Kathryn Goetzke

Kathryn Goetzke is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, strategic consultant and global depression advocate. She is the entrepreneur and innovator behind Mood-lites™, a brand that achieved over 35 million dollars in retail sales. As her role as Chief Mood Officer at The Mood Factory, her goal is to ‘Improve Moods’ by teaching consumers how to get in the present moment through engaging senses through a new Mood-scents™ brand and a VR experience on mood states. In addition to launching her own brands, Goetzke founded a non-profit organization for depression called iFred (the International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression – www.depression.org) dedicated to eradicating the stigma of the disease using the sunflower, a focus on hope, the color yellow, celebrity engagement, and education on the biology of the brain. According to the World Health Organization, there are 450 million people around the world with major depressive disorder, yet depression is treatable and episodes often preventable. She is most excited about her new Schools for Hope initiative (www.schoolsforhope.org), based on research that hope is a teachable skill and aimed at reaching 5th graders around the world so they are equipped to always find HOPE. Goetzke and her work has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Home, InStyle, Family Living, Scholastic Choices Magazine, and others. She has spoken at the United Nations twice, the Global Mental Health Movement Athens Conference, at Mental Health Community Associations Conference, the Scent Marketing Institute, and more. She has been featured on multiple radio and television shows including BBC, WGN Chicago, CBS Chicago, Tasty Trade, and eWomenNetwork. Goetzke is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and PsychCentral, and writes regularly for iFred and The Mood Factory and serves on advisory boards for FundaMentalSDG and the Global Mental Health Movement. Prior to founding her own company, Goetzke, a world traveler who has worked and studied across the globe, served in many different marketing, sales, and new products capacities for both large and small companies. She has a Master of Business Administration degree in International Marketing Management from the University of St. Thomas, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, International Studies and Biology from Winona State University. She currently resides in both Chicago and San Francisco, CA, where she enjoys hiking, meeting new people, playing with her nieces, exploring the mountains, skiing, and solving complex global challenges.