This time, I jumped on Craigslist. Craigslist isn't just a place to find old BMX bikes for sale or find winter tires for cheap (I will be selling mine on there soon-stay tuned haha). It' s a great place to find people in need of your help. Sure there's some sketchy people out there ie the Craigslist killer, but with a little bit of intelligence and common sense, you can figure out if a certain person on there is legit or, heaven forbid, crazy. One posting I found was somewhere along the lines of "Designer needed for New T-Shirt company".
New companies are a gamble sometimes. When I was really desperate for money and some design work, I allowed this one kid in California to pay me $400 for 8 designs and 4 logos for his new t-shirt company. I'm not even sure if it even got off the ground at this point. It was the longest project I ever had and the most frustrating. I had to explain ever detail of copyright laws to him to explaining to him that he was getting a huge deal out of everything. At one point he even wanted me to copy another company’s logo. This experience did however teach me a valuable lesson on trusting clients, trusting your gut and working hard for something you believe in. This client was the Bizarro World version of the next client that I will be speaking of.
Now moving back to this posting I saw on Craigslist, I initially couldn’t read into the client at all. It was a bland posting but there wasn’t any information like “$10 an hour for design work” or “Will pay you once I get paid” attached to the posting. It was straight forward and to the point. I need a designer to help me with my new t-shirt line.
After a few email transactions, we set up a meeting downtown in Toronto,
doors away from my old school bar that recently got turned into a sushi restaurant.
Sitting there waiting for him to show up I called my cousin and he got me laughing saying that it was like hooking up for a date with an axe murderer. I told him he sounded normal on the phone so I wasn’t scared.
So I finally get to meet him. He didn’t have an axe. He was really nice and relaxed and seemed very excited. He also came very prepared. He had examples of what direction he wanted to go into. He told me about trade shows he was planning on attending in New York and in Vegas to research other lines and network. This guy oozed excitement and dedication.
I mentioned to him that I’ve always been someone who loved to dive into a project head first and get as much information, inspiration as I can.
The subject matter of his clothing line was AFRICA. Him being a native of Kenya, he explained to me that the clothing lines out there really don’t push any type of African themed clothing. That it would be a fresh idea that would put a positive change into the fashion world.
Now me being the Irish Catholic red head from Northern Ontario, I reassured him that I would research the hell of the subject so that he can honestly be proud of what I designed for him. I did that and we got into some great conversations about his homeland and the culture in general that I never really knew about.
At first, I treated him (the client) as a client. You pay me for what you want. You get what you want. We’re both happy. But with his contagious excitement and watching him go the distance to get the name and look out there, I started to work without asking for money and a great partnership began to grow.
He is a networking genius and he’s still just in his infancy when it comes to the fashion world.
A number of months ago he told me of this organization called MetoWe.
“This company was founded by Oliver Madison and works closely with world renowned social activists and advisors Craig and Marc Kielburger. Craig and Marc Kielburger, through their work with Free The Children and Leaders Today, have led more than one million young people, schools and corporations to take action on issues across the globe. Over the years, thousands of these individuals have asked Craig and Marc where to find products that meet their environmental and social standards. Me to We: [Responsible Style] was created in response to this demand.”
-Notice the quotation marks and the proper spelling structure and lack of typos. haha
Either way, Anthony, my client/partner/friend got into talking with these folks at MetoWe and we now have two of our designs being sold on their site. One isn’t up just yet (new arrival).
In the past couple of weeks Vancouver, Toronto (and in November Hamilton) have hosted WeDay. A day to create awareness for the organization called Free the Children, as well as motivate children to take action with whatever they feel would help the world and their communities. Our designs were sold at these events and sold out!
Both Toronto and Vancouver’s WeDay were broadcasted on CTV.
Just seeing Anthony and I’s work on a National Television show was so rewarding but the most rewarding part was knowing that 50% of the sales were going towards Free the Children.
I unfortunately could not make the Toronto date but Anthony did. That night he told me all about it over the phone. You could actually sense the smiles on our face knowing that we just sold over a thousand units at $35 and that 50% of that was going to this amazing cause. He told me how he would try and see where the shirts were being sold and the desks were swarmed with kids eager to buy for a good cause. "I couldn't believe how crazy it was down there!" were his exact words.
I’m so proud of Anthony’s persistence on getting our name out there and to have found such a great way to show it off through charity. I know that my designs are in good hands when he's out there pounding the pavement, volunteering and networking with big names to get our stuff out there.
It's just amazing how passion pushes success. I just hope we can keep it up and infect others with this passion.
If you’re reading this please look up this great organization and have a look at some other styles they have on their MetoWeStyle site as well as look up Free the Children. Heck Oprah is affiliated with this organization and even had Craig Kielburger on her show!
Cheers and thanks for reading
Pauly
Here's Anthony's Twitter if you were interested http://twitter.com/Thread4Humanity
That's amazing Paul. Congratulations on that being a success and keep us posted as it grows. Great new web site too!
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