40. Kind Cotton: Inclusive Books and Cute Shirts! Clothing That Makes a Difference

Books and cute clothes?? Yes, please! I'm head over heels in love with Kind Cotton!  They provide an inclusive book to a child for every item sold.  Kind Cotton is on a mission to make a difference through quality literature and powerful messaging.  You won't want to miss this conversation!

You can buy a shirt directly from their website www.kindcotton.com and feel good about your purchase!

Follow all things kindness on Instagram @kindcotton and listen to Kaitlin's NEW PODCAST Kindness Is wherever you get your podcasts. 

Start your KindSchooling journey and join the Team Kind Humans membership. Head to www.teamkindhumans.com or follow me on Instagram @teamkindhumans!

Transcript

Katie Doughty: 0:06

Hey everyone, welcome to the raising kind humans podcast. I'm your host Katie Doty, if you're here, because you want to raise empathetic kids with the tools to make positive changes in this world, you're in the right place. I'm glad you're here. Everyone, welcome back to the podcast. I hope your week is off to a great start. We have had a heat wave where I am from and we are enjoying being warm. Finally, being warm, we set up the pool, and had some new friends over and have just really been soaking in the sunshine. And it always fills me with hope. We're gonna be okay with the sun go out after a rainy winter. So I hope that the Sunshine has found you as well. Speaking of being filled with hope, this conversation that you are about to enjoy, I hope will fill you with hope as well. This isn't a conversation I had with Caitlin Johnstone. She's from kind cotton. And she has a company that produces T shirts, and every t shirt that is sold gives her an inclusive book back to the community or classroom or library. And I love her mission. I love what she's doing. She's a former teacher too. So I feel like we are connected on a deeper level of understanding of what our job is, having been a former teacher and how we can benefit and move forward education for kids. So her mission is to provide inclusive books and keep those in the hands of children because honest to goodness inclusive books will literally save the world. One of the tshirt options says that inclusive books will save the world. She also includes a lot of different opportunities to give back. And she you will just feel the love and compassion and empathy that Caitlin has for making a difference in this world and helping our kids see that they are loved and valued. And that books are so important in the hands of children and shaping who they become and who they know that they can be and helping them feel seen and heard. They are just I love books so much. And I know the importance of them. And so I love Caitlin's mission. So please go buy your T shirts, please support her mission. You won't be disappointed with this conversation. Caitlin is doing amazing things. And I'm excited for you to take a listen. Also, if you have a second, please take a moment and leave a review for the podcast. It helps others find it so that we can continue to build this team of kind humans. So thank you for being here. I appreciate you listening and joining in on this important mission. Without further ado, please welcome Kaitlyn. Hello, Caitlin, thank you so much for joining me today. I am thrilled to find out your story of kind cotton and all that you have to offer.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 3:32

Thank you so much for having me. We're so grateful for you to show your platform. And for us to just be able to tell about our mission and what we're all about.

Katie Doughty: 3:43

Yay. Well, I was just telling you before we hit record that I found you through Instagram, somebody I know had posted or tagged you because she was wearing one of your shirts. And when I went to your page it was just like everything was just like oh, I need to know more. Oh, I need to know more. Oh, I think we should be friends. Oh somebody aligns with my mission. This is so exciting. So I'm so happy that you're here to share that story with us. So you wanna take a second kind of introduce yourself and where were you before you started cutting pot and and kind of what was the that moment where you thought I need to do something?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 4:19

Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Caitlin Johnstone. I along with my husband are the co founders of kind cotton. We are a small clothing company dedicated to putting books into the hands of kids with every single purchase from our store. So about oh my goodness that's going on six years now. I can't even believe that I can say that. But about six years ago, I was a kindergarten teacher in the state of Florida. And I was consistently noticing the lack of access to books that my students had. I was buying books for holidays. We're just giving books from my classroom library for them to take home. Because even the library allowed them to take books out. But they were not allowed to bring them home. So they didn't really have a library that I was fortunately used to growing up. And I was a first year teacher when I realized this. So you know, all the things that you shouldn't really learn about through your schooling, but you don't really know until you're actually in it and aware of the discrepancies, and lack of funding and access and all of these things that come into play when we talk about educational equity. So I went home to my fiancee at the time, I believe, and said, Hey, like, I have this really wild idea, but hear me out. And he was like, Yeah, of course, what do you what's up? What do you want to do? And I said, you know, since you work in custom apparel, I want to start making shirts that are about inclusion and justice and empathy, and kindness, and then donate a portion of the proceeds to buy a book. So it's like a similar model. As Tom's like a one for one, right? Like, you buy a pair of shoes, you give a pair of shoes, you buy a shirt from us, you give a book. And here we are six years later, and we've donated over 100,000 books to kids.

Katie Doughty: 6:25

Oh my gosh, that's incredible. Yeah, that's incredible. So your husband worked in apparel? And that was your connection to be able to kind of get into that line of work? I see. Oh, yeah. Gosh, I love it. So are you still teaching?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 6:41

I'm not so fast forward from that six years to about, I can't believe I'm saying this. But like, almost three years ago, now, we had our first child, and the world shut down. And I went back to teaching online for the rest of the school year. And then both of my parents are very high risk, and we're very, very close with them. And when we were kind of going back face to face, I took it as a if there was anything good that could have come, you know, from the world shutting down, I took it as a time to say, You know what, I need this time and space, I want to keep my family healthy and safe. And I have the privilege to at least do this for six months and see what happens. do this full time, try to grow kind cotton, try to still have an impact on education, but do it kind of like by my terms, and I've never looked back and we just continue to grow. And I'm just so incredibly grateful

Unknown: 7:45

for that, oh,

Katie Doughty: 7:47

I completely understand your journey. Because I know for me, I was a former teacher too. So I taught first in second grade for several years until my daughter was born. And then I stopped for a while kind of and then my son was born and I I knew I needed to stay home that that was going to be my thing. But having been a teacher, you're kind of when you get your degree in education, like you're gonna work in a school, that's your job. That's what you do when you're a teacher. And you don't really realize there is a lot you can do with your educational background. So it's really cool to see how you took what you've learned from being in the classroom. And now not only are you still using that degree, but you are making education better because of it, even if you're not in the classroom. So I think that's really cool and really brave, to step out and be like, I'm going to I'm going to try this.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 8:37

Yeah, 100% My, my partner and I joke all the time that we have the perfect marriage, not only you know, as as partners, but as business partners, because he had kind of that business knowledge and the industry. And then combined with the educational aspect that I brought to the table. It really has helped us flourish and do something that we love and truly, still make an impact. Right? So it's just, I love I love it so much.

Katie Doughty: 9:10

Oh, I'm so glad that I noticed on your website, you were talking about the difference between true kindness and kind of regular kindness. What's your definition of true kindness? What is your mission here with kind cotton and your T shirts and books?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 9:29

It's so funny that you ask that because I'm used to being on the opposite end of that and asking other people what their true definition of kindness is. Because really when we started this, we not only wanted to provide inclusive books to children, but we wanted to create items that were going to be conversation starters that were going to reflect the books and the messages that we were putting out into the world for children. We wanted those same messages to kind of be conversation pieces for grownups because quite often, probably more often than not, it's the grownups who really need these messages of kindness and empathy and inclusion. So I always say that simple acts of kindness are amazing and necessary. I mean, just last week, my mom was in the hospital, and my friends sent me a cup of coffee. And it was like probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me. So I don't ever want to take away from random acts of kindness and the importance of that. However, I think that kindness needs to be looked at in a multifaceted lens in which it is rooted and justice and grounded in action, and open to change. And what I mean by that is, we can't see all of the hurts, that is happening in this world, and stand idly by and not do something, we have to be open to changing our perceptions that we have had our entire lives, we have to recognize our privilege and, and our biases. And we need to really do more than simply buy a cup of coffee for a friend, you know, in order to make a more global impact on humanity.

Katie Doughty: 11:22

Yeah, you said that so beautifully, you know, I read a book. It's called Deep kindness by Houston graft. I don't know if you're familiar with that or not. But it was eye opening to me, because it really showcased that kindness isn't surface level, it has to go deeper. And it's a life long journey of cultivating a deep kindness, and that it takes courage. And it can be scary, and it can be vulnerable. And it's something that you have to constantly choose, even when it's hard. And I thought that was really powerful, because it's something that we are all striving for on a day to day basis. And it's not necessarily something you just achieve, and I've got it we have to work through, like you said, grounded in action and rooted in justice, for sure, and

Kaitlin Johnstone: 12:15

you're going to make mistakes, then you're gonna, you know, fall flat on your face. And I think what I've realized over the years is, there's something very humbling about admitting that and saying, like, I'm gonna mess up, and I'm gonna get things wrong. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep pushing towards a greater sense of kindness. And I think that's where a lot of us kind of get tripped up. Right, because we get so involved in our own pride, that we can kind of step outside of that, and recognize what needs to be done for the greater good.

Katie Doughty: 12:59

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And sometimes it's kind of a freeze moment of, well, I don't know what to do. So I'm not going to do anything at all. And that doesn't solve anything, you know, just standing by isn't going to get any progress that we're looking for.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 13:15

For sure, for sure. And I think there's a lot of that happening right now. Like, what do I do? How can I help? Where can I go, and it can become very, very overwhelming. And I understand that. But what I always say is, first of all, rest is important, right? It's crucial. And I think it's important to take that mental health. Okay, let me breathe, let me get outside, let me do what I need to do to to come back to this full force. And then you really can find the community and you can find the people who are striving towards making change and like us that if we don't do anything at all, and we just put our hands up in the air and say, well, nothing has changed, things have only gotten worse. Nothing's going to change. Well, then yeah, nothing is going to right, we have to kind of continue to look for the helpers and continue to believe that we can create a better world for the next generation, even though the world seems extremely, extremely heavy right now.

Katie Doughty: 14:20

And overwhelming. I also love that you just quoted Mr. Rogers and looking for the helpers. That's my very most favorite quote to remind myself and my kids when they see something scary or sad, we talk about it and then we do look for the helpers. Okay, but who is there helping and what can we do to help and that really helps ease some of that anxiety that comes along with that. Because you're right, it's heavy. There are so many things happening in the world that don't make sense, that are just so awful to watch unfold, and then it is easier to just throw your hands up and be like, What am I going to do that I can't make a difference in this. How am I going to help them But I was just reading a study about how people actually underestimate the power of their simple act of kindness. And that people receiving that kindness actually, it's so much more meaningful to them than the person giving thinks it is. And so it often people think, Well, I'm not going to make that much of a difference anyway. So they don't necessarily look for opportunities to do that, like you had said, with your cup of coffee, greatest thing in the world, right, but the person who sent it to you is probably like, this probably isn't going to make any difference at all, because she's going through this big thing, you know? And so kind of that idea of we have to understand that even the small steps are steps towards something better. For sure.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 15:49

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I cannot agree more.

Katie Doughty: 15:53

So tell me more about how do you how does your your business work? So people buy a shirt? And then you donate books? How do you choose what your shirt say, and what books you donate and kind of walk us through that process?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 16:07

Oh, my goodness, so many things. So I guess I'll start with the shirts, because something that was always really important to me was, I didn't want to just put something out there because it was cute, or put something out there because I thought it was going to be popular or put something out there because it was trendy at the time. So every single item that we have ever designed, my husband does all of the designs, again, like this perfect partnership, my husband does all of the graphic designs. For the most part, we've worked with some artists here and there on some amazing projects. And then I come up with all of the sayings and the meaning behind them. So for instance, our most popular design of all time, is what we call our kindness is design. And it's basically what we would imagine a definition of kindness to be. And we reached out to all of our customers and said, Hey, we really want to put out into the world what you believe kindness is. So we got all of these one word definitions from people and ended up settling on love, empathy, compassion, inclusion, justice, kindness. So we really love our shirts to have a meaning behind them, we have a mental health line that was completely based off of my dad being diagnosed bipolar when I was younger, and feeling as though at the time therapy didn't really get talked about, you know, we're talking 20 Some years ago, and I was a young teenager, not knowing what had happened to my dad. So just putting out stories, where people feel as though they can relate to stuff that has happened in my life, or in my husband's life or a friend's life, putting them on TV, as I'm releasing a blog to kind of give them messaging behind it has really made kinds cotton, more than just a clothing company. It's almost a community of people who I have grown to love over the years and, you know, know our customer, by name and their their children, and then have developed friendships with people. So that's kind of the clothing aspect of it. And then, as far as the books, when we first started, I was still teaching, and I wanted it to be more than just a simple book donation. So I actually started a reading program with a local elementary school. And I would go once or twice a month, at the time, I can remember like, if I can just get 30 orders a month, I can fund this reading program. So I will go once a month, and I would bring a book and I would create a lesson and we would make a craft or a science experiment, have some follow up conversation, bring some snacks, and then every single kid would get to leave with a copy of the book that we you know, had this hour of fun with. So they were really invested in me coming back every month and growing their at home library. And then again, the pandemic hit, oh man, I couldn't go into schools. So we just now have and we've done a lot of stuff in between there. But we just now started getting back to the in person aspect. And now we're holding free book fairs, in which I bring like 1000s of books, hundreds of titles, and every kid on the elementary level. So pre K through fifth or sixth grade gets to come and pick a book for free which I know you must know as a former teacher is like a really big deal.

Katie Doughty: 19:47

huge, a huge deal. Because the book fair, I love book fairs that's one of my very most favorite things. But it was difficult as a teacher because some kids could buy books, some kids could not buy books, and there wasn't much I could do about that. So the fact that everyone gets to walk in and choose a book, that's beautiful and so helpful to those kids who wouldn't have had that opportunity, if it were a regular book fair.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 20:17

That's amazing. Oh, yeah, it's been, it's been wonderful. We just did one about two weeks ago, and they purposefully booked us after the school book fair. So we went in the week after, so all kids were told, you know, if you can't get a book today, I promise you in three days, you were going to come in and pick any book that you want. So it was very fresh in their minds. And they were so like, they couldn't believe it. Like, wait, I get to pick whatever I want. Wait, you don't only have one book for me to choose, like, you have graphic novels. And you have these amazing picture books. And you you have representation in these books, like, Hey, that's my name, like it was just the stories that I heard that day, is exactly why we do what we do and exactly why inclusive, children's books matter so much. Oh, they matter

Katie Doughty: 21:16

so much. Can you talk a little bit more about inclusive books and what you mean by that?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 21:22

For sure, yeah. So I always get this a little bit wrong. So don't completely quote me on this. However, children's books have gotten better over the years, but they still are really lacking in global representation. So what I mean by that is, when you pick up a children's book, go to the library, most likely you're going to find either animal characters, which is amazing and fun and cute. And, you know, they serve their purpose, I'm not saying do away with all of these books, or white main characters. So it's something like 2% is LGBTQ plus characters, 1% of children's books is disabled characters. 10% are Black main characters. 4% are Asian characters, so on and so forth. So children's books as a whole are lacking in representation. So when we are purchasing books, we are typically looking for them to be either from bipoc authors, the black indigenous people of color, LGBTQ plus authors, disabled authors, or books that have a strong sense of social emotional learning. So you know, get that mental health aspect in there, too, because I think that's something that has become increasingly more important in the past couple of years. So yeah, some of the things that we heard at the last book fair, one of the books that I brought was Stella brings the family. And there are two dads in the book. And a little boy came up to me and said, Oh, my goodness, this is just like, my uncle. And I was like, like, you know, my heart, that's beautiful. And then a little girl came up to me and was so excited that we had all mine how she got her name. And she was like, That's my name. Like, there is a book here. With my name, we had a lot of cooks doll and a little girl was like, I make doll with my family like this is. So all of these things that we and when I say we, you know me, myself away, sis, female, Mom, take for granted sometimes, and probably wouldn't think about twice, like, Oh, my daughter, you know, got a Disney princess book, like, but these are so important because it looks like them. Yeah, and every kid gets to be the superhero. And every kid gets to be the print size. And that's really, really important.

Katie Doughty: 23:56

It's so important for kids to see themselves and give them an opportunity you're right to, to put themselves as the hero put themselves as the main character and live through that story, and be seen and be heard reflecting who they are. And I think it's important to for other kids to be able to see how other people live and how other people respond to different situations or different things that have happened to them or different characters and and it's just an overall benefit to society for these inclusive books. So I love that that's, that's your mission is making sure that these get into the hands of all kids.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 24:36

Yeah 100% I mean, as as you mentioned you it's the whole windows and mirrors thing right and I can't maybe you will know, I always lose her name. And I should know it right now and just did a post and credited the woman who came up with this concept of when windows and mirrors so maybe we can add it in the notes are escaping me um but it is just as important for my daughter to see black joy and black excellence and characters who don't look like her, you know, in these beautiful stories, not just in stories of you no enslavement, things that are required. And in our teaching in schools, it's important for her to see beautiful representations as well.

Katie Doughty: 25:29

Yes, and families and culture and activities and things they love and things that maybe they haven't heard about before. And they get to live that experience through these books. You're right. It's so valuable and so necessary, and it's, and it's a call to families and teachers to be checking your bookshelves, what's on your bookshelf, what's represented. I got to interview Amber O'Neill, Johnston, and she, she's the one that I learned windows and mirrors from, but she does quote in her book, The woman who is responsible for those terms, and I'm blanking on that name as well. But she talks about to you and when you have these inclusive books, that they're not on a separate shelf, you know, that they're just mixed in with all the other ones. It's not like, here are the ones about different cultures. Now they're all mixed in, because that's how we live, right? We are all mixed together. And this is how we live as a society. And so putting them all on the same bookshelf makes it more natural and more meaningful. I think for kids to just pick up a book go, this one's about so and so or whatever it is that they're learning about. And so I really appreciated that. Learning about that from her.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 26:37

Yeah, I mean, I think that's such a valid point. For instance, now, I mean, my daughter's bookshelf upstairs for March is Women's History Month. But it's, it's predominantly covered with amazing, incredible, rich history of black and brown women. Like, is there one book of Dolly Parton? Like Jane Goodall? Yes, but it's exceedingly, all books and all people represented on her shelf. And I think that's a really important thing to bring up that it's not just like, in this little bucket for Martin Luther King Day, like we have that, you know, it should be year round, included in our in our classroom libraries, and then at home libraries as well. Mm hmm.

Katie Doughty: 27:28

Do you have suggestions then for parents that wants to improve their libraries? Or maybe they want to help their school libraries? I know, we can talk about how they can buy your shirts and donate books. But do you have any ideas or suggestions? Maybe right? Now they want to they want to make a change, or they want to make a difference? What would you recommend to them?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 27:46

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you have the financial means to do so, I always talk about not only having books that represent the bipoc community, but ensure that those books are also written by bipoc authors, because then you're you know, that's where your money is going. So I think it's really important before I purchase a book, I always Google the author too. Because that's, that's a key aspect of it, right? We have a lot of blogs on our website, and more now, just adding a bunch more showcasing different books for either different holidays, or different months or different themes, that really is doing one of two things, first, what I just talked about, and then second, really featuring independent authors, books that you may not hear about as often me being a small business owner, I really recognize the importance of highlighting authors who are independent authors and self published authors who are small business owners to, but I'd say the most important thing you can do, if you have the financial means to do so is start purchasing these books, including them in your everyday readings, if you don't have the financial means to do so. And you know, of a book that you want, you can always go to any of your public libraries and request that book, which I only learned about not too long ago. And then your local library will have copies of that book, which not only helps that author, but then you can have easy free access

Katie Doughty: 29:28

to in and including it for other kids to check out. Yeah, that's amazing. I never really thought about asking the library to pick up certain books. That's a really great idea.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 29:39

Yeah, they have funding to do that, you know, obviously. So if you go in and request a specific book, nine times out of 10, they will order it and it'll be on their shelves.

Katie Doughty: 29:49

Oh, I love that. So you're not only helping your own family, but then other kids too, that are browsing the library and will pick it up and enjoy it, too. That's such a great example. That's it. I love that idea. Thank you Oh, yeah,

Kaitlin Johnstone: 30:00

yeah, yeah, I mean, I do that now even like, even if I have the book here, we go to the library at least like once a week, and I will request books. Like if I don't notice one of the ones that I have here is there. I will do that. And they're always super accommodating.

Katie Doughty: 30:17

Oh, I love that. Do you talk to a person? Or is there like a form you fill out? No, I

Kaitlin Johnstone: 30:22

anytime I have gone, I've just spoken to one or two times. Now I like know the librarians at each library. But before I knew they would direct me to the librarian, and she would do something on the computer and it would be there within like a month. That's amazing.

Katie Doughty: 30:40

Yeah, what a helpful suggestion. I appreciate that. That's cool. Yeah, of course, I talk about your impact. And some of the charities that you I know, I was reading your impact booklet and you have done some amazing, amazing things. Do you want to highlight a few that you're really excited about or partners that you've worked with?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 31:00

Yeah, sure. So that was my husband's kind of like brainchild that he's so proud of, was creating an impact book every year. So this is I think, our fourth year doing it. So that we can we've gone digital now we used to put them in every single order. But we're like, want to limit the printing, you know, kind of make things more accessible online. So you can see it online for each year now. And it just highlights what we have done. Not only with the books, but with special projects as well. And highlights where some of the books have gone to and highlights how many we have donated each year and where to. And then we've also done some really cool special projects. So last year, I can't believe we're coming up on a year already. But when Roe v Wade was initially being challenged, we created a tee to go with that. And then $5 from every single purchase of the T went towards Planned Parenthood, we were able like immediately to be able to donate$5,000 to Planned Parenthood. And now we've shifted our focus to the National Federation of abortion funds, we've been able to donate over $1,500 to them so far. And then we're also still putting a book like any project that we pick up on, we still want to ensure that we are

Unknown: 32:22

very,

Kaitlin Johnstone: 32:23

what's the word I'm looking for it we're sticking to our mission as well. So we're putting baby Yes, very intentional about our mission. So we've done that. A friend of mine was renovating an LGBTQ plus Youth Center in Florida. Because everything has gotten very scary. They're for LGBTQ youth and books have kind of been stripped away from classrooms. So she really wanted to create this space in which all children could go and feel loved and seen and valued. So she completely renovated the entire space. And we did a collaborative tea with her where we were able to donate, I want to say it was like $4,000 towards that project. But then we were also able to give them an entire inclusive library of like over 250 titles. Wow. Are they really excited about that? Yeah, lots of different stuff.

Katie Doughty: 33:19

Oh, my gosh, that's amazing. That's beautiful. If people want to work with you, or partner with you, or they have an idea, are you open to that and suggestions and different companies that want to do something with you? Yeah, absolutely.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 33:35

We are always open to collaborating with different people. And just I think I mentioned this to you when we were not on recording. But the beauty of social media is that we have just met so many people who are looking to make a change and who are on the same path as us. And we are always more than willing to connect with new people and try to collaborate in one way or another. Especially if you are an author, we have a take a look behind the book series on our Instagram where we showcase different authors. And yeah, we're always open to stuff like that. Perfect. Tell me about your T of the Month Club. Oh yeah. So we have a new design that comes out every single month. And we used to have it where it was exclusive to T the Month Club members. But people were like, We want to be have a chance to buy this we won't have a chance to buy this. So now they're no longer exclusive. However, if you are a part of the tea of the month club, you get $5 off, you get free shipping and you get a matching sticker. So as opposed to a shirt, just getting the shirt for $30 and then shipping on top of that $25 no shipping cost and a matching sticker. And then you're giving a book to a child every single month. So we have actually We had some people, I don't even know how because they must have like four drawers dedicated to just kind of guide. We have had some folks who have been a tea of the month members since the beginning. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I can't even say we have ongoing subscriptions. But we also have three months subscriptions, six months subscriptions. Or if you do ongoing, you could literally do it for a month and then cancel. So like there's no, you don't have to do it, you know, for three years. Like some people.

Katie Doughty: 35:31

Yeah. Oh, I'm curious if they keep them all? Or if they give them to friends or, or donate some? That would be interesting. Yeah. Oh, cool, though. I love that. So do you can people buy all of the ones you've done? Or do you only feature certain ones at certain times?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 35:48

So now that they are no longer exclusive, you can purchase the ones that we have done? Yes, about once or to the month designs sell out? Then they're typically out unless it's like something that was like everyone's like, Oh, my goodness, I need to get that I need to get that we did one recently. That was education is not indoctrination. Just to kind of talk about and bring awareness to the book fans that are happening across our country. And that was really, really, really, really popular. So now that we have that in stock.

Katie Doughty: 36:24

All I see. I see said the tea of the month. Once it's gone, it's gone for the most part, and then you have a line that's always available.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 36:32

Oh, yeah. Yeah, with that tons of probably, at least like 25 different designs that we always have available.

Katie Doughty: 36:40

Do you offer kids sizes? Yeah. Okay. That's awesome. I love the idea of having kids shirts like that, because they are conversation starters. Right? And so if they're going to wear it, they need to understand what they're wearing and having those conversations. So if somebody asks them, what does your shirt mean, you know, they can hold their own conversation about what kindness is what that means to them, or whatever it is they're representing. That's really cool.

Kaitlin Johnstone: 37:06

Yeah, yeah. 100%. I agree. Yeah.

Katie Doughty: 37:10

Well, can you tell us where to find you? Where can everyone you know, if they want to join the tea of the Month Club? Or what's your Instagram handle anything for people to get involved? And follow and support you?

Kaitlin Johnstone: 37:22

Sure, yeah. And Instagram and Tiktok is where we are, at most of the time, sounds silly to say that, but that's where you find me. That's where you can get a hold of me really quickly. Because I probably spend too much time on there. But it's just kind cotton. And then our website is kind of cotton.com.

Katie Doughty: 37:43

Awesome. And I can put that in the show notes too. But this you are doing amazing. I just love what you're putting out in the world and the heart that you have behind everything that you do. I think I'm so lucky. I got to sit and chat with you about this. So thank you for being here. I appreciate it. Yeah,

Kaitlin Johnstone: 38:00

thank you, Katie. I feel very lucky to thank you for having me.

Katie Doughty: 38:03

Yay. I will definitely be in touch because I'll be following along. Awesome.