North America poised to wake up and smell the CupOfTherapy

CupOfTherapy is a series of reassuring and soothing animal illustrations that were turned into a Finnish book in 2017. It is the brainchild of illustrator and graphic designer Matti Pikkujämsä, and psychotherapists Elina Rehmonen and Antti Ervasti.

“Our aim is to normalise mental health and wellbeing, as well as lower the threshold of talking about sensitive issues,” Rehmonen told us in 2018. “A feeling always carries a message we should listen to. If you never stop to wonder where the emotion stems from, you won’t know what’s holding back your happiness.”

FanGirl Consulting & Brand Management will help to spread the heartfelt drawings to North American audiences. The licensing agreement covers all consumer product categories and promotional partnerships. It also continues CupOfTherapy’s focus on charity projects by donating a share of sales to mental health work.

In addition, the Finnish startup has organised a total of 17 mental health workshops in Finland, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The startup is touching on universal issues of the day, which didn’t go unnoticed by Masaaki Kanai, chairman of MUJI, upon his visit to Finland in 2017. The following year, MUJI published a book in Japanese titled Dai Jo Bu, which translates to “is everything OK?”.

“As we were starting out with our company, the deal we signed with MUJI gave us more confidence that our brand has what it takes to flourish as a global phenomenon,” explained the founders.