Sometimes the worst days have a happy ending. On one particularly tough day, Alexis Walsko, founder and CEO of Lola Red PR in Minneapolis, decided the best way to stay positive was to get out of the office and do a little shopping. While out, she purchased a T-shirt with the word “happy” on it.
“I wore it under a blazer and went back to deal with a challenging work issue,” says Walsko. “I realized I was smiling more, and the world was smiling back at me. The shirt helped me make that mental shift.” It also sparked an idea.
What if a shirt could inspire people to be happy? What if it could encourage a few more smiles? What if a shirt could make people dwell on the good instead of the bad?
Walsko reached out to friend Mike Minick, a graphic designer, for three distinctive T-shirts that said “Happy,” “Smile” and “Good.” Instead, Minick came back with one T-shirt with the mashed-up mantra HAPPY SMILE GOOD. “I thought it was an awkward flaw that made perfect sense,” says Walsko. “Everyone I showed the design to smiled, laughed and liked it.” Thus, an inspiring slogan and budding brand was born out of one crummy day at work.
But HAPPY SMILE GOOD quickly became much more than a T-shirt. In 2013, Walsko connected with students in the VANTAGE program at Minnetonka High School. The advanced professional studies program provides juniors and seniors with real-world experiences in professional settings. “They do everything,” says Walsko. “They run all of the social media and they really feel the heartbeat of the organization. I may be the eyes or the finger that points, but they embody HAPPY SMILE GOOD.”
The students are encouraged to approach the program just as they would if they were in the business world. “We try to provide as many real-world opportunities and as many touch points as possible,” says Melissa Olson, VANTAGE program teacher. “Each group of students works on projects for real clients.”
Students who signed up for real-world business experience got that and a dose of unexpected fun. “In VANTAGE, I hoped to experience a new side to high school,” says Sarah Hicks, a student who participated in the program as a senior. “I hoped to work with students who were passionate, and companies with the same drive. I was able to have the best of both in my senior year.”
Students also brainstormed ways to get elementary school kids involved in the message of positivity. “We created the elementary school project called the HAPPY SMILE GOOD Project to share good deeds that children were able to share with others,” says Hicks, who started work on the long-range project scheduled to launch this fall at Minnewashta and Clear Springs Elementary Schools. “The motivational message creates such positivity in the work we do,” says Hicks. “It’s so much easier working with a product you genuinely like.”
T-shirts, hoodies, travel blankets and backpacks are currently sold at Creative Kidstuff stores and online. A portion of the sales benefits the GreaterGood.org, a charitable organization with 150 charitable partners devoted to improving the health and well-being of people, pets and the planet. “GreaterGood.org sells thousands of products and helps different charitable organizations,” says Walsko. “We were able to do more good and help more organizations.”
Walsko hopes the product line and the HAPPY SMILE GOOD message grows. “I want to spread a positive message. I want people to smile at life,” she says. “It is all in how you greet the world. By wearing HAPPY SMILE GOOD, it helps to greet the world with a smile.”
