About Us
Alisha
I'm an artist by nature, and a mental health therapist by trade! I drew my first art piece at the tender age of 6 years old--to somewhat mediocre reviews (side note-my mom is a realist who loves me beyond measure-- but she did not want me to have an inflated sense of my ability, and for that I am eternally grateful). The artist/creator inside of me has never been a choice--it is as natural to me as the air I breathe. And while my 6 year old feelings were hurt for a little while, I was still determined to fulfill my destiny. Over the years I "dabbled" in the arts--drawing, sketching, painting--but never calling myself an artist. To me I "doodled." Just as I knew in my soul that art was a piece of me, I also knew that helping others was another part of who I am. I’ve been in the helping profession for the past 15 years, and a therapist for the past 8. As a mental health therapist working at a non-profit agency I learned quickly how to blend my art skills with my creation skills to make sand tray figures that I needed—not just for me, but for those I was serving. My first creation was a homemade guillotine out of a coat hanger. I’m happy to report that my skills have improved since then!
Catherine
Catherine is an Arizona native who transplanted to the panhandle of Florida in 2009. She has been a social worker for the past 20 years, and a licensed clinical social worker for the past 10. She is a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor who specializes in working with the birth-5 population, adoptive families, and the LGBTQIA community. In 2012 she met the love of her life, and married her in 2013 in New York City. In 2014 they adopted their daughter (Baby Owl) who is the biological sister of Alisha’s youngest sister who was adopted by Alisha’s parents in 2011.
As a production owl, she is the brains of Momma Owl while Alisha is the heart. Together they make a dynamic duo! Catherine is responsible for shipping orders, following up on customer’s questions and requests, managing production, and most importantly keeping Alisha on track. She is most comfortable behind the scenes, and finds that organizing products and keeping track of inventory is very relaxing. She likes to think of herself as a creative problem solver whose contribution to Momma Owls Minis helps make it successful.
m-o-m Story
Using art and creativity as an outlet to help others.
I became Momma Owl shortly after we adopted our 3-year-old daughter. One day while at the grocery store with my wife and daughter we got separated. My wife told our daughter to call out for me fully expecting her to yell out “Momma,” but instead our daughter started yelling, “Hoo! Hoo!” to which I instinctively knew was her calling to me 2 aisles over so I “Hoo! Hoo!”’d back. She continued “hoo hoo”ing for me until we were reunited at which time she reaches out to hug me and looks up at me and says with the most sincere and gentle eyes “You’re my Momma Owl.” *cue the tears* My wife teared up right there in the middle of the cereal aisle—I felt the lump in my throat and the warmth in my soul—as I said back to her, “And you’re my Baby Owl.” **seriously this is not a children’s book—it really is our story**
Flash forward a few years to the summer of 2019 where all of the above story comes crashing together on the shores of Hawaii at a once-in-a-lifetime play therapy retreat hosted by our encouraging friend Jen Taylor. And of course—if you are going to have a play therapy retreat in Hawaii—you are going to have some kind of sand tray training on the beach! Instructions for the retreat were to bring 5-10 sand tray figures to use in the creation of your own sand tray. By this time I had been making “minis’ for a few years so I had several homemade figures that I took. My MO for mini making was to create those figures that I needed for my own sand tray work, or make figures that I needed for clients to do their own work but couldn’t find and/or afford. At the Hawaii retreat a few folks saw my minis and were fairly impressed—nothing overly dramatic, but definitely kind compliments—some of the minis were even used by my table mates during various activities which really made me feel good. By the end of the 5-day retreat I had given away most of my home made figures to various people as I intuitively felt that they might need or benefit from them. Before we headed home—as in right before we leave the lobby to catch our flight—Jen spends several minutes alone with my wife reconnecting, catching up, and planting the small seed of encouragement that my wife needed to hear about the need for my home made figures to be available to other therapists. She talked with her about an etsy store, some marketing ideas, etc. etc. My wife excitedly passed on the message to me, and that was as far as it went…until a week after returning to the main land my high dive pushing friend Jen Taylor puts my hand made figures on her FB page that reaches a couple thousand play and sand tray therapists requesting some encouragement from her followers to help her “shy artist friend” create an etsy store. I WAS SHOCKED—my wife was ecstatic—and a few short weeks later we launched our Etsy Store. We have now outgrown Etsy and are excited to have our own independent site to continue making these handmade and unique sand tray items available to every therapist!