Shop small [small but mighty tees]

Tell us a little about your shop, small but mighty tees.

We’re a mom and daughter team: Mindy, mom, Sammy daughter. Our shop is run by the two of us from our home base in a suburb of Chicago. We design and sell baby bodysuits and toddler t-shirts with sayings that we feel are fun, empowering, and convey a message and vibe that we believe in.

All of our clothes are 100% organic cotton and fair-trade, as the sourcing of our materials is really important to us. As well, it’s important to us that our line is colorful and mostly unisex, so the shirts can apply to any little one. The look we go for is more minimalist, and the font and art we use is charming to us, because of its slight imperfection. We also like to keep everything in lower case letters (it goes with the whole small thing). 🙂

Is there a special story behind the name?

Sammy: Well, I’m shorter than five feet and have always been small for my age. When I was younger, my mom always told me I’m small, but I’m mighty.

Mindy: Growing up, Mighty Mouse from the cartoon was one of my favorites. He was definitely small but mighty, and I’ve just always liked that phrase, as I’ve always been a champion for the underdog.

Sammy: We’re both also big believers that every small effort counts, every person can do their part or make a difference, and that children, however young or little, are worthy of being listened to and respected as individuals.

Mindy: What she said!

When creating your pieces, what is your inspiration?

The sayings are often eco-friendly messages, and we want to encourage parents and children to be conscious and compassionate about the planet at a time when that’s really important, especially for today’s children’s futures. We like to find fun, kid-friendly ways of saying things about the environmentalist movement, i.e. “give a poo about the planet!” Other inspiration comes from a general sort of “hippie vibe” and our desire to empower children and see them as little people with potential.

Is starting your own business something you always wanted to do?

Sammy: No, to be honest. But it continues to be a great experience, and I enjoy creating a brand that stands for things that I care about.

Mindy: Yes. I love being in my own business and have started others in the past. For example, I have a jewelry shop on Etsy, as well as small but mighty.

What has been your favorite design so far?

Mindy: My favorite design so far is our namesake, “small but mighty.” Plus, we have some more designs coming, so I may have a new favorite down the road!

Sammy: Oh, that’s hard. I really love “old soul,” but I think my all-time favorite is probably “save the planet, i’m just getting started!” because I think it speaks of the urgency of climate change in a clever and endearing way.

If you have experienced one obstacle, what was it and how did you overcome it?

We opened our shop last summer, so we aren’t even a year old yet … so, we are actually experiencing our main obstacle right now, which is getting our name out there to our target audience. We’re tackling this every day by reaching out on our social media platforms and through networking and collaborations. We hope working with bloggers like you will also help us! 🙂

What are your hopes and dreams for your business?

Our hope is to continue to grow our business and create a solid brand, but while always maintaining our ethical standards and principles. We basically want to keep expanding and sharing our messages, and our dream would be to become a *small but mighty* part of the conscious consumer, mindful parenting, and environmental awareness movement!