This is the story about how four Irish girls changed my life. Literally. They changed the course of my entire life and they are the reason Make.Do. exists.

I was their counselor at a youth camp in the summer of 2012 and I was terrified (the year before one of them shaved off another's eyebrow… while she was sleeping!) But eventually, I quit being scared and started just being their friend. And at the end of the camp, one of them asked, “Will you be our counselor next year?” 

“Of course!” I answered. 

“Really,” she said, “because no one ever wants us.” 

Long story short, my answer made them bold enough to ask if they could come visit me in Dublin. I said yes again and two weeks later, I found myself wrangling three 14-year-old girls for nine days in my tiny apartment. It was… a lot. 

So I did the only thing I know to do when I'm feeling overwhelmed. I taught them how to sew.

 I watched them go through the entire creative process: the indecision, the second-guessing, the frustration. I saw the lightbulb click, the confidence, the sense of accomplishment and pride.

So we took a picture! And then we posted that picture on Facebook.

We spent the entire evening counting “likes" and reading comments that said things like, “Ach! You made that?!?” and “That's amazing, wee pet!” 

They were beaming. I watched them go from that idea at camp just a few weeks before of no one ever wants us to a new realization that they had made something valuable and that value was being reflected back to them.

This was the first time I really understood the impact creativity has on our souls. It unlocks our value. It frees us from conformity. It gives us purpose. 

⚡️An idea sparked.⚡️ 

Three years later, that spark became Make.Do. And now that spark-turned-Make.Do. is five years old!