I Can Too is one of the few organizations in the world that can boast more than 400 celebrities, including Antonio Banderas and Dolph Lundgren, as its ambassadors. And over 250 musical concerts dedicated to its causes. Despite all the support and popularity in Europe and America, maintaining a foundation is not an easy task. This task becomes almost impossible when the pandemic prevents events and
reduces the willingness of businesses to make donations. In early 2020, after her usual daily meditation, Nelly Radeva, founder and
president of the foundation, decided it was time to change the funding model. For years, she relied on business people to support her. Instead of depending on them, she chose to create her own company and finance the foundation through it. Thus was born the organic cosmetics brand Naturelle, which entered the market in the fall of 2021 with its first product – toothpaste with rose water. Then came a serum and a facial oil with seaweed, followed by a mouthwash with rose oil.
"I'm really focused on our new products," says Radeva, who has not yet decided what percentage of the brand's revenue will go to I Can Too.
The next big step for Radeva is to invest all of her personal savings. "I don't remember how much it was. I only know that
Since the beginning of the pandemic, she has been unable to hire a team and has been doing everything herself. Her friends helped her out, and it was they who suggested the idea for Naturelle.
The brand is a logical answer to the many questions Radeva has about how she takes care of her skin and health. For her, it's a very special topic - she even shares that "I've always made homemade toothpaste with coconut oil."
When asked when she started working on I Can Too, she admits that working with numbers is not her strong suit. "I don't remember dates, the number of concerts and events. It must be approaching a thousand, but I'm not sure and I don't want to mislead. I wouldn't even remember registering the foundation on June 16, 2006, if we didn't celebrate his birthday every year," says Radeva.
The foundation's story began with a request from the Center for Hope, which cares for children with disabilities - could Radeva find a car to transport the children? At the time, Nelly Radeva (then 36) had been living in Germany for 20 years and had experience in media and event organization. To help, she developed a marketing strategy. She chose a company and focused all her efforts on the current needs of media presence so that the company could donate one of its old cars to the center. Despite her efforts and
her preparation, she was rejected. A few days later, Radeva saw all the materials she had sent to the company uploaded to its website - albeit for another initiative. "If they needed to steal me, it means that there is a deficit of ideas in Bulgaria. I told myself that I really want to help these children, but in order for this to happen, I had to change public perceptions," said Radeva, who decided to create the "I Can Do It Too" foundation and through it to present the problem through the beauty of art and the messages of famous personalities.
She chose the name “I Can Too” because it says exactly that: “Everyone can help a cause with whatever they can. And also that children with disabilities can do it no less than others.” I could have bought two or three apartments, but instead I bought a foundation. A friend gave her a list of the most famous Bulgarian celebrities and she started calling them, without even knowing what they looked like. A large number of celebrities joined the initiative, with several musicians dedicating upcoming concerts to I Can Too.
Radeva manages to find sponsors for everything she does, including the salaries of two assistants who help her. She knows she has no other choice because “Bulgarian celebrities are not as rich as those abroad” and she cannot ask them to constantly raise funds for the foundation. That is why her goal is to start talking about the topic in a different way, and not just to raise capital. “A lot of people thought I was crazy. They said to me: ‘Okay, explain well what is happening to these children, but where will the money for your foundation come from?’” Her team is still trying to raise funds in personal ways. For example, during some of the concerts, Nelly Radeva and her assistants sold T-shirts with the foundation’s logo. “The first time we prepared 250 pieces and sold only 3. We stayed there
all night, all three of them on the stand without any significant result.
As you might guess, the T-shirts don't bring in much revenue, partly because Radeva often gives them away. The other reason is that her idea for the T-shirts is not for profit. In 2008, the Foundation wanted to spark the interest of young people. So, she created the T-shirts and organized a series of photo shoots of celebrities wearing them. Additionally, videos and photos were created that show how the shooting process takes place. The interest was
big, and Radeva still regrets to this day that she didn't have an Instagram account back then to reach even more people.
I Can Too is becoming more and more popular and people are starting to seek it out on their own. That's how several filmmakers came forward and offered to make videos for the Foundation for free. The Ministry of Transport has also contributed to the cause by putting up banners in public transport vehicles and stops.
"I don't remember how much it was. I just know that I could have bought two or three apartments, but instead I made a foundation."
Sofia Municipality allowed the foundation to use its billboards. "They gave us a lot of billboards. If we had to pay for them, they would have cost us over 1 million leva per year."
In 2008, the "I Can Do It" Foundation partnered with the parents' organization "Children with Developmental Problems." The Foundation focused all its efforts and identified companies that would donate their products and labor to the construction of a medical center for children with multiple disabilities in Studentski Grad.
Meanwhile, actress Diana Lyubenova also wanted to help. Her husband works in Hollywood productions and decided it would be a good idea to have famous actors pose for us,” says Radeva. Here's how stars like Antonio Banderas posed with I Can Too t-shirts and became ambassadors for the foundation.
To make the photo shoots have an impact, funds for Bulgarian children with disabilities can also be raised in the US. That is why in 2012 Nelly Radeva registered the foundation in the US. In the same year, she and her team began work on building a center for children with autism in Plovdiv. They started from scratch, but found sponsors for everything. In 2015, the center was already operating and is the largest of its kind in Bulgaria. In the meantime, the foundation helps adapt housing to the needs of children with disabilities and continues to organize concerts and art exhibitions for its cause.
“There were companies we worked with that wanted us to work only with them. That was impossible because we were organizing hundreds of events. We tried to take turns so as not to offend anyone.” In 2018, the I Can Do It Foundation and Fantastico raised 100,000 leva for a “Mobile Therapist,” a specialized vehicle that will be used by the Center for Hope to transport children.
“This is the same vehicle I founded the foundation for 12 years ago. We finally found a donor,” says Radeva.
In early 2020, the pandemic halted live events and Radeva began toying with the idea of her own business.
She became interested in organic cosmetics and wondered if she could develop her own products in Bulgaria and export them to the US, where the organic market is much more developed. She found an investor for the project and created Naturelle. However, the supply chain suffered setbacks. In the fall of 2021, her first product - toothpaste - was ready, and Radeva's friends from Bulgaria purchased a few pieces. This changed Neli Radeva's thinking and she decided to start
sells in Bulgaria. However, she was unable to achieve large turnovers from toothpaste; turnover was important for her to find additional investors. So she started with other products. She showed our team products that were not yet presented on the market.
These are a hydrating body cream and a designer cosmetic bag that can hold several of the products from the cosmetic line. She shared that for the bags she collaborated with a company that produces some of the most iconic brands in the world.
During her years at the foundation, Nelly Radeva made important contacts. With their help, she was able to position Naturelle in 60 stores, including a beauty salon in New York and a boutique in downtown Beverly Hills, all within three months. She says she didn’t have to convince anyone to work with her because it was their way of saying “I can do it too” – I can help Bulgarian children with disabilities.