Hope for a Change in Girls' Clothing
Over the next few weeks, while our Kickstarter is running, we'll be featuring guest posts and interviews with a variety of women around a variety of topics related to Princess Awesome.
Courtney Hartman has truly created an inspiring company in Jessy and Jack. Based in Seattle, Washington, Jessy and Jack is dedicated to making this world a better place for children. Their absolutely adorable designs breathe life into a child's wardrobe with vibrant colors and happy characters - like my kids' favorite, Emily and Ernie (moose and dog!). Jessy and Jack uses 100% cotton and water-based inks, affirming a commitment to caring for the environment our children will inherit. The company gives back by donating a basic t-shirt to charity each time they make a sale.
We asked Courtney to write about Jessy and Jack because we love what she's doing and we want everyone to know just how awesome Jessy and Jack is. But because she is modest, caring, gentle, and a generally amazing human being, she wrote about us instead! I spent the last three days trying to think of how to reply to what she wrote, and I find that I am at a loss for words - instead, I will treasure what Courtney wrote. Courtney Hartman, you amaze me. Here is her guest post:
As the Princess Awesome Kickstarter draws to a close, I'd like to steal a moment as a guest poster on their blog to celebrate the two mamas behind it. Eva and Rebecca, you two are an amazing and inspirational pair. What started as a basement operation to make a few cute dresses has turned into a beacon of hope for girls and parents everywhere! And I do mean everywhere, as the Princess Awesome mission and message have reached beyond our own fifty states and landed on news shows and blogs across the seas in several directions.
I got to know the Princess Awesome entrepreneurs a few months before their Kickstarter campaign went live, and it was clear from the beginning that they were going to be successful. Their dresses were adorable, their idea was awesome, and they had done a lot of work and research to prepare for their campaign. I was sure without a doubt that there were enough parents out there who would love their dresses enough to propel Princess Awesome to hit its $35k goal. The campaign launched in early February and was beautifully presented and executed, so it was no surprise to see these ladies speeding toward their goal even faster than anyone could have predicted.
What happened next was surely due in part to fantastic timing. As Rebecca Hains wrote in her wonderful blog post, Princess Awesome Kickstarter Signals a Cultural Tipping Point, it seems Rebecca and Eva hit on something we as a society were hungry for - a new kind of girly.
But I can tell you from a behind-the-scenes perspective that there was another factor in Princess Awesome's success: good karma. Eva and Rebecca have not only launched this business from a place of integrity and positivity, determined to do wonderful things, but they also give back and share the love every chance they get. They've been working hard during this campaign to come up with new offerings for their fans as the funding went through the ceiling (and they delivered - backers can now get Princess Awesome infinity scarves AND they're designing a new line of Busy Dresses, which will be amazing). They are no doubt also scrambling to make sure they can deliver a much bigger batch of dresses, in more designs, than they initially anticipated they'd need to make.
With nearly 3,000 backers eagerly awaiting their dresses, that is a lot of pressure. If they went completely dark and focusing solely on figuring out how to deliver, it would be totally understandable. But nothing could be further from the truth. Eva and Rebecca have made every effort to share the spotlight with other small companies that provide a broader set of options to kids, and other Kickstarter campaigns that are doing great things for girls. Their Facebook and Twitter feeds and their Kickstarter updates are full to the brim with links and shoutouts.
Eva and Rebecca are absolutely the kind of people you want to see succeed, and watching Princess Awesome's success has been an extra pleasure because, in addition to a wonderful business mission, they have started their company with so much love to go around. Thank you, Eva and Rebecca, not only for giving our young princesses a wider range of clothing options, but for showing them that it's possible to run a business with the integrity, humility and grace of queens.
[This is Courtney's sweet baby girl in a PA original Trucks - Kerpow! dress - SO SO cute!]
Thank you, Courtney. Thank you very, very much.
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