National "Hug Your Kids Day". Find an Activity in Your Area

The hug. A simple expression of affection. However, if you recall the last time you received a genuine hug, you know the benefits are nothing short of restorative. Michelle Nichols, creator of the first ever "National Hug Your Kids Day," believes that the benefits of the hug are boundless. She is the founder of the Hug Your Kids Today! project. She is also the author of Hug Your Kids Today! 5 Lessons for Every Working Parent.

Michelle Nichols is a wife and the mother of three. Some of you may be familiar with her "Savvy Selling" column which ran for six years on BusinessWeek.com. I had the opportunity to speak with Michelle about her new projects and how she came to be singing the praises of the hug.

It was during her time with BusinessWeek that she says she began to feel what can only be described as a spiritual tug on her life. "I began to have this strong feeling in my gut that there was something else I should be doing. I asked what I was supposed to be doing but the only answer I received back was 'I'm not going to tell you until you leave BusinessWeek'." Nichols took a leap of faith and left.

"It was a little embarrassing, well not embarrassing but uncomfortable, to be leaving, what appeared to be a great gig, without any concrete plans. People kept asking me what I was going to do and all I could say was that I didn't know."

Shortly after leaving BusinessWeek she found her answer. "I was cleaning out my office, in preparation, for what, I didn't know when I ran across some photos of some billboards that had been put up in honor of my son, Mark." Nichols' young son Mark developed brain cancer and died suddenly in July of 1998. Michelle and her husband had put up billboards along two major Houston highways. The billboards read "Hug your kids today. We wish we could. Mark Nichols 1989-1998." It was from there that the Hug Your Kids Today! Project was born.