LIFE IS GOOD

Last week while browsing through a Discovery Store for possible toys or educational items for the kids, a t-shirt with an imprint "Life is Good" and a happy looking face on a stick-figure, caught my attention. There are other items such as pajamas, hats, coffee mugs etc. from the same brand name, Life is Good. The next day I visited the company's website www.lifeisgood.com and learned about how "the Little Brand That Could" got started.

In 1989 (same year I left New York to get married and moved to the little town by the lake in Michigan), Bert and John Jacobs designed their first tee shirt. For five years, the brothers sold their goods in the streets and door to door in college dormitories. They lived on peanut butter and jelly, slept in their van and showered when they could (the website did not disclose the locations where the brothers showered, whether at someone's house or public places).

In 1994, at a local street fair in Cambridge, Massachuesetts, the brothers sold all 48 shirts (their entire inventory) the most and the largest sales. The Little Brand That Could began to spread its products with an emphasis on humor and humility across America. Today, Bert and John Jacobs managed a corporation that employs 152+ people and a $50-million international business. The iconic smiling face of a happy little stick fiture fullfil what Americans are hungry for - something positive and focus on what is right and good.

The company created two annual outdoor festivals that raise money for Project Joy and Camp Sunshine.

Camp Sunshine provides accomodations at a week-long camp at no-charge to all families with children who have life-threatening illnesses. Meals, on-site medical services, counseling, and recreational facilities also provided free-of-charge.

Project Joy provides preschool teachers and daycare providers the training and resources to assist children who are survivors of acute and/or chronic trauma. The 4th Annual Life is Good Watermelon Festival is Saturday, July 7, 2007 in Boston.

I don't plan to purchase all Life is Good products. I will definitely consider the items as gifts when appropriate. It is refreshing to read positive stories in business world and how corporations are giving back by sharing their profits. At the beginning of the report in American Profile.com, a slogan "Do what you like. Like what you do" was mentioned as Life is Good founders' philosophy. I will remind myself this slogan as I evaluate what I have done in my life and what my 2007 resolutions should be and how I will make the most of the years ahead.