Recently the team at Ausmumpreneur spoke with Carolyn from The Little Distinctions about a campaign that hits close to home. Carolyn shares with us her story behind #capcancer campaign and how she planned to make a  major impact on cancer research.

Tell us about yourself and your business

Carolyn : I am a marketing consultant and mum of 3 young boys.   I have run my own business 6peas marketing and engagement for 9 years.  About 2 years ago after talking to a lot of creative small businesses that could not afford marketing resources I decided to start www.thelittledistinctions.com  Firstly because I believe that Australia has enormously talented artists and designers which need to be promoted and secondly I believe there is a need for good quality, limited edition and small run gifts that are a little bit unique.

Sharona : I am the owner of Dilly’s Collection, a collection of designer satin shower caps with microfiber lining. We are also introducing a range of toiletry bags and other accessories soon too.

showercaps girls in bath small

Tell us more about your collaboration with Sharona and how it will help your #capcancer campaign

Sharona is one of the creative partners new to www.thelittledistinctions.com and in our initial interview Sharona and I really hit it off and started talking about some of our personal tragedies we have had to overcome.  We both realised that we had a common “cause” which was cancer. Sharona has been severely impacted by the disease, losing a very close friend, a father and now a mother who is sick.  With my assistant Angela we were a little distracted by Sharona’s loss and we started to brainstorm some ways we could all make a difference and we came up with the #capcancer campaign.  We spoke to Sharona and she was very excited and was in with both feet!  I then called a couple of other women, fellow mumpreneur Carly from Lil Creatures and she was “I’m in” with her baby costumes and now we are in the later stages of planning. We look to run the campaign year round but late June, July and August we will be putting a major focus on finding more retailers to list their products for the cause and finding more people to purchase a cap for cancer. Every purchase of a shower cap or Lil Creatures costume means that $5.00 is donated to the Cancer Council. We also hope to find a major donor to fund a challenge to a celebrity to wear our caps. Or even find some celebrities to run with our #capcancer campaign. Every donation is to raise more funds for cancer research – for all cancers. We don’t discriminate we just want to help.

What is your inspiration/passion behind #capcancer?

We were doing an initial interview to write some blogs articles and we go onto some of our life struggles and challenges.  Sharona mentioned that she had lost her close friend to breast cancer and a Dad to lung cancer. Her mother is currently fighting cancer.  My brother in law has an inoperable brain tumour and I lost my best friend to asthma when I was pregnant with my second baby.  Our shared sense of loss and frustration with a terrible disease like cancer had us thinking that perhaps there was something we could do together.  Funnily enough, Sharona and I say that we are both really bad at promoting ourselves but with the #capcancer campaign we are hitting targets and making goals. We were pretty impressed with ourselves! I think having a “cause” that is dear to our hearts and having a strong desire to take some action has been great for the both of us. My brother in law wrote a book as a bit of therapy and to share his experience called “Better Roads Ahead” he dedicated that book to my husband (his brother).  New stats indicate that it is now 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women diagnosed with cancer before the age of 85. This is really scary.

With the #capcancer campaign – we thought it was an easy way to get individuals, businesses, media to act a little silly, have a little fun but support cancer too.

What do you hope to achieve with this campaign?

We want it to be an ongoing campaign that is continually raising funds for cancer but in this first campaign we want to raise $5,000 for cancer and then later we hope to have a large sponsor that might just enjoy the silliness and fun with us and sponsor a large donation to Cancer for getting a celebrity to wear our shower cap.  It is so simple that anyone can do it. It takes little effort and can be done as a group or on your own. And we love the pictures that are coming in as a result.

Long term – I would love to have point of sale material and run this as a campaign with stores participating and getting some major traction overseas as a major fundraising campaign. Our very own “day” so to speak Internationally.

dillys real men wear shower caps small

How can people get involved?

This is the best part because it is so easy. Go to www.thelittledistinctions.com/causes/cap-cancer.html  you will find the Dilly’s Shower caps. But you will also find other small business operators such as Carly from Lil’ Creatures and Jaqueline Burgess who are also putting up items where $5.00 will be donated to cancer.

You can even register to add some of your products on line with us to raise funds for cancer. Every bit helps.

Take a picture with your Dilly’s Shower cap, your Dachshund print or your Lil creatures outfit and post it to our #capcancer page.  You can also send some inspirational quotes for fellow sufferers or messages of support for families that go through such a tough time too.

Your favourite quote or inspirational message related to this campaign

I think my brother in law said it all “there are better days ahead”. It applies not just to those suffering from cancer but also their loved ones that are fighting right alongside them and those who are left behind.

cupcake with cupcake image

To learn more about #capcancer, please visit the links below

Thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart!

Carolyn xx