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Sound Bites from Michelle Nichols



"Hugging your kids is a privilege."

"Hugs are fast, free - and non-fattening."

"Work-life challenges are hard! A hug with a loved one can help you reduce stress and increase productivity - and that's success!"

"If you need statistics to tell you the benefits of a hug, you really need a hug."

"To paraphrase the old Chevrolet jingle, "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie - and hug your kids." "

"Our goal is to change families around the world - one million hugs at a time."

5 Steps of a Good Hug

(based upon the book, “Hug Your Kids Today! 5 Key Lessons for Every Working Parent,” by Michelle Nichols – published 2008 by Good Friend Publishing)

1. Clear your head. Stop thinking about your bills, calendar and worries.
2. Clear your hands. Put down your keys, cell phone, and all the other stuff you carry around.
3. Connect with your eyes. Get your loved one to eye level. My 12-year old son is about 5 feet tall, so I have to put him on a stair. My 17-year old daughter is 6 feet tall, so I have to get on a stair. Do what it takes to look them in the eyes.
4. Connect with your heart. Tell him or her what’s in your heart. Something like, “I love you. You rock my world. No matter what happens to you today, remember that I love you!”
5. Squeeze. Give them a hug that will last them all day. When you part, I want both of you to say, “Now THAT was a hug.”

Interesting facts:
1. 50% of the project's raving fans are dads. This is not just a woman’s issue. Men love their kids as deeply as women.
2. This message strongly connects to families of all ethnicities, races, religions, abilities, and lifestyles. It is a uniting message, not a dividing one, for every modern family.

Click here for her full bio

Personal Impact Stories. Women love my work but it’s often men who have personal impact stories.

1. A dad told me I’d changed his relationship with his kids. “I’d stopped hugging them because they’re 13 and 17, but I heard you speak, and I started hugging them again. Thank you.”
2. A single-dad of a 14-year old boy told me he regretted working so many hours as his son was growing up, but now he was focusing on maximizing the next four years with his son.
3. A dad of a 12-year old daughter heard about my holiday in mid-2008 and decided to be purposeful about hugging his daughter every day. When we met almost a year later, he treated me like a celebrity. “I can’t believe I’m meeting the founder of National Hug Your Kids Day. My daughter is never going to believe this!”
4. A mom of several children said I’d changed her marriage, because it got her and her husband talking about what really mattered to them – their family.

Impact envisioned: As it continues on the holiday calendar, this work changes lives – for kids, parents and families. It also changes the culture of the workplace. 

Print and Internet

NEW- 2012 Press Release

NEW - Article: How to Hug a Teenager

As part of the official holiday calendar, Hug Your Kids Day has received  press coverage, both nationally and locally (Reno, Nevada) in a variety of publications -- from those for the general public, families,Christian- and faith-communities, to Las Vegas entertainment, to amputees. We can help with Christian and Jewish media resources too.

On the web, Caroline Kepcher, formerly of Donald Trump fame, has written about the holiday on her Finding What Matters site.

Bloggers love the holiday too! See our free articles below.

To see some of the articles already published about Global Hug Your Kids Day, click on 2011 Holiday, and prior years.

Sample Story/ Article Ideas

1. Best family hug you ever had?
2. Thoughts about family hugs from people from other cultures or religions
3. Health care impact of hugs vs. drugs
4. Do kids ever outgrow the need for hugs? How about parents?
5. Safe family hugs
6. Military angle of hugs when deployed or leaving/returning from far away?

Sample Interview Questions

1. You left Business Week, the biggest business magazine in the U.S., to become the Hug Your Kids lady. Are you crazy?
2.  What are some of the big problems of working parents?
3. What's wrong with "work-life balance?"
4.  What do you propose instead?
5. How did you come to this idea?
6. What's next for Global Hug Your Kids Day project?

Free Articles You Can Reprint!

You are welcome to use these articles in your newsletters, newspapers and other media. Please keep the attribution as written. We'd love to hear from you when you use them!

NEW- 2012 Press Release

NEW - Article: How to Hug a Teenager

(380 words) ---- Why I Started Global Hug Your Kids Day

(505 words) ---- Why Work-LIfe Balance is the Wrong Goal

(766 words) ---- Work vs. Life- How to Have it All Without Losing Your Mind


Photos

Low resolution - copy from our website or contact us.

High resolution - contact us.

Need something else or customized? Contact us.

Other Hug-Related Holidays

National Hug Day in mid-January
National Hug Your Cat Day - June 4

Questions? Please contact us!
Thank you.

TV and Radio

Here is the TV clip that launched the holiday in 2003 on KTRK, the ABC-affiliate in Houston, TX.  (Note: there's no sound in the first 5 seconds.)

Free press releases are available.

Key Links

•  Song -  Hug Your Kids Today, by Tony Brigmon, of funmeetings.com. and the former "Ambassador of Fun" for Southwest Airlines. Tony created and donated the song!  

      
    Download  Hug Your Kids Song

• Clean, funny videos of our Hug Your Kids Dance.
• Hug handbook - Hug Your Kids Today! 5 Key Lessons for Every Working Parent by Michelle Nichols

2011 TV Clips and Podcast Interviews

We had lots of great media coverage in 2011 including: CNN Prime Time News - Click here
NBC - Click here
Interview on 753 radio stations in 15 states.
To see all our 2011 media coverage


2009 TV Clips and Podcast Interviews

ABC - clip(s) available. Online article

ABC - clip(s) available.

NBC - clip(s) available.

CBS- clip(s) available. Online article

Mighty Mommy podcast (part of the major Grammar Girl series)

Why Michelle Nichols, Founder, Global Hug Your Kids Day, will give a great interview for you

* Experience - Michelle Nichols was the Sales columnist for BusinessWeek.com for 6 years, so she knows what makes a good story and how to work with the media. She has been interviewed on TV, radio, print and online media so she can help you look good and meet your deadlines too.

* Slightly crazy - Come one, anyone who leaves a prestigious national business magazine to become the Hug Lady has to be a little bit crazy! But audiences are looking for crazy. They're tired and bored of the same ol', same ol' logical, three-steps-and-you're-cured blather. Michelle tells funny, but clean, stories and keeps audiences engaged.

* Respects deadlines - Ms. Nichols has had over 150 of her columns printed in BusinessWeek.com so she understands from the journalist’s point-of-view what it means to be on deadline to produce an interesting story or article. Ms. Nichols wrote and recorded 45 interview-format podcasts for Business Week. She gives short answers and provides lots of colorful examples and stories.

* Quick on her feet - Even on short notice, she can help you create a lively, engaging story. She has extensive files and contacts to give you a great show, every time.

* Broad background - Ms. Nichols is a mother, wife, business owner, and has been an employee of large, medium and small businesses. She is part of a modern family and she understands the problems faced by companies of all sizes, and the challenges of working parents across the U.S. She connects equally well with men and women, and with those from all walks of life.