Can changing your mood be as simple as changing a light bulb? Kathryn Goetzke likes to think so.
President of Chicago-based The Mood Factory, Goetzke launched her company in 2004 to create products that can help elevate the mood through the use of the senses.
A native of Oak Park, Goetzke credits her father with sparking her interest in business. “My dad was a retail banker, and he was very influential to me. He was always interested in Walmart and how the company succeeded, so from an early age, I was always interested in business.”
Goetzke graduated from college with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and later earned an MBA in International Marketing.
“I worked in marketing and advertising, so I’ve kind of had all aspects of business experience.”
A personal experience with depression led the OPRF High School graduate to create a non-profit organization: International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression, www.ifred.org. The foundation is dedicated to encouraging research on depression and reducing the stigma associated with the disease.
Eleven years ago, Goetzke took her interest in depression and moods and combined it with the entrepreneurial experience that she’d developed while working for companies such as American Express and 3M. As founder, president and CEO of The Mood Factory, she oversees marketing, sales and operations for a company dedicated to creating products that affect mood through use of the senses.
The Mood Factory’s first big hit was its line of Mood-lites: eight colored light bulbs, each specifically tied to a certain mood. The eight color-coded moods include tranquility, Serenity, passion, renewal, creativity, energy, happiness and sassy. Tranquility is a rich, soothing shade of blue. Sassy is a glowing pink color, while renewal is a softly energetic green. Serenity is a pale aqua color. A yellow hued bulb helps promote happiness, and red is linked to passion. Creativity is represented by the color purple. A bright orange color correlates with energy.
Each bulb color’s mood is spelled out in the line’s marketing. For instance, purple’s creativity is said to encourage imagination and ideas, sparking artistic feeling and creative thinking. On The Mood Factory’s website, themoodfactory.com, interested buyers can explore the moods associated with different colors and sign up for blog posts or weekly newsletters regarding the connection between mood and color. The website also allows interested buyers to delve more deeply into the science behind the products.
Goetzke researched the effect light has on moods and found that there are many studies on the psychological benefits of the sense of sight.
“Studies have shown that what you see can actually effect how you feel. A lot of the experience has to do with peoples’ association of colors in nature,” she says. “Hue matters, too. It can be hard to make a generalization because colors can vary by warmth or coolness. You also want to keep in mind that there can be too much of a good thing. If you do too much of something, you can create the opposite effect of what you’re looking for, so the small doses of color in the mood-lites keep that in check.”
Goetzke’s mood-enhancing bulbs have been sold at Walmart, Linens & Things and Ace Hardware stores. The line is currently offered exclusively at over 1,800 Lowes stores throughout the country. Goetzke is working on expanding her product lines by moving into the scent business. Her line of organic scent-based products are hand made in Indiana, and her goal is to begin offering this line to retail outlets as well as spas in the near future.