My name is Abby and I am the owner and creative director at The Tie Dye Hippie

For the majority of my life, I struggled to find the positive about being creative, rather than book smart. I was never an exceptional student and really struggled to even maintain B's and C's. It wasn't until God placed an incredible vision in my heart that I began to see why I was created the way I was.
This vision was the birth of The Tie Dye Hippie.

The creation of my shop was somewhat accidental. When I was four years old, my family started going to a camp called Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp. Every Tuesday at Okoboji, we had the option to participate in "Tie Dye Tuesday." During this activity, Mitsu, the art director, helped us design our very own tie dye t-shirts.

18 years later, I found myself at the very same camp tie dying a t-shirt, but this time I was also helping other young children create their own shirts. The last day of camp, everybody gathered in the dining hall to hear about a two year campaign Okoboji was starting, called Beyond.

This pivotal moment changed my whole world. God breathed this tie dye vision into my life not only rescuing me from struggles I had been facing, but more importantly to financially help a place that had impacted me for nearly 20 years - a place where the spirit of the Lord is ever present.

10% of every order between July 2014 - July 2016 was given to Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp and the joy I've experienced from giving to an incredible organization is absolutely priceless.

You're probably wondering why the shop names are "Abby & Carly," when I'm simply sharing one story. Well... one year after starting, The Tie Dye Hippie, I was accepted to study abroad all summer in London. After careful consideration, I decided to put my shop on, "vacation mode" (where other can see my shop, but can't purchase items). When casually mentioning to my sister what I was going to do, she gasped and replied with, "No you absolutely aren't. I'm going to run it." Needless to say, SHE ROCKED IT! We enjoyed tie dye Skype dates from across the world and it was even a little hard letting me run the show again when I returned back home.

So now that Beyond has ended, you're probably curious as to what we're doing now. Well, I'm excited to share that after continuous research and many talks with God, Carly and I feel led to starting raising money (as well as awareness) for Love Runs. Love Runs is an organization fighting again human trafficking in Metro Detroit. This is near and dear to our heart (as well as our location) and many people aren't aware that Michigan currently ranks among the worst in human trafficking in the nation.

I'm going to end with a quote because I am 110% the biggest quote junkie you'll ever meet. I have this visible in my room so I can read it every day and continually be reminded just what I am capable of.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward and while some see them as the crazy ones. We see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world. Are the ones who do."
-Steve Jobs

I appreciate you taking time out of the busyness of life to read our story. I pray you never feel too small to make a difference & hope your journey is filled with laughter, love, faith and of course lots and lots of TIE DYE :)

Blessings to you & yours 💛

xo

Abby