Sometime about three years ago I was having one of those weeks where it seemed nothing could go right. A friend of mine came over my house to try to cheer me up. When she arrived, she put out her arms and said “Come on, hug me up.” As she gave me a hug to let me know everything would be okay, all I could think about was the fact that I’d never heard that phrase before – “hug me up.” I couldn’t get it out of my head for a while and I started writing the words on various pieces of paper every time they popped into my head. They were catchy and felt uplifting. I remember telling this same friend later that I’d like to do something with this phrase but I wasn’t sure what I would do. Time went on, life went forward and I sort of forgot about these words until I started stumbling across them again on the pieces of paper I wrote them on many months before. I had been very dissatisfied with the work I did for a living and I always wanted to have my own business. However, I knew it had to be something I would enjoy, something that could be helpful to others and something that incorporated my passions - children and animals. I guess the time finally became right in December, 2009 because all I could think about were those words, hug me up, and I began putting various different phrases with them. I then realized that I needed a little character to go along with the words and I began sketching ideas. Turns out I’m not an artist and so, I had to hire a company to help me create my character. We went through quite a few illustrations before getting the one I knew would work. Then, I had to learn all about how to put my phrases and my character on shirts and other products, had to learn about clothing, trademarks, website design and well, a whole lotta stuff I knew nothing about. This whole venture took about 7 months and it’s not close to where I want it to be yet but, I sure am excited about the start. I hope you will be too!

Hug Me Up is just beginning and we are starting out very small. We hope to soon be able to offer more products, more variety and organic materials. And as we grow, we intend on using the company to help children and animals in as many ways as possible. In the mean time, our primary goal will remain the same: to provide a product that uses simple words to say something big, to lift people up, make them smile and to spread the hugs.