DANEAL NALLY 

CO-FOUNDER OF HANDCART STUDIOS

HANDCART STUDIOS' GENERAL MANAGER

“I live in a locker room!”

This is the lamentation of a woman, Handcart Studios’ General Manager, who lives in a house with all boys. Her husband. Three biological sons.  And five adopted Samoan college students.

 “I should be used to all these boys,” she laughs, “After all, I grew up with four brothers.”

When one of her Samoan sons recently left for his mission to Anchorage, Alaska, she searched high and low for something handcrafted and sentimental that he could take with him – and something they could give his father and grandfather as well.  Finding nothing suitable, her brain whirred both day and night for several weeks.  And then her lightbulb went off!

“I want to manufacture historically accurate, military-style dog tags for missionaries!”

A few days later, the project board was complete, a local manufacturer selected and she held the product prototype, a set of dog tags for her missionary, in her hands, her eyes wet with emotion. She rubbed her fingers gingerly across his name, his mission start date and the mission code.  

“They’re perfect” she said, slipping them over her head and around her neck while walking out of the conference room.

And no one on her staff has seen the prototype since.