“I thought to myself, maybe she’s on to something. It brings me joy to see her so happy. And she is loving it. I said, let’s try to figure it out. So, I quit my job. And a year later from the day I quit is the day we launched Coming Up Rosies.” – Paula Quinn”
When Rosie Quinn was 2 years old, she was diagnosed with alopecia. At 9 years old, she has a charity run by her mother Paula that donates headscarves to children with alopecia and cancer. Rosie and Paula joined Aine this week to discuss their charity and how they find joy amidst all the challenges they’ve faced.
After Rosie Quinn was diagnosed with alopecia at just 2 years old, her mother Paula wanted to do something to help her daughter feel better about her self-image. She took a design Rosie had made and printed it on a headscarf. Rosie was so delighted, she had the idea to start a charity giving headscarves to children experiencing alopecia and cancer.
Now at 9 years old, Rosie is the Co-founder, along with her mom, of Coming Up Rosies. Both mother and daughter joined Aine for today’s discussion on how the two have found joy despite the challenges they have faced. Listen and get inspired!
-
[00:34] – Align to Thrive Group Coaching
-
[02:31] – Coming Up Rosies
-
[02:56] – Buy a Mask, Give a Mask
-
[04:43] – Smile Kits
-
[08:31] – How it started
-
[12:10] – Seeing it work
-
[15:15] – Living the leap of faith
-
[17:41] – My Hair Went on Vacation
-
[25:11] – What does self-care look like for Paula?
-
[27:32] – Taking it forward
-
[29:16] – How is Paula cultivating joy?
-
[30:34] – How is Rosie cultivating joy?
Paula Quinn is the Co-founder of Coming Up Rosies, a Chicago based non-profit inspired by her daughter, Rosie’s dream to help “kids who look like me and to make the bald kids smile.” Rosie convinced Paula to leave her 10 year People Operations career at Google to provide the opportunity for bald children to create their own head scarf, neck scarf or superhero cape to wear with pride. Since 2016, Coming Up Rosies has donated over 1,600 Smile Kits to hospitals and charity organizations around the world. Each kit provides a child with an outlet of creativity, and the ability to wear their masterpiece with a smile.
Paula works best juggling many hats, so in addition to running Coming Up Rosies, she’s the Head of People at TechNexus Venture Collaborative, a Chicago based joint venture technology firm.
Paula lives in Chicago, with her husband Larry, daughters Rosie and Caroline and their Bernadoodle, Enzo. In her free time, Paula enjoys spending time with her family, being a Legislative Liaison for the National Alopecia Foundation, cooking Italian dishes with her girls, running, impromptu dance parties, and doing jigsaw puzzles during the cold Chicago winters.
Aine Rock is an artist, entrepreneur, mom and High Performance Coach working on becoming the best version of herself and inspiring others to do the same. Rock Your Joy is a place for women to share the unique ways they find, cultivate, and celebrate joy. We’re often so focused on things happening to us that we forget that joy exists within us. Tune in every other week as we find that joy, together.
If you’d like to receive new episodes as they’re published, please subscribe to Rock Your Joy in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.
This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.
