Pop-Up to Cause-Up, a New Take on Retail Therapy.

#noregRETTs

In our house, as it is in the millions of homes of families living with sick or special needs children, the sibling world view is shaped by how they can care for their sister when they get older. This means that a large part of how we need to parent these kiddos has to do with managing their worry, and turning fear into tangible action that helps against feelings of helplessness, guilt, and anxiety. Enter retail therapy - though not as you might expect.

So what's our special need? Well, it's Rett Syndrome that has us by the balls. A brain disorder that mainly affects girls, traps girls in their own biology, Rett first starts taking things away between 6 and 18 months of age. It takes her breath, her voice, her ability to walk and to use hands in any truly functional way.

Then, Rett gives.

It gives her seizures, insomnia, and affects her heart and stomach. It gives her pace-makers and G-tubs. Spinal surgery and wheelchairs. With these being only a few of the symptoms affecting people living with Rett, I'd say this complex genetic (but not hereditary) disorder is going head-to-head for title of "World's Crappiest Disorders" against Multiple Sclerosis, Cystic Fibrosis, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and Alzheimers.

For me, in the Top Three Ways Rett Sucks list is the impact it has on our 5 yr olds sisters, who are 8 and 10 yrs old. With a plethora of articles written about the sibling experience in special needs or illness households, we don't need another one from me. I'm no psychologist, I'm a parent who worries about the wellbeing and lives of three remarkable little girls who will grow into citizens of the world. I also happen to know a thing or two about marketing, sales, and lead generation, so there's the tie in you were wondering about.

Turning a "problem" into an "opportunity" is something that many of us are good at. Finding that hitch, telling that story in just the right way that is authentic and persuasive is what many of us are about, right? You do this everyday for yourself or your clients, or your team.

For me, it wasn't about any of that.

It was about turning worry into fuel for good. Supporting the girls by directing their fear into a tangible, helpful, not-about-them outcome that affects them in a real and direct way: raising money for research to take the successes seen in labs to where they need to go: wiping away Rett from my 5 yr old daughter.

And, considering that the girls were trying to sell all kinds of things from their rooms to raise money, I had an idea that a little love-inspired pop-up shop of limited edition items is good for their hearts. Enter the teespring's and Zazzel's of the online world and we go from trendy Pop-Up Shop to impactful Cause-Up shop. A streamlined and simple way to do make an impact that goes full-circle. What's nice about these tools - and others like them - is that they do everything themselves. My girls move images and words around on a page or upload an image and the site does the rest. Cafe Press does this too, in fact there are several. What this whispers to is the idea that increasing sales through good acts can be as simple as a thoughtful message on a T-shirt. That it doesn't have to be huge to matter, and maybe, this inspires you to turn what you're selling into an opportunity to raise money too.

Me to We does this. I have thirty of their bracelets that are directed to raising funds for a variety of causes. Some of you wear Toms, others plant trees. You get it, you're smart. I haven't come up with anything new, but I have come up with a way to help the "other" kids in the family. The typical ordinary ones who in fact are pretty freakin' remarkable, actually, take hold of the hell that are devastating disorders and turn that fear into fuel.

Gathering my girls, I asked them what they thought about helping raise money for Rett research during Rett Awareness month, which this is by the way. Given that their thoughts has been on the seizures there sister was suddenly NOT having, and feeling happy and optimistic, they picked the items they thought would sell best and make the most money. I set about coming up with a handle and came up with #noregRETTs.

Because it seems to me that in work and in life, we need to live with no regrets; and in our lives in particular, and the 1 in 10,000 fellow Rett families, we definitely need to live with no RETTs. These limited edition premium tops are only available during Rett Awareness Month. So, go: share, shop, maybe also create your very own Cause-Up.