Guest blog from Mallory Brown...read something great!

World Clothes Line
My family calls me “The World Traveler.” It’s true, I travel a lot. I love exploring new places, more so than the average Joe. I also own a clothing company which, fittingly, is called World Clothes Line. WCL is a fashion brand that raises awareness of clothing needs around the globe. Every purchase helps give clothes to people in need.
WCL clothes are designed to embrace different countries and their cultures. Our initial collections represent Indonesia, Peru, and the United States. Beaches and temples for Indonesia. Mountains and Llamas for Peru. Liberty and History for the U.S.A. Get the idea? All items purchased will benefit their respective countries.
In founding a humanitarian company, I had faith that my customers would support my cause, but I wasn’t sure if they would sport designs that weren’t from their own culture. My plan was to showcase different countries in new, innovate ways, but I didn’t want to cross the line. My clothes needed to be worldly but also stay trendy.
I had two designs that were on the fence. I called them the “native language” garments. The first was a sweatshirt for Peru that read “Vestir Al Mundo” across the chest. The English translation, “Clothe the World” was written on back. The second was a t-shirt for Indonesia that read “Berikan Untuk Dunia” in a similar fashion, with “Give to the World” translated on back.
Would people actually wear designs of a language that is not their own? Was that pushing the envelope a bit too far? The majority of my customers are Americans, and the majority of Americans don’t speak a foreign language. Even I, “The World Traveler”, don’t speak Spanish or Indonesian.
I decided to go for it and included the two designs in my launch. Let’s see how adventurous my customers will be! To my delight, the designs not only sold, they were quite popular! I couldn’t stock the shelves fast enough. The “native language” t-shirt (now called “Generosity”) is the #1 selling item in the Indonesia Collection.
It gives me great pride to know my customers and fans so easily purchased these designs. They not only accepted diversity, they embraced it!
If you want to add a little language to your wardrobe, please visit www.WorldClothesLine.com
Mallory Brown
Founder – World Clothes Line

Dream on...

Today commemorates a wonderful day in American culture. Schools are closed, people have the day off from work and even if it rains, sleets or snows the mail will not run today. Have you pondered the dream of Dr. King? What does it mean to you that he sacrificed and fought for freedom? My rights are important to me. I believe in going to the polls and voting. I love going out for lunch. I rarely sit in the back row anywhere that I go. These are simple luxuries. If it had not been for the steadfast dream of Dr. King and the hard work that went along with his dream-my life would be different. Have you ever thought about the simple things and how his legacy changed our present circumstances? The bigger question is...what is your dream? How can you change the lives of others? Do you have a dream that will live on beyond your existence. Will your hard work be a benefit to those who are not even born yet? I was not able to see any speeches of Dr. King in person. I was not born when he lived. His dream still impacts my life today. I am compelled to work as hard as I can so that when my life is over...my legacy allows someone else a freedom or benefit that they otherwise may not have known. This could be enriching them in diversity, helping them to embrace self-esteem or encouraging them to seek out the beauty of literacy. I implore to you today to Dream on...
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Letters...A new concept

I LOVE the social media age. I think that it is great when I go to schools and I get to see how new technology is teaching young people how to be creative. Most of the kids and teens that love my books understand technology better than their parents. I was able to speak to a group of teens about a month ago about the importance of social media and of course etiquette online. It was a great talk and I walked away feeling as though they had a good grasp on using technology to better themselves.
What I did not talk about was handwritten notes, old fashioned letters or stationary.I was able to meet someone who I now call friend in early November. This young lady was at an ice cream shop and a bunch of us began discussing facebook, Twitter and blogging. Imagine my shock when she revealed that she was not on facebook. I was dumbfounded. I wanted to communicate with her-what would I do if she was not on my most used site for keeping up my friendships.
She had an idea. She shared that she loves to write letters. I was amazed. Letters? Really? She talked about the fact that their is an art form to old fashioned communication and as we move ahead it is important not to forget the beauty of all forms of communication. The next week I was both surprised and flattered that she sent me a letter. I have gotten to know her in a great way since that day. I also reminded myself that stamps, envelopes and paper are good to keep on hand. The next time that I teach a group of teens about literacy-letters will be a part of the conversation. How do you communicate with those that you care about? Have you thought about writing someone a note and surprising them? I have a challenge for you! Try to surprise one person each month with a heartfelt letter. Most likely they will be surprised and grateful. I have not seen my new friend since I first met her but I have a feeling that I know her better than I would if I would have only communicated with her on facebook.
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Recipe for Diversity...

Have you ever heard of diversity referred to as a melting pot? Me too. Let's think about that. All of the unique attributes that makes diversity awesome melts together in a large pot and blends together. Let's think of diversity in another way for a second. How about salad? If you have a large bowl and you add tomatoes, peppers, spinach, romaine, etc and you allow each ingredient to be together in this beautiful display but keep it's own unique qualities I like this better than melting together and losing identity. I had an awesome chat with a friend Kate about this concept and we thought of a cool idea. Their is an amazing event that takes place once a month that allows projects to get noticed, and even funded if the majority rules called Detroit SOUP. They always have a meal of soup, salad, bread and pie. I offered to make the salad to serve 150 people on January 2nd and me and my hubistrator called it a "Who I Am" salad. We combined ingredients that included lots of colorful veggies and even had tortilla chips of color on the side. We matched the colors in my first book to convey the message of diversity to the group. It was a great night and opened up the dialogue of diversity in a creative way. What are you passionate about? Think outside of the box. You can convey your purpose in a way that is unique and that gets everyone excited about it. Feel free to share your ideas on this blog and get others inspired about the goals achieved in 2011! -Read something great!