Hi!  Me again, StinkyKid Britt.

Well I finally fell asleep the other night and had wonderful dreams about my new adventures.  When I woke up, I actually felt like my life was going to change!!

My meeting was a HUGE success and I will be flying to my home town, New York next week to meet my new ‘GodParents’ (I am referring to them as ‘GodParents’ because they are going to help take care of my little stinKers and make them the best that they can be.  They are actually business partners, more later)

So I thought that today I would share a little bit about the history of my StinkyKids.  Not the part where my daughter Emma asked me to paint her as a ballerina which led to the whole evolution of StinkyKids, but the history of when my drawings became characters with personalities.

When I first started StinkyKids, it was a tee shirt business featuring 6 of my adorable characters.  I had actually painted about 15 characters and laid them all out on my dining room table so that my friends and family could pick their 6 favorite ones.  After tallying up the votes, I had 6 characters, 4 girls and 2 boys, ready to make tee shirts featuring these favorites.

Little did anyone know when they were choosing their favorite characters, that I had named them after my friends and family based on who the character resembled.  So at the end of the voting, here is who made the cut…

StinkyKid Jen, StinkyKid Britt, StinkyKid Max, StinkyKid Johnny, StinkyKid Joey and StinkyKid Julie.

Now, when I named the characters at this point in the evolution of StinkyKids, it was only for inventory tracking purposes.  But, as we all know today, their was a reason why I named them but at that time, the reason was not clear yet.

StinkyKid Jen is named after my best friend.  She and I are very close and have shared many memories together.

We all know who StinkyKid Britt is named after (well you should as it is me, the creator of StinkyKids)

StinkyKid Max is named after my son and he is VERY special to me.  He is my world and is one of the most special kids I have ever met. (along with my daughter Emma)

StinkyKid Johnny is another one of my best friends who is one of the funniest guys and always enjoys a good time with his friends and family. 

StinkyKid Joey is my sister-in-law.  I have known her since I was 18 years old (she was 16) and we have shared so many adventures together that have led us to not only become family members but dear friends. (PS Joey is nickname for Joanne)

StinkyKid Julie, is my niece (Joey’s daughter) who is very special because we waited a long time for her to enter the world and now that she is here, she is an incredible little girl.

Just to set the records straight, I DID paint a StinkyKid Emma, my daughter, the original painting and I DID paint a StinkyKid Mark (my husband), however, they did not make the final cut and both of them were involved in the voting process.

After about 6 months of incredible sales, I added 2 more characters, StinkyKid Skye (named after a little girl in my daughter’s pre-school class) and StinkyKid Billy (named after my  daughter’s pre-school teacher who is a cancer survivor and to honor her, I named this character after her son) 

Then before I was featured on the TODAY SHOW, I added the last two characters, StinkyKid Hannah (named after a girl in my son’s class who loves ballet) and StinkyKid Trey (named after a little stinKer in my daughter’s pre-school, who does not sit still!!)

So there you have it, the history of the 10 lovable characters we now know as the StinkyKids.  Tomorrow, I will share wy we decided to bring these 10 characters to life and where we are today.  I hope to also have news about my new ‘GodParents’ tomorrow too.

Bye!! Love your StinkyKids..they’re so stinKin’ cute.

StinkyKids™ – A brand that can go anywhere!! A brand  built around 10 diverse characters; little stinKers sharing a philosophy of making right choices, and spreading their motto.

‘Always Be A Leader Of Good’™

Download the 10 Minute Brand Book (pdf)

July 17, 2007 – ATLANTA - The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation received a recent donation of 40 kids t-shirts from Atlanta apparel company StinkyKids. The shirts with a positive message for kids – “Always be a Leader of Good!” – were donated to the Caro Orphanage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the birthplace of NBA player for the Houston Rockets and former Atlanta Hawks All- Star, Dikembe Mutombo.

“This is an honor for me personally and for StinkyKids, “said Menzies. “My dream was always to bring messages of good from the mouths of babes, if you will, to children around the world. The Mutombo Foundation has helped make my dream a reality.”

A portion of StinkyKids profits go towards the fight against cancer.

June 27, 2007 – ATLANTA - Children’s clothing designer Britt Menzies’ hand-drawn, cartoon-like creations on t-shirts with the message, “Always be a leader of good,” have been making waves in boutiques across the Southeast and now in the Caribbean. The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino in Puerto Rico has recently begun carrying the StinkyKids upscale t-shirts.

“We are thrilled to have our product associated with The Ritz-Carlton brand and available to their guests and travelers from all over the world,” said Britt Menzies, founder of StinkyKids™. “While we are focused on expanding our distribution throughout the Southeast and target markets in the U.S., we hope to one day make our collection available around the globe, especially with our “Always be a leader of good” message as we believe in sharing it with the children of the world.”

‘Because there is a ‘little stinker in all of us’