Rising Stars: Meet Kathy Weltman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Weltman.

Hi Kathy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My husband Gary was bugging me to get out and sell our products to the nail techs. Back in 2007 or 2008, when everything crashed in the marketplace and with the advent of Facebook, I decided to try and market Soft-landing’s Towels and Wipes. Because of my severe hearing disability, I was not able to call people on the phone let alone visit them while they were servicing their clients. I depend greatly on lip reading so imagine me trying to show a product while the nail tech is looking down at their client’s nails. So, I hit Facebook running and haven’t looked back since.

I was a master stalker on Facebook. I literally would introduce myself and what I had to sell. I sent out a lot of samples and slowly I organically grew my following. What is my product? We provide a 16×16 towel that nail techs would put over a terry towel as they are filing away at their client’s nails. Our claim to fame was our towels were lint-free and dust and dust flyaway would actually stick onto the towel. Most of these nail techs would use paper towels. When they discovered that our towels would make them money, they began to listen and watch. We also manufactured a 4×4 lint-free wipe.

My selling line was, “if it tears, it’s not lint-free”. Soon these 4×4 wipes became our most popular product. Selling worldwide has been a dream come true. From England to Sweden, Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and in between, we serviced both nail techs and nail companies.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To be an entrepreneur, you almost always will have obstacles or challenges along the way.

No one said that being in business for yourself would be easy. If it was so easy, then why isn’t everyone else doing it? They can’t. It takes having the backbone to allow yourself to make mistakes and reward yourself when things are “coming together”. My biggest obstacle all my life was my hearing disability. I probably got fired from jobs more than my 10 fingers. Why?

People do not understand that I don’t hear everything. I discovered that being my own boss and making money was the way to go.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Soft Landings Towels and Soft Landings HOME are two separate entities and yet they are the same product. One is for business to business while the other is business to consumer. We manufacture these products because we want to offer a solution to a problem namely overusing and wasting paper towels.

Our cloth towels on a roll are reusable, washable, and rinseable. We personally got rid of paper towels 5 years ago. We have been in the industrial textile business for 35 years.Soft Landings HOME and Soft Landings are under the umbrella of our larger company. We pride ourselves in helping businesses and people find a way to use our products in their businesses or home.

Soft Landings and Soft Landings HOME offer the consumer an alternative cloth to use in their home or business that will get the job done. Use it in your paper towel holder, glove box, gym bag, you name it.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I give both my husband and my late father credit for having the insight to create a business from nothing to a recognizable name in the industry.

While my father created the largest textile company west of the Mississippi River in 1970, I grew up knowing the various types of wipers and rags. Unfortunately, he got very sick and passed away at the age of 56. My husband decided to launch his own rag company in Phoenix, AZ. 35 years later we are still growing strong and prosperous.

Pricing: Go to website for pricing

Contact Info:

• Website:   www.softlandingstowels.com
• Instagram:  @softlandingstowels @Softlandingshome
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/softietowels