Get to know Sweetie and Stanky.

Click the names below to learn more about our little skunk friends.  You will discover just how they got to be who they are today.  Now, don’t be too hard on Stanky because things are not going so well for him.  Maybe if we all get together and do a bunch of kind deeds for others, he will loosen up and not STINK so badly.

Sweetie is a coach and mentor for other little STINKY skunks. She had a rough start in life because she was an orphan. For the early part of her life, she really STANK. She struggled everyday feeling that the world was out to get her. For years she blamed everyone for her problems, and it wasn’t until she noticed that she REEKED of STENCH did she start to change things.

Then one day while foraging through someone else’s STINKY garbage she noticed something. Before crawling up to the trash can, she thought to herself, “I bet there isn’t a STINKING thing in the garbage to eat.” And she was right. In it, there was just a bunch of STINKY stuff that turned her stomach. Believe it or not, that was a defining moment for her because she realized for the first time that the very thing she thought about actually happened. Her gut, or intuition, led her to try an experiment. She decided that when she saw the next garbage can, she would use her mind to picture fruit and cake being in the trash can and nothing smelly at all.

Within a few minutes, she found a new trash can. Her first thought was, “This is a stupid STINKIN’ experiment.” However, she decided to go through with the experiment. She then changed her STINKIN’ THINKIN’ to picture fruit and chocolate cake just waiting for her inside that trash can. After a few minutes, she crawled up to the trash can and opened the lid.

As she moved the lid, she nearly passed out with the SWEET smell that poured out. As the trash can spilled over, she saw what was causing the strong scent. It was an unopened box of chocolate cake!!!! She then saw some apples that were lying right beside the box of chocolate cake. JACKPOT!

For the next few weeks Sweetie questioned herself and the experiment. She had just about convinced herself that it was all just a bunch of bologna when something significant happened that changed her life for good.

She and her best friend Twiggy were out playing in a park close to a lake. They were running and having a good time. Twiggy must have had some STENCH in her that day because when they both saw a picnic basket on a park bench Twiggy said, “I bet I can’t even get close to the basket, and I bet I get something thrown at me again.” Sure enough, Twiggy got exactly what she had imagined. As she lurked within a few feet of the basket, the father of the family hollered, picked up a stick, and threw it at her. The stick actually hit Twiggy right on the back, and boy did that cause a STINK to spew out! The family screamed, picked up their basket, and sprinted to their nearby car. What a SMELLY scene this was!

Sweetie thought back to her chocolate cake and apple experiment. They walked a while and saw another basket. Sweetie turned to Twiggy, “Watch and learn. I am going to walk up and get something SWEET to eat, AND I will even get a smile from the people.” Sweetie walked straight to the basket. Just on the other side of the basket was a 3 year old boy. The boy instantly said, “Kitty! Kitty!” The boy was actually calling Sweetie to him. She walked right up to him, and he started petting her very gently. The next thing you know Sweetie was doing tricks for the boy and rolling around. The boy laughed heartily as Sweetie flipped and jumped on the blanket.

Out of nowhere the boy’s parents showed up to see what he was laughing at. The boy’s mom and dad stopped dead in their tracks and looked as though they had seen a ghost. They moved ever so slowly and told the boy to back away from the Sweetie. The boy just kept saying, “Kitty! Kitty!” and would not move. After a few minutes the parents watched in amazement as Sweetie played with their son. Sweetie was having a blast and had forgotten that her initial goal was to get some food, but when the parents started packing their bags, they pulled out a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some strawberries and laid them out for Sweetie. SCORE!

Twiggy watched with astonishment as Sweetie came back and halved the sandwich and strawberries to share with her. Sweetie told Twiggy her SECRET, and neither of them have been the same since.

Now Sweetie teaches all the little stinkers in her neighborhood forest. She is making a major difference in their lives and always has a smile on her face and love in her heart.

Stanky is one of the most FOUL SMELLING skunks around. He never has a good day and always STINKS up everyone he meets. He is a bad example for the other little STINKY skunks, and most parents don’t want him playing with their kids.

Stanky’s story is quite different from Sweetie’s. He grew up in a two story log and had both parents with him his whole life. He was a happy, healthy skunk until the one day his life was changed forever. He sure could learn a lot from Sweetie.

Stanky was in school one day when someone in class hollered, “What’s that on Winthrop!?” The entire class laughed at Stanky, but Stanky didn’t have a clue what was going on. He immediately went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. A large bird had pooped on Stanky on his way through the forest to school. The droppings landed in such a way that it appeared that Stanky had two white stripes that closely resembled an “X” on his back. Stanky was devastated and immediately began cleaning himself up.

When he returned to the classroom, everyone laughed at him again. From that day forward, Stanky started looking for everything that was wrong in his life. It started out rather innocently, but as the years went by Stanky really STANK all the time with his negative STINKIN’ THINKIN’. What was so true for Sweetie, was also true for Stanky. Everytime he had a thought, it always came true. The trouble was, Stanky only had STINKING thoughts!

Now, Stanky lives alone in his burrowed out dirt mound. He never takes a bath and makes fun of everyone he sees. He is always pulling mean pranks on the other little skunks. Poor Stanky. He was so happy in his nice clean two story log. But now he is mean, nasty, and STANKY! Maybe someday soon, someone will help Stanky with his negative STINKIN’ THINKIN’ and help him change his STINKIN’ life back to a happy one once and for all.

Do you want to read about Sweetie?

Hi – I’m Bill King and for more than a decade, I have been working intensely on improving my life and identifying the pitfalls that seem to repeat themselves. What began as a book project for my son, nephew, niece and a bunch of their friends several years ago has turned into a lifelong passion of helping others. My original focus was primarily on helping young adults, teens, and adolescents with awareness, but now I serve all age groups.

This website was actually developed while attending a five day intensive training class as a way to engage the audience and create a state change. With the help of a very good friend, that one little phrase “I Don’t STINK!” has turned into an online quiz, product lines, kindness meters, and much more. The final phase of this website will allow members to build their own I Don’t STINK! website, along with online classes, videos, audios, journaling, games, comic strips, cartoons, and a very different learning environment for the younger audience.

I am a certified DDI, Inc. (Developmental Dimensions International) trainer and have conducted hundreds of training classes, seminars, and workshops. My life’s mission is to provide service to others to help them define and achieve their goals. I coach, mentor, and provide material to others to support this aim. In my previous professional career, I worked in corporate America for a decade. In that environment, I excelled in teaching and mentoring others as well as developing training classes and process for each of the departments I worked for. Now I devote my time to helping and teaching others find peace and happiness in their daily lives.

I have written several books and several more are in the works. My first book is titled 7 Days to Inner Peace: The Building Blocks of Awareness, which was followed by an adolescent’s version called The Building Blocks of Creation: An Adolescent’s Guide to Awareness. I added a teacher’s edition of the adolescent’s guide and am working on a new book for this website titled STINKIN’ THINKIN’ STINKS!

Enjoy my website and please share it with others. It will be updated often, so keep coming back to check out the new cool STINKIN’ stuff!

Hans Vieden, AKA Bruiser, came to the United States as an exchange student from Germany. Bruiser was so big, everyone wanted him to play on the sports teams. He was always the biggest kid in school, and he knew people would talk about him and his size behind his back. He is suspicious of anyone and developed a very negative attitude. He is very shy and hardly ever says a word. But when he does, you don’t want to be anywhere near him! This negative attitude attracted his friendship with Stanky and his crew. Bruiser is now Stanky’s body guard, which helps Stanky do even more mean things to others. He’s Stanky’s wingman and helps him pull his meanest tricks. Bruiser doesn’t mind being one of Stanky’s Crew because he likes being a follower and not a leader. Bruiser doesn’t say much because of his strong German accent and spends most of his time in the gym pumping iron.

Larry Lenard Landry, AKA Lavy, was the bully of the orphanage. He was sent there after his dad decided he could not handle him any longer. His dad wanted to send him to a military school, but all of them rejected Larry. He would always harass any new kid, especially if they were smaller than him. No one knows exactly why Larry was so negative back then, but they suspected that his curiosity was the culprit. Larry is extremely adventurous and likes to wander off and explore. He read books about Louis and Clark’s adventures, and, man, he was hooked. His wandering off would typically get him into some
serious trouble. Our only guess is that he encountered something along one of his adventures, but he isn’t saying anything to anybody. That is not the Larry we know today though. Sweetie worked with him for many months, and he discovered helping others made him feel really good about himself. He was given his nickname because one day he was helping another little orphan work in a field when the smell of Lavender filled the air as Rosie walked by. She told Larry his new nickname was Lavy, short for lavender, and it stuck because he always smells of sweet perfume now. He still likes to be adventurous, but he is much more cautious than in the past and makes sure to tell someone where he is going before he heads outs.
Roonicans Fiesty King, AKA Rooney, is a super sweet Carin Terrier. She was adopted at six weeks old and especially loves all children. She loves wandering off in the forest to play with the little stinkers. Her favorite sport is soccer, and, boy, she is a pro. She picked the sport up at an early age and will play with the soccer ball almost all day long. She will use her paws to kick the ball and can do all sorts of tricks with it using her nose. Her favorite soccer team is Manchester United and has a Man U team jersey she wears on game days. In fact she was named after the famous soccer player Wayne Rooney of Manchester United. I bet that explains why she likes soccer so much! She was asked to play in a soccer game with the little stinkers and then scored the winning goal, although Stanky’s crew filed protest because she used her nose. She is super sweet and looks for any opportunity to play outside.
If you were not aware, dogs are one of the skunk’s biggest enemies. However, Rooney loves everyone, especially kids. She will roll around on the floor and kiss your feet each time you are introduced to her. She has a kind heart, and the little stinkers have adopted her as their mascot for the orphanage.
Rena Rae Robinson, AKA Rosie, was given up for adoption at the time of her birth. Her mother had a litter of 6 babies at one time, and she couldn’t afford another mouth to feed. She decided to send the smallest baby that would need the most attention. Although she visits Rosie once a year on her birthday, Rosie didn’t want to see her. She felt like nobody ever cared for her and that spiraled into a very negative attitude. She would constantly fight with all the other skunks at the orphanage, but that was all before Sweetie started mentoring her. After a few months, Rosie started to change her negative attitude.
The defining moment that changed Rosie’s attitude came when she was being stalked by an owl. If you did not know, owls are one of skunks’ worst enemies. Earlier that day, she was foraging through the forest and got lost. She was really scared and didn’t know what to do. Then she looked up and saw a huge owl hovering ten feet above her. Panic started to set in, and it seemed as though this owl was trying to cut her off every time she started in a different direction. She was nearly out of breath and about to give up when she saw the orphanage. The owl gave her a big wink and flew off. That was when she realized that the owl had probably saved her life! He must have known that Rosie was lost and was guiding her back to the orphanage.
When she made it back to the orphanage, her cheeks were so red they glowed brightly. As soon as Sweetie saw her, the nickname Rosie was born because of her rosy cheeks. Sweetie also went on to tell her that the owl was Chubbs, a good friend of hers. She said they worked out a deal a long time ago for the owl to watch out for little skunks getting lost in the forest and guide them back home. Rosie now works on her beliefs and tries to always remain open. She often helps other kids from the orphanage with their negative outlook on things. She teaches the exercise “Hey, SMELL This!” to all the other skunks at the orphanage who want to change their STINKIN’ THINKIN’.

Rena Rae Robinson, AKA Rosie, was given up for adoption at the time of her birth. Her mother had a litter of 6 babies at one time, and she couldn’t afford another mouth to feed. She decided to send the smallest baby that would need the most attention. Although she visits Rosie once a year on her birthday, Rosie didn’t want to see her. She felt like nobody ever cared for her and that spiraled into a very negative attitude. She would constantly fight with all the other skunks at the orphanage, but that was all before Sweetie started mentoring her. After a few months, Rosie started to change her negative attitude.The defining moment that changed Rosie’s attitude came when she was being stalked by an owl. If you did not know, owls are one of skunks’ worst enemies. Earlier that day, she was foraging through the forest and got lost. She was really scared and didn’t know what to do. Then she looked up and saw a huge owl hovering ten feet above her. Panic started to set in, and it seemed as though this owl was trying to cut her off every time she started in a different direction. She was nearly out of breath and about to give up when she saw the orphanage. The owl gave her a big wink and flew off. That was when she realized that the owl had probably saved her life! He must have known that Rosie was lost and was guiding her back to the orphanage.When she made it back to the orphanage, her cheeks were so red they glowed brightly. As soon as Sweetie saw her, the nickname Rosie was born because of her rosy cheeks. Sweetie also went on to tell her that the owl was Chubbs, a good friend of hers. She said they worked out a deal a long time ago for the owl to watch out for little skunks getting lost in the forest and guide them back home. Rosie now works on her beliefs and tries to always remain open. She often helps other kids from the orphanage with their negative outlook on things. She teaches the exercise “Hey, SMELL This!” to all the other skunks at the orphanage who want to change their STINKIN’ THINKIN’.

Billy Joe Bob, AKA Rotten, is a mean little bully. Because he is so short, he was teased often as a kid. When he grew up, he returned the favor. He was recruited by Stanky because he was so mean. He takes orders directly from Stanky and will do anything he asks so he can fit in and be one of “Stanky’s Crew.” He got his nickname from Stanky because he would throw rotten food at the little stinkers from the orphanage. Yeah, he sure is rotten, but maybe one day he will wise up and clean out all that STINKIN’ THINKIN’ and mean ways of his.

Sammy Sherman Smith, AKA Skids, is a recent edition to Stanky’s crew. He was born with an extremely rare condition that occurs in only one in every 20 million skunks making him appear all white with a black stripe, opposite the normal skunk coloring. His whole life he has been teased by a lot of the other skunks. As a result he developed a very negative attitude, and STINKN’ THINKIN’ is his dominate way of thinking. As soon as he moved to town, Stanky quickly recruited him to be part of the crew. Sammy was so excited to be accepted, he didn’t even care what his new friends were like. It seems that he will do anything to please Stanky because he wants to make sure that someone likes him.
Sammy’s nickname is Skids because of the black stripe down his back. All the other skunks called him “skid marks,” and it was shortened to “Skids.” He absolutely hates his nickname but has gotten used to it so it doesn’t bother him anymore. Well, it still bothers him, but he just keeps a lot of his STINKIN’ THINKIN’ to himself these days.
Tabitha Tessa Tomlinson, AKA Twiggy, is Sweetie’s best friend. She was quite a negative little stinker in her day. She lives with both her parents and is in the same class as Sweetie. She used to be so mean to Sweetie, and it goes to show you how special Sweetie is to forgive Twiggy for all the things she did to her. In fact, Twiggy was mean to everyone. She was mean because it was her way of dealing with being so skinny. Twiggy also used to talk all the time and only cared about herself. If someone else would try to speak, Twiggy would cut them off and tell a bigger story. It didn’t matter if it was true or not, she just wanted to impress others.
Her parents were quite poor and didn’t have much to give Twiggy. She was very tall but was really skinny. Her mom and dad were really big skunks and were so overweight they barely could fit through a door. Twiggy did not want to be that big, ever. When Sweetie met her, Twiggy would hardly eat anything for fear of being fat. Sweetie slowly started working with her, changing one negative belief at a time. Before long Twiggy changed her beliefs, which allowed her to eat as much food as she wanted. She learned she could eat as much as she wanted as long as it was good, healthy food. Twiggy did gain a little weight but is much healthier with the Sweetie’s help.
The little stinkers all live in the same orphanage where Sweetie grew up. Sweetie volunteers 20 hours a week to support the orphanage, TOOMANYSMELLS4U, and does community service. A lot of times Sweetie invites the little stinkers to do community service with her. She’ll take them to pick up trash at the park, plant trees, deliver MOBs (Meals on Backs) to the shut-ins, work in the Salavation Army’s soup kitchen, and countless other service activities.
So why are they called the little stinkers when they do so many kind deeds for others? To that question there is definitely an answer. When sweetie started volunteering at the orphanage, she said she would be “big sister” to the worst little skunks at the facility. She wanted the ones that had no hope for adoption and that the others had written off. She believes that a positive attitude can change anyone’s life. The director of the orphanage begged Sweetie not to do this because these kids were, to quote her, “beyond help.” Sweetie took this as a challenge and started working with the kids that very same day. Boy, did those little skunks STINK! We still call them the “little stinkers” but do so in a fun way today.