Donegal-based doll company Lottie Dolls have launched an empowering campaign to celebrate some amazing young leaders of tomorrow.

Lottie Dolls

Lottie Dolls is a revolutionary toy company set up by Arklu Managing Director and Co-Founder Ian Harkin from Ballybofey.

Empowering kids to be themselves, one doll at a time – the award-winning  Donegal dolls are all-empowering role models to girls to show them they can achieve anything and be themselves. They are based on the proportions of real children. Lottie’s motto is Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You and the collection is inspired by real kids.  

This summer the company is championing the real girls who the dolls are based on by telling their stories in short films.

The ‘Inspired by Real Kids’ collaboration between Lottie Dolls and filmmaker Elena Rossini was screened for the first time at Inspire Fest in Dublin – Thursday 6th of July.

The short featurette focuses on Lottie role model, Taylor Richardson, who is reaching for the stars in her aspirations and community work.

Taylor Richardson

Thirteen-year-old Taylor Richardson became part of the Lottie story last year, when she and her mother, Toni, were looking for a diverse STEM doll and came across Stargazer Lottie.

Aspiring Astronaut Taylor aims to be the first African-American woman on Mars, and her passion for astronomy, along with her volunteerism and literacy efforts has seen Taylor; meet her idol physician and NASA astronaut, Dr Mae Jemison, attend the UN Women’s Summit in the White House and become one of the youngest children to ever attend Space Camp.

Taylor recently raised $20,000 to send over a 1000 underprivileged youths to see the Hidden Figures film, and inspired similar campaigns in 72 cities raising over $120,000.

Taylor’s mission to explore new opportunities and continue to pay it forward for girls while bringing more representation to the table, makes her the perfect Lottie role model – and the Inspired by Real Kids featurette, helps to share Taylor’s incredible story.

The Lottie ‘Inspired by Real Kids’ campaign tells the stories of the girls who have directly inspired Lottie Dolls through their dreams and designs – submitting their ideas to the company and watching then unfold in doll form.

The follow-up featurettes will be made available over the Summer via the Lottie Dolls Facebook page. The girls’ stories all challenge stereotypes in their own way:

  • Abigail (B.C, Canada, age six) her Stargazer Lottie doll ended up spending #264 days on the International Space Station last year as part of Tim Peake’s mission,
  • Allie (Sioux Falls, USA, age twelve) who inspired Robot Girl Lottie doll following her own robot creation made completely from recyclable materials for a school science fair and Allie was recently shortlisted for the 2017 Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge.
  • Cadence (Ridgefield, USA, age ten) inspired a fishing accessory based on her love of the outdoors and fishing with her Dad along the river
  • Lily (Ohio, USA, age eight) who designed her dream superhero Lottie outfit as part of Lottie’s international competition, to demonstrate that girls can be superheroes too!

Lottie Role Model: Lily the Superhero

Lottie Dolls invites families to participate on www.lottie.com where they can submit their designs and become the next Lottie inspiration! This week celebrates Lottie’s latest competition winner, Irish fan, Eithne (Dublin, age 10) who designed the ‘Ultimate Den’ for Lottie!

Check out Taylor’s GoFundMe page here to help support her campaign to help girls keep their STEM dreams alive: https://www.gofundme.com/Readysetdreambig