TAMPA, Fla. — Running a business out of your own home while trying to raise three young children is a challenge, but one Tampa mom says she wouldn’t do it any other way.
That’s because the business is specifically designed for her four-year-old daughter.
“I feel like I’m a one-woman circus all the time but it’s a great feeling,” said Kait Scheele.
For the past year, Scheele has been running a children’s clothing line out of her Tampa home. It’s called Bowtism.
“Our kids just love bows, they sleep in them every single day and they just can’t get enough of them,” said Scheele.
It was Kait’s four-year-old daughter, Livia, who inspired her to start the business.
“Bowtism was born because we have a non-verbal autistic daughter and our family saw how much money we were spending with her needs and her therapies and we realized there were so many families out there that didn’t have those means,” said Scheele.
Ten percent of every sale goes back to helping families just like theirs.
“We have just given $10,000 to Hillsborough County Schools to help them buy special needs equipment,” said Scheele.
Scheele, who has an extensive background in the fashion industry, designs half the outfits herself.
“A lot of the patterns that we use are really fun, we do unicorns, and rainbows and very Florida inspired,” said Scheele.
However, what makes it a true kids clothing line, Kait’s own eight-year-old son Max and four-year-old twin daughters, London and Livia, are alongside her throughout the day.
“They help me design absolutely everything you see, they pick out the fabric choices, help me match the colors of the bows, so they are very much involved,” said Scheele.
The long term goal is to eventually move Bowtism into a warehouse and begin offering jobs for adults with autism.
“Once a child ages out of the school system there are very few jobs out there that an autistic human being can go work for,” said Scheele.
One day, hopefully, Livia, will even take over.
“Where she can go and work and she really has a place in this world,” said Scheele.
For more information, visit Bowtism.com.
