Lauren Paul and Molly Thompson are two incredibly inspiring women and founders of the Kind Campaign. Set up in 2009 while Lauren and Molly studied at Pepperdine University, the Kind Campaign is a non-profit organisation and school programme that fights girl-against-girl bullying.
Stopping this kind of crime from happening is something that Lauren, who is married to Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, has been passionate about since she was 12.
On the organisation's website, she reveals: "For me, the hardest time was middle school, when a group of my girlfriends turned on me. I can still vividly recall every torturous experience they put me through throughout 7th and 8th grade."
Lauren adds: "Through this time I battled depression and got to the point where I tried to take my own life in seventh grade. I know first-hand how much it hurts to be called names, to be threatened and to feel like you are all alone."
"Lauren has an undeniable gift to connect with you on your level and to make every word you speak feel not only heard but understood. Molly brings a warmth to every room that reminds you of the best hug, and the feeling that you could tell her anything" – Rachel Whelan, Kind Campaign Ambassador
Lauren and Molly host Kind Campaign Founders Assemblies in hundreds of schools across the US and have completed 11 international anti-bullying school tours. Their words act as a lifeline for some girls, including Rachel Whelan, a university student who is now also a Kind Campaign Ambassador.
Rachel shared her experience with HELLO!, saying: "At fourteen years old, I was being bullied heavily and could barely get out of bed each morning. One morning I had decided I couldn't take the pain any longer and made a plan to come home after school and take my own life. Upon arriving at school, I was informed that all of the girls would be heading into a Kind Campaign assembly.
"To say the assembly changed my life is an understatement. To say that Molly and Lauren continue to transform my life is the truth. Lauren has an undeniable gift to connect with you on your level and to make every word you speak feel not only heard but understood. Molly brings a warmth to every room that reminds you of the best hug, and the feeling that you could tell her anything.
"They encourage me every day to inspire others and have been my biggest role models since I was fourteen. These influential women have kindness that comes from their core. The two of them together bring these superpowers together to change the world around them and inspire me to do the same every day."
Two years after launching their organisation, Lauren and Molly released their documentary, Finding Kind. They spent two months driving around the US, screening the documentary – which has received awards in over 20 film festivals – in thousands of schools. What began as an idea for a documentary about female bullying developed into a multi-platform movement that has transformed hundreds of thousands of lives, both in and out of the classroom.
The Kind Campaign also releases new and exciting initiatives each year, such as their 19-week Kind Club Curriculum and Kind Camps.
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