Maybe it’s just me being a mom now and getting a little older, but our American society can certainly seem so strange, cruel, and unaccepting at times. Impatience, false assumptions, and laziness are running rampant, and our kids are growing up in it all. Kindness is an element that we could all use more of- both as givers and receivers. Nicole Jakob, a Mompreneur from Chicago, has taken matters into her own hands and created Renegade Made– a collection of do-good kits that teach children all about spreading the love. They can be found at the Guggenheim Museum Store here in New York, as well as on Amazon.
~Rebecca Conroy, Editor of A Child Grows in Brooklyn
Tell us about Renegade Made
Renegade Made is a new line of craft and activity kits that help teach anonymous altruism to kids in a fun, cheeky way. They’re a mash up of guerrilla, street art, random and acts of kindness. They contain everything kids need to make other people happy from something they’ve created. There are four unique kits within the product line:
The Random Acts of Flowers Kit has the supplies for kids to make twelve bright tissue paper flowers and then assemble the hanging vase at home. Kids put on the enclosed bandit mask and go out to anonymously hang the vase where people will see it. When someone reads the sign on the vase that says “Take One,” they will find a sweet surprise on their flower- a leaf tag that says “I Made This For You. Do Something Nice For Someone Today.”
The Fairly Painless Tattoo Lounge for Charity is a new and funky twist on the old lemonade stand. We instruct kids to pick their favorite charity to donate the proceeds to, then set up “The Lounge” to raise money by covering people in colorful tattoos. The kits include an advertising poster, megaphone, a money collection box that they put together, tablecloth, sponge, bandit mask and over 125 designer tattoos to apply to people. Underage tattoos are our specialty!
The Sidewalk Chalk Tagging Kit encourages kids to go “tagging” around town with the washable chalk paint that kids mix at home. The kit includes six packets of colorful chalk powder, paint cups and mixing sticks, seven reusable stencils, brush and the bandit mask. Kids use these to decorate the sidewalks with funny and inspiring sayings. Your mom always said don’t draw on walls, but she never mentioned sidewalks.
The Made You Look Kit is a box full of inspiring and fun art to decorate and leave for people to make them smile. Twelve flyers that kids customize with markers and hang around town will instruct strangers to do things like pick funny fortunes or perform kind dares that they’ve been supplied, grab a mustache sticker from the mustache dispensary, or encourage them to take a gift that the child left for them on the Take What You Need Flyer (and in turn, they need to do a kindness for someone else). Five postcards are supplied for kids to decorate with kind or funny sayings then leave for people anonymously. There are also three funny “to do” lists that the kids leave for people to read, initial, and pass along, and a big two sided poster for them to decorate, hold up, and get people to honk and wave as they drive by.
Happiness is now available in a box.
What are Renegade Made’s ethical messages?
You should do something nice for someone not for the recognition, but because it’s the right thing to do- and it’s ridiculously fun. We truly believe in the power of passing along good, and we are also trying to do things to make others happy by donating a portion of the profits to deserving charities. We’ve partnered with two greats to start, who each believe in making the world better: Camp Kesem and Random Acts of Flowers.
Why are these lessons important, in this day and age?
I was a little disheartened to see how many certificates, trophies, and medals my kids were coming home with that really meant nothing. It used to be a big honor to receive one, but now they are expected just for signing up for something. Kids are expecting accolades for everything they’ve done, and I wondered how that would affect their behavior when no one is watching. I decided that it was important to create something that helps kids see the joy in just the action of doing something for someone else, but it had to be really fun to get them to want to do it.
How did you start the business and has it been difficult as a Momprenuer?
I first made up little samples of what I had dreamed up along with just typing out an explanation. Then I just started Googling things like “mom inventors” and “submit your idea.” I eventually started talking to some toy companies to see if they thought it had merit, and was eventually connected with a wonderful consultant who had been in the toy business for decades and helped get me to where I’m at now. It was luck, persistence, and reaching out to anyone I could Google.
Being a Momprenuer has its moments. You know those moms who have a great dinner on the table every night and the house is somewhat presentable? OK, I was never that mom, but I used to have time to feel guilty about not being her, now I have a fantastic excuse! My dining room table is buried in craft kits, my desk is a mess and we’re eating more from my “dinner in under 30 minutes” file, but I couldn’t be happier. I feel very lucky that I was able to work until I had my kids, stay home to raise them, then figure out a new career that still lets me type in my jammies.
You’re based in Chicago, but have you found success elsewhere too?
I’ve had requests to send kits to Ireland and Australia, which is really fantastic. We sell these kits in Canada as well, and I love the fact that kindness doesn’t own a passport.
How do you find the time to juggle this plus great parenting?
Pick your battles. The bed is rarely made anymore (unless I know you’re coming), the cookies are more store bought, and my Fit Bit keeps falling asleep from lack of action, but I have time to triage the important things. My husband and I eat dinner with the kids every night and they’ve moved on to doing their own laundry. I’m a homebody, so I love working out of the house and it allows me to still be able to yell “finish your homework!” from my desk. My 12 year-old daughter is especially enamored with the kits and she’s my unpaid intern, so I can test kit ideas out on her. It makes me feel very lucky every day- I know that most people do not have the luxury to work at home.
Why do people love Renegade Made so much, in your opinion?
I think because it really hit a chord with people to see something that inspires good in kids in a fun way. I really set out to make something that may not be for every last person, but you’ll remember it.
Nicole Jakob was born and raised in the Chicago area- where winters are cold, and the pizza is thick and completely unfoldable. She has a degree in graphic design and art history, and worked in design and marketing for years. She is happily married with three kids. Her husband Mike, fills in with all of the business bits that confound her and he appreciates dinner, even when it’s from a box.