“Welcome to Minnesota Happy
The Happy You Didn’t Know You Needed.”
“Because honestly? Angry is exhausting. Happy feels better.”
“Why We’re Here”
“Somewhere along the way, the world decided being angry was the default setting. And honestly? It’s just tiring. So we decided to do something simple—remind people that happy is still here.
We believe everyone has a happy already inside them. That first sip of coffee. That road trip you still talk about. That time you made someone laugh so hard they cried. You’ve felt it before—we just want to help you feel it again… and maybe pass it along.”
“This swag won’t fix your life...
...but it might make your Tuesday a little better.”
“Inside the Smile”
“Spill Your Happy. We’re All Ears (and Smiles).”
We’re Paul and Tawnja — Two Minnesotans who finally decided that “angry” had been running the show for far too long. Everywhere we looked — the news, the grocery store, even the coffee line — grump seemed to be the default setting. And honestly? It’s exhausting. We missed the good stuff. So we decided to do something about it.
That “something” turned into Minnesota Happy — our way of sparking joy, sharing stories, and reminding people that happiness isn’t something you buy, it’s something you remember.
For us, a lot of that happy comes from where we are. We’ve been living on Forest Lake in Minnesota, for over 13 years, surrounded by the kind of sunsets that make you stop mid-sentence and just breathe. Add in our lively crew of dogs and cats (with very big personalities), and you’ve got a constant supply of joy, chaos, and fur-covered everything. The lake, the animals, and our life together have shaped so much of our own happy — and we want to pass that feeling along.
Tawnja adores every animal she meets, loses track of time in nature, and is always gifting people little surprises just because. She also recently completed a huge personal project she’d dreamed about for years — writing her life story. It’s proof that it’s never too late to chase something that makes you happy… and by the way, you can grab her book right here.
Paul’s been playing drums his whole life, and he’s still hitting them like the neighbors don’t mind. Offstage, he’s a self-proclaimed tech and film nerd — an Emmy-nominated producer who can happily disappear for hours editing, filming, or geeking out over the perfect shot. He’s also our resident swag super-fan — drinking from his Minnesota Happy mug all day, rocking the hoodie, and wrapping every cold drink in a koozie like it’s a security blanket. We don’t just create this stuff… we surround ourselves with it.
Going forward, we’ll be sharing our own Happies — sometimes as videos, sometimes as blog posts, sometimes as a snapshot that says it all — and we want you to share yours too. Because happy isn’t just a feeling… it’s contagious. And, we can spread it faster, together.
