Okay, so full disclosure, I am still very much figuring out this whole blogging thing. Like, I talk into my phone, ramble for a couple of minutes, and then somehow that turns into something people are supposed to want to read. So anyway, bear with me because this one is kind of close to my heart and I just have a lot of feelings about it.

So Here's What's Going On This Friday

Austin is gearing up for SXSW, which, if you've never been, is basically organized chaos in the best possible way. And right in the middle of all that, I am hosting a UNICEF barbecue on Friday the 13th for the innovation team out of Sweden, along with a bunch of tech people who are going to be in town to brainstorm AI for children. Which, when I say it out loud, sounds kind of wild and also completely amazing at the same time.

We're doing it up right with Terry Black's barbecue, because honestly, when you are hosting people from Sweden and you want to make an impression about Austin, you go to Terry Black's. Shout out to Terry Black's. The brisket alone could close a deal.

The whole event is about exploring innovative ways that AI can help raise money for children and support kids around the world. And it was like, the moment I started planning this thing, my brain just went to this place where everything I do kind of connects back to children and color and community. And I realized I really needed to sit with that for a minute.

The Thing About Teachers That Nobody Talks About Enough

Here's the thing about Chalk Ink® markers that I think sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of, you know, running a business and trying to stay sane. Teachers absolutely love them. And I don't mean that in a polished marketing way, I mean it in a real, like, I have had teachers grab me at events and tell me stories way.

Because our markers write on basically anything. Lockers, gym floors, desks, windows, you name it. So if it's rainy outside and you can't do your spirit week decorations the way you planned, a teacher can just go to town right there on the classroom windows and make it look incredible. Easy seasonal decor, back to school stuff, team spirit, holiday themes, all of it. We even donate paint to the city of Austin because we genuinely believe that color makes life better and that kids and teachers deserve more of it in their environments.

And it was like, when I was putting this barbecue together and thinking about children's wellbeing on a global scale, I kept coming back to this: the people who show up every single day for kids are teachers. They are in the trenches. They are exhausted and underpaid and over-criticized, and they still get up and make things colorful and engaging for children who need that more than we sometimes realize. So I just want to take a beat here and say, if you are a teacher, thank you. Genuinely. What you do matters so much more than you probably hear often enough.

How Philanthropy and Chalk Ink® Kind of Became the Same Thing for Me

I'm on the advisory board for UNICEF in Dallas, which still feels a little surreal to say, and one of the things I've been really intentional about is trying to do something every single month to help in whatever way I can. Not because it looks good, not because it's great for the brand, but because when you spend your days thinking about color and creativity and how those things make people feel, you start to see the gaps. You start to see the places where kids don't have access to any of that. And that does something to you.

So when the UNICEF innovation team reached out about coming to Austin for South by Southwest and wanting to explore how AI could help children globally, it felt like the most natural fit in the world. We do things for children here at Chalk Ink®. That's just sort of woven into who we are as a company. And now we get to sit around a table with brisket and smart, passionate people and ask what's possible. I can't think of a better Friday the 13th.

Hahahahaha. Okay, maybe the brisket is doing a lot of heavy lifting in my enthusiasm. But also, it's genuinely exciting. AI for children is something that feels like it has so much potential, and I love being in a room where people are trying to figure out how to use technology for good instead of just, you know, for the sake of it.

Let's Just Keep Life Colorful

Here's what I keep coming back to between my philanthropy work and the therapy work I do and everything we build at Chalk Ink®. All of it is really about the same thing. It's about color, in the broadest possible sense. It's about making spaces feel alive and welcoming for the people who have to be in them. It's about giving teachers tools that actually work so they can focus on the kids instead of the logistics. It's about asking what children need on a global level and then actually trying to build those things.

If you donate to UNICEF, thank you. Truly. You're helping kids not just here in the United States but all over the world in ways that are sometimes invisible but always matter. And if you're a teacher using our markers to write on the gym floor because it's raining and you still wanted spirit week to happen, well, that is honestly everything to us.

So anyway. That's what's on my mind this week. A barbecue, a brainstorm, and a whole lot of gratitude for the people who keep showing up for kids every day. Let's keep life colorful, everyone.

XO.