Meet Katie Montgomery | Founder, My At Home Adventures

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Montgomery and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The idea for My At Home Adventures® was sparked during the pandemic. I was working as a Client Manager for one of the largest asset managers in the world, stuck in back-to-back meetings for most of the day, while my daughter struggled to pay attention in virtual kindergarten. With both of us working from my dining room table, I was able to overhear a lot of her daily curriculum. I was SO surprised at how kids were being taught how to read and write! I started reading more about the education system in America and was really disappointed to learn that most schools don’t introduce topics like science, history, social studies and geography until 4th or 5th grade. Those were the topics that my daughter was most interested in!

I could tell that my daughter was falling behind because the content wasn’t engaging enough to hold her attention, so I started to supplement her learning at home by creating, what I called, learning boxes — a compilation of educational resources around the same subject. Now, instead of using boring flash cards to memorize “sight words,” common words in the English language, I was helping my daughter recognize letters and sound out words using topics that she was interested in.

Not only was she learning how to read and write, but I could tell that she was becoming more curious and wanted to learn more about history!

I realized that my learning boxes, now called Adventure Boxes, could help other parents/caregivers spark this curiosity in their early elementary-aged children while also creating more opportunity for family time over solo screen time.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My vision for My At Home Adventures® is to help parents/caregivers connect with their children through fostering a love of learning. I believe that play time should feel like the adventure of a lifetime and quality time spent together is crucial for building strong relationships and creating long-lasting magical memories. Our Adventure Boxes — immersive, problem solving stories that spark curiosity and stimulate imagination — offer structured playtime that is both educational and engaging, providing a fun alternative to screen time that gets kids excited about learning!

There is currently nothing else on the market like our Adventure Boxes, which can be described as a mix of a scavenger hunt and age-appropriate escape room. Each Box includes all of the clues and activities to solve the mystery and uncover the buried treasure right in your own home!

My long term vision is to turn this into a subscription service, with each Adventure Box leading into the next one. Additionally, children will get to build their own adventure tool kit with a new tool provided in each Box; for example, a magnifying glass is included in Digging for Dinosaurs and a UV light is included in the second Box, which will be space themed.

Building My At Home Adventures® has become a passion project for me. I LOVE the creative aspect of it and getting to test out all of the arts and crafts, science experiments and puzzles… it’s like getting to be a kid again!

The hardest part of building this business for me has been upgrading my mindset. When I first started working on My At Home Adventures® a lot of imposter syndrome popped up! I spent the first 10 years of my career climbing the corporate ladder, always having clear expectations based on the role that I was in. When I made the jump to business ownership, I was really great at the product development and creative side of things but felt really lost when it came to marketing and PR. Instead of just experimenting and testing things, I got caught up in comparing myself to what I saw other business owners doing, which only made me feel more like an imposter. I had to learn to stop comparing my chapter one to someone else’s chapter 100! I still have work to do in this area, but learning how to focus on myself and my vision instead of wasting that time and energy on what everyone else is doing has been a great first step.

My advice to other business owners is to make sure you have a compelling vision to anchor to because it will help you get through the tough times!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My daughter and I love to go to the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) here in Columbus! For adults, they have COSI After Dark where you get to explore the museum after hours with a cocktail or two. We also love to catch a Blue Jackets game during hockey season!

One place I would definitely recommend checking out is North Market for their unique and local merchants!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My daughter has been my inspiration and partner in crime in starting My At Home Adventures®! The entire concept for the Adventure Boxes — immersive, problem solving stories that spark curiosity and stimulate imagination — was inspired by her experience in virtual kindergarten during the pandemic, and she was an awesome test subject while I was writing the first adventure, Digging for Dinosaurs. Now that she’s older, my daughter has gotten more involved in the business development side of building My At Home Adventures® and it’s been great to see her own entrepreneurial spark ignite. Not to mention, she’s kept me company at every local vendor market that we’ve participated in… she’s becoming a better sales woman than me!

Website: https://myathomeadventures.etsy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/my.at.home.adventures/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/my.at.home.adventures

Other: Pinterest : https://www.pinterest.com/myathomeadventures/

Image Credits
Jessy Marie Photography (for photo of me and my daughter only)