Eunique Jones Gibson has a knack for creating platforms that are truly designed for us, by us.
Through Culture Tags, she gave the community an innovative approach to playing games. With Because of Them We Can, she took spreading the good news into her own hands by creating a designated website to share positive and uplifting news occurring across the globe for the Black community. Now, through The Happy Hues Co., she’s taking on representation in the baby industry.
“I was inspired to create The Happy Hues Co. in 2019 when I was going to put a pair of training pants on my daughter. She was sleeping in them at the time, and I think she was three years old and I pulled out a pair of training pants,” Gibson recalled to MadameNoire. “Listen, I was a Cinderella kid. I watched the movie. I could probably tell you every scene, but I just felt like I didn’t want to put Cinderella on her that night. I wanted something that represented her and all of the different affirmations that I had been working with her on.”
From there, Gibson researched to find out what other options were available for her daughter. She was disappointed yet inspired when she came up short despite her husband pointing out that Princess Tiana was available but always sold out.
“I just thought about all the other kids, like my child, who could use some representation in that space and the opportunity that the training pants era allows just to build foundational lessons and tools,” said Gibson. “And wouldn’t it be great if we taught, in addition to self-esteem and confidence, if we taught community and what it looked like to embrace somebody or accept somebody who doesn’t look like you? That’s really how the idea for the Happy Hues Co. came about, and it just backs into my goal to really identify spaces where there could be more representation and how that intersects with culture and community.”
The Happy Hues Co. offers a range of diverse characters who look like all of the children in the communities it serves. From brown skin to red hair, it was important for Gibson to create products that allow children to see themselves reflected. Moreover, beyond just the visuals of little humans who look like them, children also boost their development stages with affirmations and mantras that plant positive seeds and self-talk.
“We’re adding joy to the aisle, and I think that this aisle has been very sterile. As a mom who has three kids and somebody who experienced postpartum depression, I really understand what it looks like to walk down the aisle and not be inspired or to walk down that aisle. It just be a very mundane, routine task because you need diapers and you need wipes,” Gibson explained. “We’ve seen disruption in other categories and we’ve seen joy and coolness and culture really kind of enter into other categories and elevate the space. And I just didn’t see that in the baby aisle. So, in addition to that representation, I just saw an opportunity to really elevate it and bring and infuse joy. Not from a simple design perspective, but the whole brand is built on joy.”
She added, “The whole band is built on community, self-esteem, and confidence, but really just trying to elevate the energy in that space because the parents and the caregivers are shaping the future with every touch point with that young person. So if we can elevate their experience or bring them a smile… There was a mom the other day who posted on our Facebook page and she said, ‘I was changing my baby’s diaper at 3 o’clock in the morning with one eye open, and with that one eye open, I read the design that said, You got this. And I thought, hmm, I really do got this.’ She said it was just what she needed at three in the morning, and that was the vision. How can we give a message to the parents and caregivers and allow them or help them elevate their connection and experience with their babies.”
Along with baby items, The Happy Hues Co. has an animated series, which releases new episodes every other Friday, offering families another outlet for their little ones. Gibson says parents and caregivers cannot only get quality programming but also help their children learn foundational skills like ABCs and 123s as well as what it looks like to be a kind friend or a kind human to others.
“We want to teach children how to embrace people who don’t look like them, and that’s the intention of the Happy Hues Crew series. Every other week, that’s our goal. We want parents to be able to tap into that whether they’re customers or not. We want them to see value in the content we’re putting out,” Gibson shared.
The Happy Hues Co. continues to grow and expand, especially thanks to its partnership with Target. Gibson says the collaboration has been seamless because the giant retailer understands the vision.
“The expansion into Target is massive because it immediately gives you reach through distribution that you wouldn’t otherwise have on a direct-to-consumer website like Happyhues.com,” she explained. “People can touch the boxes, they’re able to turn them around, read them, tap into the mission, see what it’s all about, and so we’re able to get in front of more people by being in so many different stores. The intention and the hope is that we continue to grow our footprint, not only through Target, but through other grocery stores and mass retailers, so that, again, we can continue to grow the brand, but we can do what our mission is focused on, which is helping to nurture happy and healthy babies from the inside out.”
“We’re delusional enough to believe that you can change the world one diaper at a time, Gibson concluded.
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