Passion and Perseverance to Promote Lincoln’s Legacy Leads to a Brand
Today she wore her product into the post office. “Where did you get that T-shirt? Isn’t that Abraham Lincoln…?”
“Yes, this is my business.”
Megan’s T-shirts pull Lincoln out of the history books and make him personal for today’s generation. People are drawn to his golden-inked profile leaping off the classy black shirt with his distinctive “A Lincoln” signature on the back. And so the shirts stimulate conversation about Lincoln – and fulfills Megan’s mission.
Megan’s sense of purpose to share Lincoln’s legacy is strong. By age 10 she considered him to be a special man, even for today’s world. At age 15 she wrote a novella about a teenager caught up with Booth, Lincoln’s assassin, so that young adults would find Lincoln’s story come alive! She planned to work as a tour guide at the Lincoln home in Springfield and attended college with this in mind.
She had an artist develop a historically accurate 3-D profile of Lincoln based on an 1864 photograph. Megan searched for a sellable media of this beautifully detailed profile.
She developed two new products – a keepsake solid bronze paperweight and the T-shirt, and, appropriately for her, launched her limited line at The Lincoln Forum gathered for the Gettysburg Address dedication in 2005.
Harold Holzer, the leading Lincoln author of our time and the Co-chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, says “The beautiful Lincoln paperweight now adorns my office desk. It’s a beautiful piece.”
Through her perseverance, she was successful in developing her Lincoln T-shirt. The Lincoln Bicentennial Commission’s new motto fits her and people wearing her Lincoln T-shirts – “Live the Legacy.”
She has taken this unique look to another historical profile – John F. Kennedy -- and plans to add other profiles and build a brand – Collectible Profiles, Inc.
Megan’s favorite Lincoln quotation is: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”