I met my best mate, Mark George, 10 years ago over a Cuban cigar in the garden of the Chelsea Arts Club in London. We hit it off right away. A few years later, Mark fell in love with the beautiful and irreverent Angie - the Geege in Leave It To Geege, Lifetime's new 10 part series, airing in January 2022. Angie has a 19 year old son, called Pootie, who is non-verbal and extremely high on the autism spectrum. The series follows the ups and downs - the love and laughter (and it is hysterically funny, in parts) - of a single mum raising an autistic kid.
But back to Mark, who figures largely in the series. He hadn't seen Angie for a year and a half, due to COVID, and flew over from London in the summer to spend a few months in Athens, Georgia. I had told him, earlier in the year, about Stimm and how we envisaged a range of jewelry that could help people deal directly with their anxieties. There was certainly an overlap with the world of autism.
"What if you come to Georgia and we film an episode around your visit? You'll meet Pootie and get to hang out with Angie and I. We can talk about and show the Stimm collection, in relation to autism, and also look at stimming, as a wider topic. It will fit in perfectly with the storyline of the show," Mark said.
No second invitation was needed and, within a few weeks, I was eating boiled peanuts and Georgia peach pie, washed down with the requisite glass of fine bourbon. More importantly, I met Pootie - a character, a superstar, a force of nature - and learned a lot about autism. I also got to spend a bit of time with good friends in a little place called Athens, Georgia.
And that is the story of how Hollywood came knocking on Stimm's door.