IT BEGAN LIKE THIS...

Sisters often need reminders to be nice to one another and Finley and Kat Mason were reminded a lot, especially by their dad, George Mason. His favorite thing to tell his girls was, “Just Be Nice.” Born in Atlanta and raised in Tampa, the girls admired their Father’s patience and optimism, so much so that one day he was inspired to take action and began sharing his favorite message of Just Be Nice with others. George printed a few hundred bumper stickers and began leaving them on park benches, street signs and on coffee shop tables. In 2008 George died suddenly and the girls knew what they had to do…

THE ORIGINAL THOUGHT

“Our Dad’s original idea of promoting Just Be Nice was getting a daily cup of coffee and leaving behind a Just Be Nice card without anyone noticing,” Finley Mason said. “Witnessing the ways in which people responded to his three magic words was the driving force behind his work.”

Shortly after his death, the sisters learned about the donations their father made over the years to both the local community and organizations around the world. The stories kept pouring in, and encouraged them to keep nurturing his idea. Just like their father, Finley and Kat believed in the universal good of all people, and so they continued George’s legacy by putting these words on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and coffee mugs, and continued to spread the message of Just Be Nice anywhere they could.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

At some point, Just Be Nice landed on the East Coast, and a bumper sticker made its way into Pete Kozak’s hand at a music festival. He had never liked a bumper sticker before, but felt inclined to put this one on his car immediately. When he returned home from the music festival, he reached out to Finley about collaborating on some projects, and they remained in contact for the next decade or so. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Finley asked Pete if he and his fiance, Ling, would like to help develop the business from Connecticut, and then in 2021, Finley passed over the company and the legacy of Just Be Nice to Pete and Ling entirely.

Finally, in 2023, Pete and Ling are set to relaunch the company and continue to spread the message through the legacy of Just Be Nice and George Mason. Starting as a simple message to his daughters in Tampa Bay, Florida, George’s vision and the story of Just Be Nice will now begin a new era of spreading the niceness…