In 1999 a big idea for a new fashion doll was born, but she was no Barbie. As a matter of, fact she was the same height as Barbie, but twice her size. This idea came from Audrey Bell-Kearney, who says that God gave her the idea for the doll. She ran the idea by her friend Georgette who was a doll collector and the two joined forces to launch The Big Beautiful Dolls. There are three dolls in the collection Dasia (African American), Dawn (White) & Dena (Hispanic).
Audrey and Georgette set out to make the doll, so for the next year they did their homework and met with investors. Finally, they got investment dollars from a few family members and friends. They found an African American doll company located in Maryland called Integrity Toys whose owner Percy Newsome invited them to come to Maryland. They took a road trip from New Jersey to Maryland where they learned what it would take to launch the company. At the end of 1999 they got their first prototype sculpture back from their sculptor in Kincheloe, Michigan who sent it back in clay, then back again in hard wax. From there the hard wax went to their manufacturer in China. In the year 2000 the dolls hit the United States adding another dimension to the doll world.
Audrey and Georgette ran the company for 5 years before the company was dissolved in 2005. Fast forward to 2021, the dolls were turning twenty-one years old, and Audrey wanted to get at least one of the dolls done for their 21st birthday. She decided on getting Dasia done as a tribute to Madam CJ Walker, who was the first self-made female millionaire. Audrey states that if she could back in time and meet any icon, it would be Madam CJ Walker. Dasia had always been the best seller out of the three dolls. With so much going on with the tariff problems with China, a pandemic going on the loss of her mom Evelyn to Covid, Audrey decided that trying to get the doll manufactured was just to daunting of a task, so she put the two Madam CJ Walker Tribute dolls away until now.
Audrey who hosts Good Morning Gwinnett, the #1 hyperlocal podcast in Georgia 4 days a week live, was working on her goals for increasing the audience for your podcast in 2022. As she did her research, she came across a video on NFTs. She had heard of NFTs before, but never took the time to find out what they were until she watched the video about them. After watching the video, the tribute doll popped into Audrey’s head, and she know she could launch a NFT for the doll.
After doing her research Audrey figured out what she needed to do to launch and is proud to say that the first collection of her tribute doll which she calls Madam Butterfly has launched on Opensea which is an NFT marketplace. The collection will be a limited edition of 1,000 +. NFT #38 is a super rare, because it actually comes with the real physical doll signed by Audrey and a copy of a certificate signed by Audrey with her fingerprint on it. There is only one of these in the collection.
After doing so much research on NFTs and the Metaverse, I see a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses. I am excited about this new chapter. My next step is figuring out how to take my podcast Good Morning Gwinnett to the Metaverse.
For more information about the Madam Butterfly NFT Collection go to www.MadamButterflyNFT.com & www.TheButterflySquad.tech or email Audrey at Audrey@NoiseMedia.us. 678-809-0344
