We believe in
Pushing bounds of possiblity.
Whether you need an audit, consulting, or a complete overhaul, you've landed in the right hands for the most impactful outcome.
People
Katie Himmel, Founder & Principal Consultant
Katie Himmel, our Founder and Principal Consultant, has spent years creating emotional impact. She has delighted service guests, enriched retail experiences, and designed details most don’t realize exist, because they are invisible when executed well.
She founded Kayto Group to merge experiential, brand communication, and design strategy skills with creative innovation, leadership, and business acumen to improve how people connect and experience the world together. She examines the nuances among human behavior, systems, and space to craft innovative multidisciplinary solutions that add authentic value, trust, loyalty, and stronger human connections to the community.
After studying applied fine art and graphic design in college, she began a career in experiential marketing communications, working with brands such as Amazon, PepsiCo, Nike, and Marvin Windows, among many others. For the past 15+ years, she has applied the same dedication and grit to designing a 7,000 sq.ft. museum-quality brand experience as she does to crafting a single employee-to-customer touchpoint.
Katie is also proponent of universal design principles and aims to build a world where potential for enjoyment is not bound by accessibility needs, and where limiting beliefs are designed into obselesence.
In her free time, you'll find her writing, cooking, touching everything at vintage furniture stores, or enjoying doing absolutley nothing with her loved ones.
Quotes & Notes
As part of a creative strategy MBA challenge, Katie successfully brokered elements of a deal that only 4% of 600+ participants could achieve.
She not only closed the deal, but also restructured the entire unit of exchange to deliver results 36% under budget (3.6x better than the median result), increased product quality 8% above the design team’s target, reduced labor & material costs for all involved, and improved environmental impact.
She hit the hardest benchmarks, refusing to settle for what was 'acceptable' just to complete the deal. She led deliberately and with discipline, demonstrating creative negotiation strategy and the range to comprehend value beyond price.
Results from MBA552-SP26 cohort, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Katie was great to work with. She was patient, knowledgeable of the market, provided great feedback, and has plenty of connections with vendors! Highly recommend!
S. Travino, Client
I can not say enough good things about Katie. She went above and beyond. She answered all questions and was incredibly knowledgeable and responsive. She helped with interior design, created beautiful marketing collateral, all while having a newborn. I am extremely impressed with Katie and her team. I highly recommend her to anyone.
A. Fowler, Client
Katie asks important questions and truly considers your answers. Her creative brain works wonders because she helps clients envision possibilities in ways they can understand. I recommend Katie because she's good. Really good.
David H., Client
From the start to finish Katie was amazing. She told me she was going to help no matter what it took, and that she did. Words can’t even describe how grateful I am. She really has a passion to help others, and she’s great at her job. I will highly recommend her to everyone for years to come. Thank you Katie!
R. Schippers, Client
Katie was prompt, personable, responsive, trustworthy and supportive of our thoughts and ideas. She never steered us wrong! Would HIGHLY recommend her for anyone!
Caroline C., Client
Katie was knowledgeable, kept in communication, and started with an approach that really helped us identify what was important to us. If you're looking for someone who will give you honest advice and help keep you sane, Katie is for you!
K. Brown, Client
Quotes & Notes
As part of a creative strategy MBA challenge, Katie successfully brokered elements of a deal that only 4% of 600+ participants could achieve.
She not only closed the deal, but also restructured the entire unit of exchange to deliver results 36% under budget (3.6x better than the median result), increased product quality 8% above the design team’s target, reduced labor & material costs for all involved, and improved environmental impact.
She hit the hardest benchmarks, refusing to settle for what was 'acceptable' just to complete the deal. She led deliberately and with discipline, demonstrating creative negotiation strategy and the range to comprehend value beyond price.
Results from MBA552-SP26 cohort, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Katie was great to work with. She was patient, knowledgeable of the market, provided great feedback, and has plenty of connections with vendors! Highly recommend!
S. Travino, Client
I can not say enough good things about Katie. She went above and beyond. She answered all questions and was incredibly knowledgeable and responsive. She helped with interior design, created beautiful marketing collateral, all while having a newborn. I am extremely impressed with Katie and her team. I highly recommend her to anyone.
A. Fowler, Client
Katie asks important questions and truly considers your answers. Her creative brain works wonders because she helps clients envision possibilities in ways they can understand. I recommend Katie because she's good. Really good.
David H., Client
From the start to finish Katie was amazing. She told me she was going to help no matter what it took, and that she did. Words can’t even describe how grateful I am. She really has a passion to help others, and she’s great at her job. I will highly recommend her to everyone for years to come. Thank you Katie!
R. Schippers, Client
Katie was prompt, personable, responsive, trustworthy and supportive of our thoughts and ideas. She never steered us wrong! Would HIGHLY recommend her for anyone!
Caroline C., Client
Katie was knowledgeable, kept in communication, and started with an approach that really helped us identify what was important to us. If you're looking for someone who will give you honest advice and help keep you sane, Katie is for you!
K. Brown, Client
To us, it means trusting your boundless potential. Kayto, a phonetic variant of Kaito or Kato, is a word rooted in many languages with similar meanings and translations. Our favorite, in Japanese, kai- 'ocean' and -to 'to soar.'
The act of soaring over an ocean mirrors our drive to help others overcome perceived limitations and realize their own boundless potential. At Kayto Group, we work not only to inspire this sense of possibility in everyone who engages with our work but also to deliver.
At Kayto Group, we understand that entire systems are actually only experienced in fleeting individual moments, often from competing points of view. Because of this, we spend a lot of time pinpointing the actual issues of a situation. We don't just dive into solutions. The value we deliver to our clients isn't just better design and results; it’s the ability to convey true authenticity and leadership in brand positioning at every touchpoint for everyone who interacts with their product or service. We design experiences that stick, ensuring they are felt in the body, carved into memory, and talked about for years to come.
We specialize in end-to-end experience design for products and services, essentially crafting the choreography between human and brand/business needs to deliver a better, more valuable experience for those involved.
We combine years of expertise in hospitality, strategic brand identity, experiential & event marketing, journey mapping & process design, and brand communication to provide a broad range of services that share one clear motive: creating solutions that reduce friction while adding value.
Not sure what you need, but have a feeling your team can be doing better? Request an Experience Review. It provides a broad view of perceptions and experiences, along with added insights for next steps. See our services page for more information on this or other offerings.
We work with business owners, product, service, and lifestyle brands, organizations, agencies, retailers, hospitality groups, architects, homeowners, and private clients. Our human-centered approach enables us to find solutions to a wide variety of problems, and at many points in the process.
As part of a creative strategy MBA challenge, Katie successfully brokered elements of a deal that only 4% of 600+ participants could achieve.
She not only closed the deal, but also restructured the entire unit of exchange to deliver results 36% under budget (3.6x better than the median result), increased product quality 8% above the design team’s target, reduced labor & material costs for all involved, and improved environmental impact.
She hit the hardest benchmarks, refusing to settle for what was 'acceptable' just to complete the deal. She led deliberately and with discipline, demonstrating creative negotiation strategy and the range to comprehend value beyond price.
Results from MBA552-SP26 cohort, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Awards
2016
2018
2022
2025
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Designed from the heart of Chicago, Illinois.