Jacobs: Success is simple with optimism

Be optimistic. Be open to doing new things. Be open to meeting new people. Be open to the notion that anything is possible. Be open to the “Life is good” concept of living. Be joyful.

It’s a simple message that entrepreneur Bert Jacobs is sharing. For 15 years, Jacobs and his brother John have sold T-shirts and optimism--and not necessarily in that order. They have built it into a multi-million dollar business, though success didn't come overnight.

“We don’t have many rules in our company,” Jacobs noted. “There are no big shots…there are no suits or ties."

Minimalism is big in the Life is good franchise. For five years the Jacobs brothers lived out of their van and operated under simple rules like not spending more than $5 on lunch.

But it wasn’t until a "kegger" party, where Jacobs and his brother regaled a few friends with tales about their life on the road, that their friends drew up ideas on the wall and hit upon an idea that seems too simple to be true: "Jake."

Face it. The cartoon character that is the personification of the Life is good franchise is a nerdy looking, smiley stick man who resonates all that is good in America. When the Jacobs brothers sold 48 Life is good T-shirts with Jake’s welcoming smile and open body language, they knew they were on to something special because it only took 45 minutes to extinguish  their inventory.

It didn’t take long before Jake was eating ice cream, playing golf, cooking in the back yard, or just plain relaxing. American’s couldn’t get enough optimism, especially after 9/11. People just couldn’t get enough of Jake’s messages of hope and joy.

“Americans work way too hard,” opined Jacobs, a tall, laid-back, Frisbee-throwing T-shirt-clad Bostonian. Jacobs popped up on the stage in front of 1,400 hard-working credit union volunteers and professionals. And when you grow a business from $87,000 worth of T-shirts in 1994 to $120 million in 2008, you can wear just about anything you want to at work or onstage, especially blue jeans.

“Jake,” said Jacobs, is the embodiment of optimism. But it wasn't until Jacobs began tying his passions together--helping children and enjoying music, festivals and people--that the mix of work and fun took off.

“We make clothing, but we don’t talk about it,” Jacobs said. “We have never spent one cent on advertising.”

As the chief executive optimist, Jacobs and his pals try to focus on being authentic and raising money to help children. Starting with wacky ideas like a pumpkin-carving festival, Jacobs and his band of music-loving cohorts have tied their entrepreneurial wagons to helping children in need. Their pumpkin patch plan raised $500,000. A fund-raiser at Fenway Park raised $800,000. And his new book is likely to raise thousands for Project Joy, a program for children victimized by violence.

“We are a crude organization,” he said. “But what we support matters.”

His message to credit unions: Believe that anything is possible.

After completing his keynote session at the America’s Credit Union Conference & Expo Monday morning in Boston, the line to buy an autographed copy of the new "Life is good Book" snaked through the Hynes Convention Center for nearly two hours. That said more about the reception of his message of optimism than this story ever could.