(upbeat music) ♪ Yeah, the simple things in life ♪ - April is national autism awareness and acceptance month.

So today we'll talk with one mom who knows autism.

Oh so well, my guest is Pamela Kattouf She is one of the founders of Beloved Baths.

Welcome to Lifestyles.

- Thank you so much Lillian, great to be here.

- So Pam Kattouf and Pat Miller were both young moms who met on a playground when their children were toddlers, little did they know they would come to have lives that would stay intertwined.

Tell me how the idea of Beloved Baths came about?

- Well, Pat and I, as you said met even before our children were born when our older kids were toddlers on the playground and our paths did not cross again until we both had children with autism.

And as we were navigating the very uncertain world of autism, it's unclear what to do?

Where to go?

So our kids are, my son Justin is 19 and Pat son, John is 20 and there certainly was no well-traveled road back then, when our kids were young.

I think it's a little bit, I don't want to say easier but I think that there are more resources.

So we bonded together, and with some other moms started a school for children with autism called Garden Academy.

And so Pat and I are used to doing things together that benefit our kids, but also the community.

And as our boys got into their teen years we started to worry a lot because we knew the statistics of unemployment and underemployment for people with autism and our boys are on the profound end of autism.

So we felt that the job opportunities out there for them would be either limited or none, because it's hard enough for kids with language or young adults with language to get jobs.

And then imagine without language, trying to get a job and trying to fit in an employment situation.

So we decided we needed to do something together.

We didn't know what.

And we had a false start with a greenhouse.

We tried doing that.

(laughing) - I laughed because I wanted to start a hydroponic.

- [Pamela Kattouf] Hydroponic!

- Yeah, - Yes - That's it, go ahead.

(laughing) - It seems so perfect because it's contained, it's beautiful.

Everything about it.

it's growing, it's so nice.

- And it's calm, right?

It is, It's so soothing.

When I would go into the greenhouse in the middle of winter, I said, I feel like I'm on an Island.

This is amazing.

Justin would love it here.

Pat was working in hospital administration and I was an educator and it allowed me to focus on adults, emerging adults, I should say 16 to 21.

And I got to do a hydroponic greenhouse with the school.

And it was amazing and it was fun.

But I also realized that it's physically grueling.

Climbing through the pipes and fixing things.

And even though you see everything coming out of tubes or the wall, all the growth, there's still a lot of underground digging and it wasn't for somebody my age.

(laughing) But that also allowed me to go with my students and see their job sampling programs.

And it was depressing to say the least, it was horrifying.

They were relegated to jobs in smelly basements.

One example that really stands out to me was wiping cable wires with alcohol.

And I didn't even understand why somebody would do that job why it needed to be done, but it just seemed like busy work.

It didn't seem like there was any purpose to it.

And I noticed that the students were not, their teachers were engaging with them but the other employees of the places were not engaging with them.

So that really was a giant catalyst to say, you know what?

We have an idea that we're going to do something but we need to do it.

And it lit a fire under us.

When we started to see what was out there.

And coincidentally, about the same time we discovered that Lavender Baths, salt with some Lavender essential oil really was soothing for our boys.

And we decided to make it a project and have them make their own and give them as gifts, all packaged nicely.

And then we said, wait a minute maybe this could be a business.

And that was really the start of it.

And then it cascaded and grew.

- Let me ask you what were the goal and the missions of making the soaps?

It wasn't just to make the soaps obviously or I'm thinking it was for vocational training of those on the spectrum.

- Absolutely.

So our mission is meaningful employment for people with autism.

And I really want to emphasize the meaningful part.

Going back to things that are not meaningful, just because somebody doesn't have the language does not mean that they don't know if they're doing something important and useful and everyone deserves to feel valued.

So we wanted to have something that was meaningful and that was really a big emphasis for us.

So what we wanted to do for our boys, but for others as well was to have a joyous place to work.

A place that smelled great, where you felt like you were accomplishing something.

And we definitely think that we have that.

And we have employees who are over 21, but we also have what we call trainees.

And those are the students that I worked with in the high school, who were basically between 16 and 21 and they do job sampling.

So it's just an opportunity for them to hopefully gain skills that if they don't end up using at Beloved Bath they could use in other employment situations like packaging - So it can be generalized and used in other ways for sure?

- Exactly.

- Let me ask, as you were indicating employment for our population or for this population is either unemployed, the numbers is skyrocketing.

How many are unemployed let alone under employed.

What would your interview process be like?

Because that's where our kids kind of fall short.

It's getting through, they can do the work, they are capable of doing something and doing it well.

But having to go through that interview process is just not gonna work, especially for those that have no language or very little language, or just and even on the high end, with Asperger's that have language.

But the interview process is so stressful that they just can't get through it.

So do you create an interview process?

Or do you just have the kids that have been in your classroom go over into this?

Or how does that work?

- So I think we happen to be an easy interview, because as we like to say that if somebody shows up to work and ends up on the floor and has a really rough day.

That's just a really rough day, It's not their last day.

So we really understand, we had a young man, in his twenties who came to work with his job coach but basically refused to work.

He didn't wanna do it.

Wasn't feeling it that day.

And usually he's a great worker.

But his mom called and she was so scared.

She was filled with fear and so apologetic.

And we said, it's okay.

You know what?

Sometimes people have a day.

They're not feeling it, it's okay.

So we're very understanding.

And so I think that sets us apart from other businesses.

But what I would say to those other businesses is if you bring in an employee, observe them, see what they gravitate towards and give them the opportunity, and put in the effort in the beginning, the training, then they could be your best employee.

- Right.

Because we know they love rote, they love a beginning, a middle and an end.

They're gonna be there on time.

They're gonna be and on time.

They're very punctual.

The routine is what works for this population, for sure.

- Yes So sometimes when that routine gets a little juggled that's not always the best, but they can overcome it.

If there's support systems, in the room that can help them overcome it.

Now, not all places are going to be conducive for this population but they can certainly work in many different industries.

Even the things that they're learning from your employment or from your facility like we were saying can go on, and generalize that same skill somewhere else.

- Absolutely, and because of COVID we've had to pivot a bit, and all of our manufacturing is done in our soap and candle studio.

But we have people doing different tasks off site.

- Let me get to that in just a minute.

Cause I do want to ask you about the COVID and the challenge that businesses, small businesses and nonprofits have really struggled with.

So I'll get to that, but first share the type of work that individuals with autism that worked for you are doing?

What specifically, are they pouring?

Are they mixing?

Are they, tell me what they're doing?

- So the people who work for us do absolutely everything but that doesn't mean that everyone does everything.

So I'll give you the example.

My son loves to put the warning labels on the bottom of candles.

He could do that for hours.

That is his most favorite task.

So, we give him other things to do as well.

Because it's important to have a few skills, because in a business, sometimes you don't need just one job done, but we have people who were making.

Pat my partner, her son loves to make the sugar scrubs, so that's his favorite thing to do.

So it's absolutely everything.

We don't have any products that our employees do not have a hand in.

So we don't do anything that would be too hard for at least somebody to have a touch on.

But it's very variable.

We have an employee who loves to fix up the candles when you pour them, sometimes they need a little fixing and that's one of her favorite things.

Mixing, a lot of our employees love all of the mixing with the scents.

So that's something that they like too.

- I want to talk a little bit about the products, and while I was researching for this interview one of the things that you have, is called and I want you to share it with me, One of a kind toppers what are One of a kind toppers?

- So when we started making those bath salts that we told you about, we thought it would be nice to have the top have a little piece of artwork from our, it was our boys at the time.

Now they didn't have the fine motor skills to draw and create art.

But what we did was get stencils and they paint it and they loved it.

I think creating.

For me creating is so reinforcing and invigorating and it's energizing.

And I feel like it's the same for my son.

So when he gets to do that type of painting he really loves it.

So we take those and then we put it on top of our first product, the Serenity bath salt, which is a Lavender bath salt, and they're all different.

We will take a big piece of their art.

So some of them have some similarities and - Cutting it up - Cut it up, and put it on and they know that's from them.

So it's really special and nice.

- Yap, that's very cool.

I want to ask when you guys decided to do this and you said you were in education and Pat was in?

- Health care - Health care - She run the cancer center at a large hospital.

- Did you know what you were doing?

And did it start off in your kitchen?

When you first started doing this?

How did that expand?

- It started off in my kitchen for a very short time.

And I say by the hand of God I bought a home with two kitchens.

Believe it or not.

And the basement kitchen was converted quickly into a soap and then candle studio.

So we have a dedicated space with its own entrance.

I'm very happy to report that we have a lease that we are in the works signing, and in May, we'll be moving into our first official manufacturing facility.

where we can bring in so many more employees and trainees.

So we are really, really excited about that.

- That is exciting, that's definitely moving forward.

And do you have an area where, or do you everything online the sales are online or is there a display place?

Because that's the kind of thing my son would like would be organizing the displays.

When you go into a thrift store with my son he's got to fix all the videos, all the DVDs everything has to be lined up perfectly.

So do you have an area where you're displaying your product?

- Well, we certainly will in this new manufacturing space, where people can come in and shop, but we sell to stores across the country.

We've had stores that have specifically sought us out, because we're manufactured by people with special needs.

So we're really happy about that, but we sell online and then wholesale to different stores.

- Now, I came to know of you by watching a television commercial.

It's a national commercial.

And I didn't even know, I shouldn't even say that.

I didn't know who the commercial was.

I just knew the story.

And it's now Northwestern Mutual, who the commercial was but because it said something about autism and employment.

And so to be watching a commercial and then one of my colleagues tracked you down.

So I'm so grateful that I saw the commercial and we're going to play that commercial right now.

- I've always focused on my career.

But when we found out our son had autism his future became my focus.

Lavender Baths always calmed him.

So we turned bath time into a business.

♪There was a dream ♪ and building it with my son has been my dream job (upbeat music) At Northwestern Mutual.

Our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today.

Find a Northwestern Mutual advisor @nm.com.

- Okay, so clearly that's not you in the commercial, it's an actor or actors playing that part.

How did they come to you?

Or what did they do that your story was featured?

- So we are customers of Northwestern mutual.

Our planner, Tom Canary was pivotal in helping us get our business on track.

So I'm an educator, Pat's from health care.

We didn't know about running a business.

So there were so many things that we were unsure of.

And Tom helped us understand succession planning with us.

How to ensure that the business would live past us.

And most importantly, how we could pay our employees.

Because as you know, people who have disabilities get social security benefits, and if they earn too much money they jeopardize their benefits.

So he helped us so that we could pay our employees and not jeopardize the benefits that they would need for housing, down the road or other very important aspects of their lives.

So that was really important.

We just didn't know what to do with that.

He helped us - And that's kind of a catch 22.

I want my son to work but he could work one week and then stop.

So social security would take another two months before it kicked back in.

And so I'm paranoid to have my son work.

So he volunteers at a lot of places doing the things that he loves to do, but not during COVID and COVID has been a whole hell of a time.

So let me just ask you, I've asked other nonprofits and small businesses, what did you do in your pivot world?

How did you keep things going?

What was your rebound?

- Sure, I want to make the distinction.

We are not a nonprofit.

- Right?

- We say we are not only for profit.

And the reason that we very purposefully chose to be a LLC versus a Nonprofit?

Is because we also wanted to show businesses that they could employ people and be successful and make money.

And we wanted our employees to know that they were working for a company that was profitable.

I mean we've put all our money back in to grow the company.

Anyway, so COVID what a nightmare that has been for everybody, I'm sure, you know, people with autism thrive on routine and what a change to this routine?

So initially we closed down, we thought it would be for two weeks but of course it wasn't.

Something beautiful happens, and that was people in the community started to order giant amounts of soap from us.

So businesses that had nothing to do with selling soaps became our wholesale clients and then donated those soaps and other products to frontline healthcare workers.

- Awesome.

- It was amazing cause they wanted to keep us afloat and they wanted to do something nice for the healthcare workers.

So that was wonderful.

So what we did was we shifted our work into our employees homes.

Whether it was folding brochures, and then we take them back.

Wicking candles, we would take them back.

Just different things that people could do remotely.

We have somebody who works for us, who's a photographer.

So we bought her photos and then did them in as a giveaway note cards.

So we just sort of went with the flow and did all that we could do to keep everything going.

And we were happy to bring people back.

And we were happy when the schools came back and could do things at their sites.

We're in New Jersey.

And I'm hopeful that once we're situated in May that by June, the schools will be able to start coming to us.

And we already have more employees at the ready, who it'll be nice to bring them in once again.

- How many employees are you talking?

And then do you have some typical employees neuro-typical employees that are there to help and and move things around?

So how many employees are you able to keep on staff?

- So it's very flexible and fluid.

I would say we probably right now have about 6 to 8 employees who have autism, who are all part-time.

And then we have the students at the schools and that's also very flexible.

So somebody might come and work with us for a while and then move on to something else, come back.

It's a fluid type of situation.

We're hoping and expecting that our employees are going to be having more hours here, because we haven't really been able to give as many hours as we'd like because our studio's small.

So we need to keep the distance.

And in the past we would have a few employees at a time but we don't do that right now.

We take one employee.

And we just hired a retired school principal - Oh nice.

- to help us, which is really nice.

- Yeah.

- And then we have one other employee who just came on because we are anticipating a very big ramp up when we get to our new space.

So we wanted to have everything in place - In our last couple of minutes together.

I want to just ask, how are Justin and John how did they do through the pandemic, and how are they now?

- The lack of school, and the lack of routine was definitely challenging for them.

For Justin.

He adjusted very quickly and accepted the new routine.

Did a lot of hiking outside.

I know John does that as well.

So being able to get out and have movement.

I think having a Beloved Bath has been great for them, because it gives them purpose.

But I feel for all kids and especially kids with autism, it's been rough and certainly remote learning is really not a thing that works so well for them.

So, but I feel like we've been able to get through it.

- And are they both good mask wearers?

Are they willing to do that?

- Oh my Gosh, yes.

They're champions of wearing the mask.

It's funny, when I first introduced the mask to Justin.

I had a timer and I said, all right, five seconds and five seconds, and he took it off.

And then someone who takes him for a hike said let me take the mask and give it a try.

He kept it on for two hours.

- Yeah - (laughing) - My son, calls it The Corona virus mask.

The Corona Virus Mask gotta have the coronavirus mask.

(laughing) Pam, thanks so much for sharing.

What are your plans for autism awareness month?

What do you for the business?

Do you have any special things going on?

- We do, we will have lots of giveaways, different items.

We always donate a portion of every sale to programs that support vocational training.

- ({Lillian Vasquez)}Nice.

* - So we are happy to do that and amplify that.

And we have some special partnerships with other autism organizations.

So we just plan to do a lot, and hopefully shine the light on autism and all of the capabilities of people throughout the spectrum.

- Right.

Very good.

Pam, it's been a joy speaking with you.

Good luck with your baths, your salts, your candles and all that you're doing with our kiddos.

- Thank you so much.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) ♪ care the simple things in life ♪