Don’t just live, Bailey Dunn says — live boldly.

Bailey Dunn started Live Boldly so others would buy into its example: to live without worry. Courtesy Bailey Dunn

“Live Boldly is a brand that encourages people to have their own personal movements, or personal revolutions,” said Dunn, University graduate and Live Boldly founder.

The idea hatched from a group skydiving trip she went on in the summer of 2008.

“A 90-something-year-old man was there to celebrate a birthday and was on our plane up with us,” Dunn said. “I watched him suit up in his red jumpsuit and pop out his dentures before boarding the plane. I remember laughing a little and thinking that this man was out of his mind and worrying that he was going to either have a heart attack or stroke.”

Fortunately enough, the fall was a smooth one.

“I asked him why he came skydiving since he was so old,” Dunn said. “He told me something along the lines of, ‘You only live once, so you’ve got to try everything once, right? I don’t got much time left. I got to be bold.’”

The sentiment rang strong and true for Dunn, forcing her to reevaluate the way she had been living and the way she chose to spend her time.

“I decided from then on, I was going to challenge myself to do bolder things so that I don’t have to catch up on lost time and opportunities when I’m 90-something-years-old,” she said.

So she created a brand — and a lifestyle.

After creating a few paintings proudly displaying her new logo, Dunn decided to take it a step further.

A few fails, and a broken iron later, Dunn said, she bought a silk screen and started busting out professional quality shirts, at first for her sorority to wear for Relay for Life.

The idea caught on from friend-to-friend, and more orders came in.

“I want Live Boldly to take on its own connotation for everyone,” Dunn said. “I didn’t want it to scream ‘live wildly’ or ‘live daringly,’ even if that is how some people read into it, because everyone isn’t a daredevil. I want people to define ‘bold’ in their own way.”

This idea resonated with Sarah Kane, a graduate student in agricultural leadership from Maryland, who discovered the idea through Facebook.

“It’s just interesting for someone to do something like Live Boldly — getting somebody to transcend the norm,” Kane said. “I think It’s cool to challenge people to step out of the box and step out of their normal everyday routine. It’s just an inspiring movement.”

To further help establish her projected aesthetic, Dunn compares her brand as a mixture between Live Boldy and Life is Good — differing from one by brand and the other by intensity.

“In my opinion, Life is Good has a disconnect with people in our generation,” Dunn said. “To me, if you extend the Life is Good tagline, it would read ‘Life is Good, relax, play golf, grow a flower, walk your dog, fly a kite, sit on the beach in your bucket hat.’ No disrespect to Life is Good, but look at their t-shirts — that’s what their message is.”

Dunn’s solution aims to transcend age and foster a more individualistic attitude — something more flexible.

“Live Boldly’s extension would be more of a ‘Live boldly, do something, get out of your comfort zone, transcend the norm with your one life,’” she said.

However, with all of the other lifestyle-changing movements floating around, Dunn strives to set her brand apart.

“I want people to be inspired,” she said. “We all know that we have one life to live, live like today is your last day, carpe diem and whatnot — yadda, yadda, yadda. But how often do people actually get off the couch and go do something that makes their day really count against the rest?”

Kane put the idea into action through an assignment she gave to one of her classes.

“I saw a TED Talk on trying something new for 30 days and it reminded me of the Live Boldly movement with Bailey. And I decided that that would be easy to make an assignment for my class during their Thanksgiving Break to do something new for seven days to challenge them,” Kane said.

And the response to this challenge was, for the most part, a very good one.

“I had a lot of student athletes,” Kane said, “and they get so bogged down with their schedule and they forget about their other hobbies so they’re like, ‘Oh, I really need to invest in myself other than just schooling and sports and stuff.’”

Brain Flannery, Georgia State graduate from Alpharetta, took the movement all the way up the East coast.

“I decided to do the Appalachian Trail and I thought it might be an interesting idea to wear one of her Live Boldly T-shirts when I went because the idea behind the whole thing is to do something out of the ordinary, just kind of try something different,” he said.

The shirts caught the eyes of many fellow hikers, and helped Flannery complete his journey from Georgia to Maine.

“When we were out there at times we were looking at it like, ‘Why are we out here when everyone else is back home hanging out and relaxing while we’re hiking 20 miles a day?’” he said “And thinking about it, and the focus of doing something new kind of kept me going.”

However, even with instances of positive response, Dunn realized the fragility of her original expectations. As often noted, and true in this case, easier said than done.

“I’m 23-years-old,” Dunn said. “I’ve never done anything like this before. My major was in advertising, not business, not management, and I wasn’t part of the entrepreneurial club.”

However, even with the unexpected additional workload, another surprise came as a pleasant one.

“It’s not just about creating a business idea and figuring out how to turn a profit,” Dunn said. “It’s about knowing you have changed someone’s outlook and optimism in even the most minute way.”

As her May graduation date approaches, Kane easily relates to what Dunn is experiencing.

“It’s a great movement for people our age,” she said. “We’re just starting our careers, we don’t want to get stuck in a rut.”

Flannery has also taken Live Boldly with him past his nearly 2,178 mile hike.

“It was also another factor in my move to Austin, Texas. I grew up in Alpharetta, went to school in Atlanta, and just left,” he said. “So when I got done with the trip, the mentality of continuing to explore, of continuing to live boldly like that followed with me when I decided to up and move out here. I got a job just working at a restaurant right now, but I’ve been doing a lot more stuff outdoors like running, camping, hiking, climbing.”

Dunn remains hopeful her idea will be further embraced by more people — but only time will tell.

“In 10 years from now, Live Boldly could be nothing more than an idea that once lived,” she said. “Or in 10 years from now, the entire world may know about it, so stay tuned.”