Our Story

It Started with Love —

and a Wish if I Could Go Back in Time.

Hi, my name is Kat, a mother of three and the creator of The Zillas™ and the Big Feels, Small Lessons children's book series.

I raised three Zillas (2 sons and 1 daughter) — and today they are living wonderful, full, beautiful adult lives that they each chose for themselves. Watching them grow into who they are is the greatest gift I have ever been given.

But if I am being honest — there were moments along the way that I wish I had handled differently. Moments when my little ones were drowning in feelings too big for their small bodies, and I was searching for the right words, the right tools, the right way to help them through it. I didn't always find them.

And I wasn't alone in that.

The Gap Nobody Was Talking About then or Now.

Every day, children across the world are experiencing emotions they don't have the words for. Feelings that overwhelm them, confuse them, and stay with them — sometimes for years. Sometimes for a lifetime.

Emotional intelligence is not something children develop on their own. It has to be taught. Nurtured. Practiced. And it has to start early — because what a child learns to do with their feelings at age four does not stay at age four. It follows them to the classroom, to friendships, to relationships, and into adulthood.

I saw this in my own children. I see it in children everywhere.

And I knew something had to be done about it.

Enter Zeek.

Zeek Zilla is a Softzilla — a lovable, expressive little character with dorsal spikes that glow and change colors depending on how he is feeling inside. He is brave funny and real. And just like the children who will grow to love him, he sometimes doesn't know what to do with his big feelings.

But he is learning, and that is exactly the point.

Zeek was created to be the friend every child deserves — one who gets it. One who shows them that big feelings are not something to fear, but something to understand. One who proves that even in the middle of the hardest moments and emotions, calm is possible, bravery can grow, and every child has what it takes to learn and shine.

What Big Feels, Small Lessons Is Really About.

This is not just a book series.

It is the toolkit I wished I had when my three were little. It is the conversation starter for the parent sitting on the kitchen floor next to a sobbing child, searching for the right words. It is the classroom resource for the educator who sees a child struggling and wants to do more than say "calm down."

It is for every little one who has ever felt too much and not known what to do with it.

And it is for every parent and educator who loves them and wants so deeply to help.

Because children who learn to understand their emotions don't just become calmer kids. They become more confident, more empathetic, more resilient human beings. They carry those lessons with them — through school, through friendships, through every hard moment life brings their way. That is what we are building here.

One small lesson at a time.

To Every Parent Reading This.

You are not alone in the moments that felt too big. You were doing the best you could with what you had.

Now there is something more.

Welcome to The Zillas, you're family now. We are so glad you're here. 💚

— Kat, Founder & Creator The Zillas™ Big Feels, Small Lessons™

A Zilla Mother | Friend | Advocate for every little one with Big Feels.