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Meet Marie & John Kirkpatrick of Frankie the Dog Group in Cumming

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Marie & John Kirkpatrick.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Marie & John. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I found myself at a crossroads when Nicolette went to College and Tyler was older. I needed something different and it all came together when we adopted our family dog, Frankie.

Frankie, a Belgian Malinois, was returned many times to the shelter. No one wanted him. They said he was too active, he jumped too high and even too scary. But the truth was that Frankie was not scary he was the one that was scared. His life story touched me very deeply. I kept wondering why are shelters still so full and why are more pets not getting adopted. I kept seeing the “sad” commercials on television and was aware of the many pet adoption shelters. But, I felt something more had to be done. I decided I had found my next act, and I would do something about it. I thought what is the best way to solve any problem is – you get to the root of it! Children are the root!

In January 2015, Frankie the Dog Group was born. I created a lovable, adventurous character named Frankie the Dog and wrote a children’s book, Frankie Finds His Family, to teach children about the importance of pet rescue and adoption. I wanted to do this in a very positive, happy way that would get the children excited about pet rescue and adoption. The first book was very successful.

Building on that success, I created the Frankie the Dog Website, Frankie Gear, Frankie Dance, and Frankie’s “Interactive” Party. It was necessary to also give Frankie the Dog a social media presence so I enlisted my husband John’s help with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. John handles the social media and marketing for Frankie the Dog Group as our Marketing Director.

John is my husband and we are true partners in all of our personal and business endeavors. He has supporting me in the creation of Frankie the Dog and has worked tirelessly alongside me to make sure we are successful. It’s always amazing to see how proud he is of me.

After Book 1, I wrote a second book, Frankie’s Christmas Surprise. Frankie the Dog and his friend Freddy the Ferret travel on exciting adventures to rescue pets and find a loving home for them. Followed by a third book, Frankie’s Greatest Adventure.

Marie found that the children relate to Frankie the Dog and are able to understand his message: Pet Adoption First! Fill your life with Love.

Recently, John felt he needed to fulfill a dream of becoming an abstract painter. He had never painted before, but knew he could do it. So, he started painting and putting his creations on Facebook. Within minutes of putting his first painting, it sold. Then he was asked to paint 2 more paintings for a Facebook follower that wanted to purchase them. John loved his new creative outlet and was simply amazed at the outpouring of support and positive comments.

Marie now had the opportunity to help John with is marketing and supported him from the beginning. She encouraged him to paint and researched information on paint types, art supplies, and canvas sizes. Anything that could help with is new found love.

The Lanier Forsyth Rotary Club called and wanted one of John’s painting to auction off at their annual Down & Derby Event. John created a beautiful painting, posted it on Facebook and sold it in 15 minutes. So back to the drawing board to create a new painting for the Rotary Club.

Then Mentor Me a local organization helping at-risk youth wanted him to give a painting demonstration at Barnes & Noble at one of their fundraisers.

In the Cumming area, wherever John goes people come up to him and tell him how they love his latest painting. John has used social media to get the word out about his paintings to great success.

Marie describes John’s abstract paintings this way: John’s art is naturally fluid with an exciting interweaving of colors. You can always expect the unexpected! John loves nature and takes inspiration daily from the beauty around him. Also from loud rock n roll music that makes his creative juices flow. (And she means very loud rock ‘n roll.)

John and Marie are enjoying their new-found passions. They are each other’s greatest supporters and cheerleaders.

Has it been a smooth road?
The Frankie the Dog books and Gear have been very well received. But, we tried to launch an Indiegogo Campaign for funding to expand Frankie’s marketing presence and did not succeed. I think we chose the wrong platform and found that most successful campaigns have already over 20% of their funds in place prior to launching the campaign. This was so disappointing. We did learn that our existing supporters are very loyal but we need to find a platform that focuses mainly on helping companies that want social change.

John’s Abstract Painting has been very successful from day one.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
At the Frankie the Dog Group we are social entrepreneurs with a passion for helping abandoned pets find their family to love.

We are the only company with a book series and Gear that educates children on the importance of pet adoption and rescue. Frankie the Dog is a unique character like Smokey the Bear, he has visual recognition and very likable with a lot of charisma.

I am the author of the Frankie the Dog books and creator of Frankie’s World. My specialties of course are in writing, concept creation and marketing.

My company is known for its great work as a social entrepreneur, passion for our cause and for creating an outstanding product line.

One of the most exciting days was when very early on at the National Book Expo I was told that we had created a brand. Frankie the Dog is a brand created from my desire to help abandoned pets.

At John’s Abstract Painting, he is the creator and artist. His creative skills are evolving very quickly. The paintings are meaningful, enlightening, provocative and extraordinary to say the least.

His use of color and design is unique. What he has found through his many Facebook followers is that the meaning to his abstract art is definitely in the eyes of the beholder. The many feelings, emotions, and comments he receives are quite diverse. John says: “True art is not defined by the artist. It is defined only by the beholder!”

Recently, John created Cumming, GA. What’s happening on Facebook with over 700 followers. He has various Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for all of our different endeavors with a total of over 10,000 followers.

We have been the owners of Clean-Tech Commercial Cleaning Service for 30 years. Clean-Tech is a janitorial cleaning service for commercial buildings in the metropolitan Atlanta area.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Metropolitan Atlanta is a great area to start a business. It has a great population of young working professionals who care about social issues.

But, we also need an easier way to fund start-up businesses that are social entrepreneurs. The metro area needs a funding organization that would match entrepreneurs with investors. An organization that provides assistance from step 1 all the way to the last step. Acquiring funding, even though platforms such as Indiegogo is very complicated and a place where an entrepreneur could go and talk to someone face to face and be mentored through the process would be excellent.

We need more galleries that cater to the Artists that are beginning and need a supportive environment.

Pricing:

  • Frankie the Dog Books Paperback $10.00

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Painting 1: Night Sky
Painting 2: Surge
Painting 3: Carnaval

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