Meet the team – Catherine

This year we’ll be working hard to make sure you’re not only familiar with what Mum & You does to help you and others, but also with who we are. First up is Catherine. We’ll let her explain her role for herself…

I’m Catherine and I have a really long title:  Chief Innovation Officer – Head of Category Development and Content, which actually means I design the products, look for the right places for our customers to buy them and work with people who are far more creative than me to make films describing them.

I love my job, I get to do the type of work I was trained to do in big multinational companies, but in a flexible way that fits around my own family. I have 3 young children and my husband lives abroad for much of the year, so the flexibility that Mum & You extends to all its employees makes a huge difference to me; pretty much the difference between being able to work or not.

The team at a Margate Children’s Centre receiving our donations

I’ve been part of M&Y since it was just an idea in (our co-founders) Rajiv and Anu’s heads. I was instantly drawn to helping create a company which is ‘by mums for mums’ and that was committed, even before a single product existed, to looking after mums so that their children are more likely to reach their potential.

Having children made me realise in a more profound way the importance of everyday kindnesses and how being part of a community beyond your own family can lift your spirits on the more difficult days that are part and parcel of parenthood.  I feel lucky to have the other mums & dads at M&Y as my new community and will never stop looking for ways to pay that good fortune forward.

Last week my ‘big daughter’ Dottie and I had the privilege of making a small road trip together from our home in Windsor to deliver M&Y gift boxes and books to Thanet Children’s Centres. The boxes contain nappies, wipes and some of our toiletries and were part-funded by you, our generous customers. They were distributed just ahead of Christmas so that local families, some of whom are in real financial hardship, have a small practical helping hand as well as a lovely new story book to enjoy with their baby or toddler. Michelle, Clare, Vicky, Katherine and Sharon work tirelessly in the centres there and were extremely appreciative of what we delivered. I look forward to doing more for them in 2019 and finding other people and places that could use just such a ‘small kindness.’

Catherine’s favourite product: I can’t easily pick a favourite product that we have launched, it’s a bit like picking a favourite child…so depends on the day! Perhaps though the Baby Explorer Hair & Body Wash if pushed – it’s the one product the entire family uses. It feels silky and foamy to use and doesn’t aggravate my eczema or my son’s.