Founder & CEO, Sharing Kindness

In the realm of promoting kindness and mindfulness, organizations like Sharing Kindness play a crucial role in fostering positive behaviors and attitudes among children. Through innovative products and resources, they strive to create a culture of compassion and resilience, shaping future generations with values that extend beyond individual well-being to community and global harmony. Tess Bell is a dedicated advocate for promoting kindness and mindfulness among children. Through her organization, Sharing Kindness, she spearheads initiatives aimed at instilling positive values and behaviors from an early age. Her commitment to creating a supportive environment for children to learn and grow reflects her deep-seated belief in the power of compassion and resilience.

Nurturing Kindness: Tess’s Journey 

Tess’s professional journey is a diverse blend, encompassing roles as an oncology nurse, business strategist, digital marketer, copywriter, product developer, and children’s book author. In 2019, she founded Sharing Kindness, which has since burgeoned into a million-dollar enterprise with a primary mission of nurturing kindness, compassion, and resilience.

At the heart of Sharing Kindness lies the annual creation of a kindness advent calendar, each year inspired by a new worldly destination. The initiative seeks to capture the essence of diverse cultures, introducing children to the beauty of global kindness. The calendars embody inclusivity, transcending barriers of background, religion, or location, forging connections within a worldwide community bonded by the simple yet profound act of sharing kindness.

In 2024, Tess turned her focus towards habit-building, recognizing the transformative potential of embedding kindness and positivity into daily routines. Through the creation of a positive mindset game, families are encouraged to cultivate gratitude and kindness together. She firmly believes that true knowledge finds its power when transformed into habitual practice. Looking ahead, she envisions the development of a habit tracker app in the coming year, aimed at assisting families in cultivating enduring habits of kindness and positivity. With dedication, she continues to champion the ethos of shared kindness, poised to empower individuals and communities worldwide through her ongoing endeavors with Sharing Kindness.

Foundations of Kindness: From Self-Care to Compassion

Tess underscores the significance of nurturing kindness from within. She believes that by teaching children to be kind to themselves first, they establish a sturdy foundation for spreading kindness to others. It’s about striking a balance between self-care and consideration for others. According to her, instilling kindness, compassion, and resilience early in life lays the groundwork for a brighter and more harmonious future. This early cultivation reduces the need for later mental rewiring, a process she herself has undergone in older age.

Tess aspires to be a beacon of hope, urging individuals to embrace kindness as a potent force for positive change. Her personal journey, navigating the challenges of motherhood and overcoming perfectionism, exemplifies her authenticity and resilience. Through candid discussions about these hurdles, she advocates for maintaining personal boundaries while practicing kindness and advocating for genuine giving. Anxiety has posed significant challenges for Tess, threatening to derail her projects numerous times. However, she draws strength from her daughters, viewing them as inspiration to persevere bravely despite adversity.

Inspired by the transformative impact of kindness and mindfulness on children, Tess has embarked on creating products that facilitate their growth. Her aim is to empower children to navigate life with kindness and mindfulness, fostering values that endure beyond childhood.

Navigating Challenges: Tess’s Journey to Spreading Kindness 

Launching an online business centered around kindness introduced Tess to unexpected hurdles, notably the intersection of religion and internet trolls. Surprisingly, the beautifully hand-drawn illustrations for their Christmas Kindness Advent calendars, intentionally designed to be all-inclusive, sparked controversy due to the absence of religious symbols and chocolates. But this is what happens when you create something new and innovative, Tess adds.

Amidst criticism from religious communities and facing internet trolls on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Tess and her team prioritized open and transparent communication, emphasizing their belief that kindness has no boundaries. In her own words, she says, “We stand by our commitment to inclusivity and our intention to promote kindness with everyone – and that kindness has no boundaries regardless of heritage, or belief systems.”

Additionally, Tess proactively shares the deeper purpose behind their creations, teaching children the value of ‘being’ over ‘having’ and shifting the focus from consumerism to meaningful connections. This educational aspect resonated positively with many parents, who appreciated the deeper meaning embedded in the products, fostering a more connected and compassionate world, even in the face of resistance.

Despite these challenges, their focus remains on spreading kindness universally. They continue to learn and adapt to ensure that their products and messages inspire positive change without excluding any individuals or groups.

As an oncology nurse, Tess emphasizes the importance of science-backed products. Collaboration with child development experts, psychologists, and educators is key to the development and launch of new products. Their team actively engages in conferences and workshops and stays updated with research publications to ensure their content and products align with the latest insights in child development, mindfulness, and wellness.

Spreading Kindness: Tess’s Journey 

Since founding Sharing Kindness in 2019, Tess has set out with a lofty goal—to share 1 million random acts of kindness within 5 years. Remarkably, by 2023, they had achieved this milestone, igniting a significant ripple effect of kindness across communities. It’s this tangible impact that drives Tess to continue her mission of making a real difference in the world. Her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. She has been honored with recognition from esteemed platforms, earning accolades such as being voted the best by The Today Show in both Australia and America for their Christmas Kindness Advent Calendar. She’s also been featured on national TV channels like Studio Ten, among others.

Inspiring the next generation is at the heart of Tess’s work. With over 1 million acts of kindness inspired, she empowers children to become self-aware, confident, and resilient individuals. Through the Sharing Kindness Tribe, Tess emphasizes the importance of self-compassion alongside kindness towards others, fostering a community dedicated to spreading kindness far and wide. Growing up amidst Christmas memories filled with financial struggles and disputes, Tess has instilled in her own children the belief that Christmas and kindness are inseparable. For them, Christmas evokes thoughts of connection through acts of kindness—a truly magical sentiment.

The fulfillment Tess finds in the positive impact of their initiatives on her family, as well as on individuals and communities at the grassroots level, is unparalleled. To her, this genuine impact serves as the most rewarding recognition of their efforts. Championing wholehearted giving lies at the core of Tess’s philosophy. She encourages giving from a place of sincerity, addressing the challenges of striving to please and seeking perfection, particularly in parenting roles.