Illustration: woman riding a leaping pink tiger
Creative Ecosystem Architect

People need people.

I build creative ecosystems that make building feel less lonely. Too many makers, women founders, and creative leaders are asked to build alone — my work is designing the spaces, tools, and relationships that make a different way possible.

The Belief

People need people. Not just encouragement. Not just another business tip. Not another “follow your dreams” quote in a cute font.

We need rooms where we are known. Tools that make the work lighter. People who answer the text. Places to gather, sell, teach, learn, and try again.

That is why I build ecosystems.

The Shift

Creative people deserve more than inspiration. They deserve infrastructure.

The real enemy isn't a lack of talent — it's isolation. Makers, founders, and creative leaders are asked to build alone. I build the opposite: interconnected spaces, software, retail, and relationships that grow stronger because they exist together.

i.

I see it first

Spotting the unmet need in the creative economy before it has a name — then designing the business model that meets it.

ii.

I connect it

People, places, and ventures that reinforce one another, so makers can move through the ecosystem as their needs evolve.

iii.

I build the home

Real infrastructure — not just inspiration. Spaces, tools, and community where creative work becomes sustainable.

The Ecosystem

Many ventures. One mission.

A connected network of companies and initiatives, each solving a different part of the same question: how do creative people build connected, sustainable, meaningful lives? They aren't separate businesses — they're living proof of one philosophy.

Tap any part of the ecosystem to explore it. Each venture strengthens the others.

Speaking & Ideas

I speak about the future of creativity, commerce & belonging.

Not generic business talks — conversations about why community is infrastructure, how isolation undermines creative people, and what it really takes to build differently. People leave feeling less alone — and ready to build differently.

01Building Ecosystems Instead of Businesses
02Why Community Is Infrastructure
03Third Places & the Loneliness Epidemic
04Designing Businesses That Create Belonging
05Women's Entrepreneurship Through Community
Ways to Build Together

Ways to build together.

Whether you're filling a stage, shaping a venture, or starting something with people who carry too much alone — here's where I can help.

i.

Invite me to speak

Talks for rooms ready to think differently about community, creativity, commerce, and belonging.

ii.

Bring me into the strategy

Advising for founders, teams, and organizations building community-centered businesses or creative infrastructure.

iii.

Design the ecosystem

Consulting for spaces, retail concepts, third places, local creative economies, and connected ventures.

iv.

Collaborate on what's next

Partnerships, media, projects, and ideas that need imagination, structure, and the right people around the table.

Hi,
I'm Katy.
Portrait of Katy Sensenig Schilthuis wearing heart-shaped sunglasses
The Person Behind It

A writer by training. A builder by instinct.

I started as a maker myself — a hand-drawn stationery company in 2016. That taught me the lonely, exhilarating reality of building something creative. Everything since has been an answer to one question: what would have made that easier?

I didn't set out to build an ecosystem. I kept noticing the same thing everywhere: people were trying to build meaningful creative lives without enough support, connection, or places to belong.

"I'm a Leo. I think creativity is a force you build a home for — not something you tame."

Today I spend less time operating and more time doing the work only I can do: seeing what's next, connecting people across industries, and designing the spaces — physical and digital — where creative communities flourish.

1987
Building since
400+
Makers supported
6
Connected ventures
Ideas I'm Exploring

The thinking underneath the building.

I write about the questions underneath the building: why creative work gets lonely, what makes a place feel alive, how community becomes infrastructure, and what we owe the people who make things.

Let's Build Something

Let's design what comes next.