Does it enrage you as a parent of a daughter to see “sexy” outfits for 6-year-olds?  Are you alarmed that the age limit for  fashion innocence is getting lower and lower so that Facebook pages such as “Sexy Little Girls–“sexy or just cute” are gaining millions of followers?  Whatever happened to knickers and Sunday dresses?

For this week’s feature, we  interview  a designer, mother, and entrepreneur who has done something about this trend in little girl’s fashion.  Emma Henning is the creator behind Fun Girl, a recently launched girls’ clothing line.  Swaying away from the overly sexualized trend in girls’ clothing, Fun Girl promotes positive values, including self-confidence and fairness while still staying current with the modern zeitgeist.  Her line tries to balance the need for girls to look good without compromising their inner core and celebrating their girlness.  Many chains, instead of prizing girlhood in and of itself, exploit it for its potential to mature sexually or even worse (ahem, American Apparel) warp its innocence by displaying it in a sexualized manner that borders on child porn. Check out her fashion line at www.fungirl3.com and read on for your inspirational dose of how you too can take your dreams, your passions, your desires, and make them into a successful enterprise.

Emma Henning was born in Athens Greece, and moved to the United States at the age of 14.  She attended Trinity High School and after a few years of living back in Greece, she attended and graduated from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago.  Although cooking is one of her passions, she decided to pursue her true passion for fashion, after becoming a mother to a little girl.  In August of 2013, she started her own company, a clothing line geared towards girls’ ages newborn to young adult, called FUN Girl Clothing.  FGC is a collection of unique sleepwear and active wear that promotes positive messages and quotations for modern girls.  In today’s society where the apparel industry promotes age inappropriate clothing for young girls, Emma hopes to make a difference with promoting values and ambition. Her clothing is made here in the United States.  She currently lives in Normal, Illinois with her husband, her daughter and two step daughters.

During my youth it was Donna Karan.  I am so impressed with her clothing and her as a woman entrepreneur.  As a grown woman, I admire Lisa Vanderpump for her professional empire.

What is your favorite Greek saying?

 Growing up in Greece everyone is laid back and they put family and personal happiness before professional success.  My family always comes first.  I make sure that my daughter and husband have my attention and devotion, and I handle my company on its own time.  I am also dramatic by nature.  The Greek drama needs to go.  I always make something seem so much bigger than what it really is.

Explain  Not yet.  My family and friends see me as a devoted mother and wife.  They have been very supportive thus far.

Have you had to overcome any “cultural baggage” between the independent dynamic schema of entrepreneur and the “good Greek woman who gets married and sacrifices her whole self to her family? Not yet.  I may down the road.

 It’s all about time management.  I wake up early and return emails for an hour.  I make breakfast for my daughter then take her on a play-date.  I come back feed her lunch, put her down for a nap and then I get back on the computer for 3 hours.  I make dinner, feed her, bathe her, then I spend an hour on the computer, and by 9pm I spend time with my husband.  It’s a lot to shoulder, but as long as I have a set schedule and set boundaries, it is easy.  And Sunday, is church day! I believe that the Greek community is starting to see that times have changed and it is possible to balance home, family and career.  My family has a home cooked meal every night, the laundry gets done every Monday, and I still iron all of our clothes.

During my market research I found that there is a huge vacancy in the market for children’s clothing that promotes positive messages.  I see a lot of “I am a princess”, “I am a diva”, “I love to flirt”.  What ever happened to values?  What ever happened to promoting being humble and modest?  That  is why I created this clothing line.  I want to make a change.  I want girls to wear clothes that say, live to dream always, live to inspire, live to be kind, live to love,  live to imagine, live to make peace, live to unite.

When i moved from Greece I was 14 years old.  I enrolled in school in the middle of 8th grade.  Kids where very mean to me, my sister and brother.  They made fun of our Greek accents, the clothes we wore, the pronunciation of our names.  My full name is Emmanuella.  My sister is Katerina, and my brother Giorgos.  We had to change our names to Emma, Carie and George.  They made fun of my hairy legs, because my mom wouldn’t let me shave until I was older. They made fun of my dark skin and hair, and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to wear make-up.  My mom took us to counseling for many months.  We managed to get through it, and by the following school year we where in a better place.  Every time I see on the Internet about another child committing suicide because of getting bullied from friends, it kills me.  I want to help.

I am starting with the girls line on an e-commerce website, www.fungirl3.com.  Once I start generating some revenue, I will reinvest in a cosmetic line of lotions, shower gels and body sprays.  From there I will launch FUN Boy.