. We have had people reach out from Hong Kong and New Zealand and they say “We wish you were here,” and I say “How can we make it work where you are?”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sensorycooking.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensorycooking/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=sensory%20cooking
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-murwin-13488b70/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KidswAutismCan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07IGkr53miA
- Other: www.kidswithautismcan.org https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/sensory-cooking-class-helps-children-autism-gain-independence-84356641