We caught up with Catherine Kay from Katnipp Studios Limited, a fantastic Redcar-based e-commerce store with an impressive online following! Find out about her brilliant business below:
Can you tell me about your organisation?
I’m Catherine Kay, illustrator and designer behind Katnipp Studios Limited (Katnipp.com). We are an e-commerce store and here we create a bunch of products in house, featuring adorable characters to make people smile. Our goal is to have a wide range of children’s books, stationery and merchandise. We are a family run business and myself, my husband and my brother in law help ship, ‘create and dispatch’ the products. We have also been documenting our business journey on Youtube, where we show our day to day business here in Redcar and now have over 183,000 subscribers who tune into us every week to see what is next for Katnipp!
What is the best thing about your organisation?
The best thing is the freedom to creatively express myself, and seeing the reaction of customers who receive an adorable Katnipp goodie. Putting a smile on people’s faces is what we do here, and we love to see people enjoying and raving about our chubby little characters, which hopefully give them a little giggle.
What is the proudest achievement in your career?
Last year I had the honour of collaborating with some big clients like Etsy, Adobe and Shopify, we also attended and spoke at ADWEEK in London, which was a huge accomplishment for us. Other than that the biggest achievement is being able to support my family while being creative with our small business.
What are you looking forward to in the next 12 months?
I’m really looking forward to seeing how katnipp.com grows as we integrate new products to our line of merchandise. Hopefully investing in better printers / machinery to make this happen.
What would you say is the best thing about Redcar and Cleveland?
I love the nature in the surrounding area, we have one of the nicest beaches in the country. My studio is currently based within the Palace Hub, and during the summer the team and I love spending our break getting a Pacittos Ice Cream and taking in the stunning coastline. We also have the added bonus of cheaper rents / retail spaces, unlike hefty studio prices in London / Manchester.
Be sure to check Katnipp out, on their social media channels, below:
Website: Katnipp Studios
Youtube: Katnipp Studios
TikTok: Katnipp Studios
Instagram: Katnipp Studios
X (Twitter): Katnipp Studios
Facebook: Katnipp Studios
Pinterest: Katnipp Studios
