Pepperdine graduettes Lauren Paul and Molly Thompson take the issue of bullying seriously. That's why, during their last year of college, the two friends decided to launch the Kind campaign, an internationally recognized non-profit dedicated to preventing girl-on-girl crime in schools. Since 2009, these inspiring women have created a global movement, spoken at schools across the country and even been the subject of a documentary. Their latest project is a collection of charms with positive messages for the KEEP Collective—all under $20. These bars (designed to personalize KEEP bracelets) come in gold, silver and rose and gold, and read "Kind" or "You Can Sit With Us"—so cute! We were lucky enough to talk to Paul and Thompson about this collab and their charity. Check out what they had to say!
Her Campus: How did you guys come up with the idea for the Kind Campaign?
Lauren Paul: The whole project came about when my partner Molly Thompson and I were in our senior year at Pepperdine. The inspiration came from personal experience and growing up in a world where no one was dealing with girl on girl crime—no one was tackling the issue. I had just worked on a documentary and was really inspired by that experience and how it shed light on social issues, so that summer going into senior year, I was talking with Molly and we decided to share our own personal experiences on the issue. We started talking and we got really excited about the issue and decided to make a documentary about it called Finding Kind. To get started we shot local interviews in LA and Orange County—we weren't sure how people would open up, but we found that immediately people were dying to share their stories. We realized this could be more than just a film and it became the start of Kind Campaign—we literally Googled "how to start a non-profit" and that's where we started. Soon after, we launched Kind Campaign on a national scale. We started to connect with people through social media and as we took a road trip to shoot the film, we really developed the idea.
HC: What direct impact have you seen your organization make on young girls around the country?
Molly Thompson: We started doing assemblies around the country and we knew this was what we were supposed to be doing—we could tell the impact it had on the girls. It was during a time when suicides were being reported on the news and we were the only program out there in schools and spreading the word. It's been really amazing to be able to be a part of this conversation and to be able to create so much change in girls' lives and be able to be in schools having this conversations with girls during our assembly programs. Lives have been changed, which is a privilege to us—we feel really lucky to be the ones having this conversation and seeing the change that is being created.
HC: What's the most rewarding thing about the work you do?
LP: Watching a girl stand up at an assembly and say she is sorry to another girl and see the girl appreciate the apology. We have witnessed incredible moments and we've watched changes take place both at the assemblies [and on] social media.
MT: With every tour we go on, we see these girls and how we impact them and we feel re-inspired—there is nothing else in the world we'd rather do than be in schools and tell this message. The campaign as a whole is so rewarding but last spring, on our spring tour, we posted a picture with us and all of the girls from the conference. Afterwards we always look to see what the girls are saying in the comment sections and what people are talking about and there was one comment from a girl who said she came to the assembly and when she got there, she was checked out and not paying attention, and immediately once the film turned on she became so connected and realized she wasnt alone and how important all of this was. She also shared that she had been suicidal and came to school that very day crying and was distraught, but that because of the film and the assembly she realized she needed to open up and she talked to a friend and got perspective and that Kind campaign actually saved her life.
HC: What are some difficulties you have faced in developing the campaign?
LP: Our programs needed funding and we were able to raise enough money to provide these assemblies to schools and kids that couldn't previously afford it, like the inner city and other financially compromised communities. But right now we have free programming for a number of schools thanks to partnerships we have like with KEEP Collective—to freely give kindness is pretty cool.
MT: There were many different points in our journey where we had difficult lessons, a lot of roadblocks can come up and I would say one of the main things early on was funding and figuring out how we were going to be able to offer programming and make it affordable for ALL schools. Now we can offer programing free of charge and it changed the way we work—we weren't sure of where funding was coming from so now that we've raised money we can offer the program to those who couldn't afford it.
HC: What made you want to partner with KEEP Collective?
MT: We get excited about possibilities to collaborate, because it gives us the opportunity to raise money for our programs—but we also love sharing this with brands who align with our mission. We loved being able to utilize our "you can sit with us" slogan in the KEEP Collective jewelry—it's exciting for us. There is so much meaning in that slogan and girls get excited about it and were excited that Keep is a brand that is enthusiastic about positive content and putting positive content on their pieces. We are able to help spread our message on a national scale which furthers our message. We have had so much positive feedback about the collaboration.
HC: How can our readers get involved with the Kind Campaign?
MT: There are a number of ways to get involved! Our assemblies take place in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges—so hosting an assembly at your college is a great way to get involved. We also have a volunteer program that we just recently re-vamped, called Kind Ambassadors, which is perfect for college-aged kids. They bring the message to their own communities by hosting their own assemblies and basically reaching out to spread the word, by being a mentor for their very own Kind Club, a 19-week club that brings the program to the schools as well. For more information on how to get involved, check out our website.