Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Crosby.
Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve spent most of my life highly curious, wanting to understand people, and especially children. Long before becoming an occupational therapist, I was the one babysitting constantly, nannying, volunteering in various kid settings and domestic violence shelters – overall naturally gravitating toward children and families. I also had my own magical, and in ways difficult, childhood experience that piqued interest in how family dynamics, even intergenerationally before our time, can shape our behavior in the present especially if we’re unaware of it.
Little did I know it, I spent my childhood preparing for what I do now: that calling evolved into a career in occupational therapy, where I’ve spent more than a decade supporting children, parents, and professionals through interaction, activities and environmental methods to support wellbeing and participation in life.
I earned my undergraduate degree from University of Michigan with a master of science in Occupational Therapy from Rush University Medical Center. Early in my career, I realized that families weren’t just looking for behavior strategies- they were longing for deeper understanding of themselves, their stories, and ultimately connection versus defaulting to old, internalized reactive patterns in the present moment with kids.
That realization shaped the heart of my work and eventually led me to create Thriving Littles, a practice and platform focused on walking alongside families, professionals and organizations from chaos and overwhelm to connection and clarity.
Over the years, my work has expanded beyond traditional OT mental health client work into education, facilitating workshops, creating online accessible content for anyone who wants access in addition to courses and programs for those who want to dive deeper. The heart of the work is dismantling compliance culture and what the neuroscience suggests may be more valuable and sustainable for everyone involved – and alchemizing challenges like behavior issues, daily “occupation” struggles (getting dressed, going to the bathroom, eating, sleeping, school, transitions) into opportunities to repattern the brain and body into something helpful.
What I care most about is helping people feel less alone and more empowered – whether that’s a parent navigating multiple hour long daily meltdowns, a professional overwhelmed with capacity/resources and juggling kids’ needs, or an adult reconnecting with themselves realizing they spent a lot of life on protective autopilot.
Personally, life has brought its own unique experiences to deepen understanding of healing, identity, and resilience in a most human way – seeing the importance of security, deeply personal faith, playfulness, purpose to shape our lives no matter the circumstance. These seasons have evolved work even further, step by step, especially around guiding women and caregivers to get back to inner wisdom and create lives that feel values- aligned, meaningful, and grounded from the inside out.
At the core of all I do is belief that behavior makes sense in context – that environments, relationships matter deeply, and that people do best when they feel secure, seen and valued.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting Thriving Littles has asked me to grow professionally and personally time and time again in ways that I never expected. It started out while I was working in family-centered OT clinic in Chicago, posting book clips online for mainstream parenting books when parents asked for additional reading and resources and, at the time, there wasn’t much out there available on conscious interaction, nervous system understanding, and the power of relationships to shape the brain, body and wellness for life. At first, I thought I’d be “anonymous.” That didn’t last long once families began asking questions and reaching out for support.
Hardly anyone was talking on video in stories at the time, but I came on to answer questions I’d received in DMs that way – it was vulnerable and had to overcome subconscious fear of being seen, judged, criticized, and now I realize how actually being judged and criticized is just opportunity to make us stronger and clearer when we’re open to it. I felt compelled by purpose and people sharing how much it helped, and kept at it – little did I know at the time, it was building my own private practice brick by brick. I kept seeing clients, ultimately went full time doing that, then moved cities and opened a physical practice alongside my virtual clients and teaching work.
The biggest shift has been in my own identity evolving along the way – shifting from kids and families to adults in general. What started as supporting kids and families expanding into understanding the power of co-regulation and nervous system healing for adults as well. It led me deeper into my own personal work which transformed nearly every relationship I have, including my relationship to God, self, and others.
The entrepreneurial path brings consistent opportunities to face uncertainty, unpredictability and challenges – it’s brought me close to faith and surrender and focusing on what I CAN control, while ever-practicing to relinquish the rest.
Another ongoing challenge has been learning how to communicate perspectives around behavior, regulation and connection formerly considered “woo woo” or, mistakingly, permissive. Over time, I have realized how deeply compliance culture runs in many of us. The most rewarding moments are when people soften and recognize, wow, there’s another way available – one rooted in connection, security, humanity- a sense of “we” that can easily get lost in our fast moving, performance oriented culture. I have heard continuously that people feel like they’re coming home to themselves, and it makes it all worthwhile.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a mental-health specialized occupational therapist, educator, and consultant, and the founder of Thriving Littles (and Thriving Beings). My work focused on helping children, families, and adults better understand behavior, emotional regulation, sensory processing, and the nervous system through a connection-based lens.
Over the years, I’ve become especially known for translating complex concepts around regulation, attachment, sensory processing, trauma, and child development into practical, compassionate tools people can actually use in everyday life. Much of my work centers around the idea that behavior is communication and that connection, safety, and co-regulation create the foundation for growth, learning, and resilience.
While much of my clinical background is in pediatric occupational therapy, I was always interested and gained experience in adult mental health as well and my work has naturally expanded beyond children. I now also support parents, professionals, and adults in understanding their own nervous systems, patterns, and healing processes because ultimately, the wellbeing of children is deeply connected to the wellbeing of the adults caring for them.
What I’m most proud of is creating work that helps people feel less shame and more clarity. So many parents and individuals walk around feeling like they’re failing or “doing it wrong” – and I know and have lived this feeling! Watching people soften, reconnect with themselves or their children, and experience more peace and confidence in their relationships is incredibly meaningful to me.
I think what sets me apart is the combination of clinical understanding, lived experience, intuition, and my ability to communicate these ideas in a very human, relatable way. It’s been a God-given calling that led me each step of the way. I’m deeply interested in the intersection of science, relationships, embodiment, faith, and emotional healing – and I don’t separate professional expertise from humanity. People often tell me they feel both deeply seen and practically supported, which is something I value immensely.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Follow the little tugs and nudges. So much of what eventually became Thriving Littles started with quiet instinct, or things that didn’t fully “make sense” yet: saying yes to a first babysitting job when I was 9, saying yes to sit down and connect with an OT I was spontaneously introduced to, leaving my former career in logistics completely to take 1.5 years of prerequisites while bartending, and eventually volunteering – then moving into admin work at a pediatric OT clinic I would later manage and work within.
I think we often wait to feel fully ready or confident before we begin, but growth rarely works that way. Take small, imperfect action anyway.
I’d also say: treat every opportunity, every client, and every interaction with care. If you have one client, treat them with the attentiveness of a Ritz-Carlton experience – show up fully and listen deeply. The smaller seasons are often quietly building the foundation for what comes later.
At the same time, we are not meant to be anyone’s savior. Especially in helping professions, it can be easy to over-identify with outcomes or carry responsibility that was never ours to carry. One of the biggest lessons for me has been learning how to care deeply without abandoning myself in the process.
I’ve observed how often we spend energy subconsciously trying to hide the very things that make us different – our humanity, personality, sensitivity, creativity, story, and perspective – when those qualities are often what make our work most impactful and aligned. The more I’ve allowed myself to become fully human instead of trying to fit a polished professional mold in my client and teaching work, the more meaningful and connected the world has become.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thrivinglittles.com
- Instagram: @thrivinglittles
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivinglittles/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiecrosby6/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivinglittles
