One of our favorite BRANDED stories is the story of our origin. It is quite complex and one day we’ll tell you the whole thing in detail. For this blog post, we’ll keep to the highlights.
We knew we wanted to start a company that sold products and gave 25% of its profits to End Slavery Tennessee (EST). We longed to join the abolition of human trafficking but were not (are not) qualified to join the TBI or be case-workers. Our strengths are creative and entrepreneurial. A social enterprise made sense!
We set out to sell t-shirts...
However, we needed $10,000 to start our company. How could we raise that? We decided to sell 100 aluminum cuffs for $100 each. On each cuff we stamped a number that represented the buyer's agreement to "Get BRANDED" - to become a number that symbolized one of the 27 million survivors we fight to help.
It was a long shot, but we were determined. 100 cuffs, we could do it! In less than two months we had sold all 100. Family, friends, local businesses... they saw our vision and wanted to join. We were humbled, excited and amazed.
We dove into t-shirt production inspired by our desire to raise money for EST. We did make tees, and sold just about all of them. However, we could not stop thinking about the 100 cuffs and how much they meant to the folks who had bought them. We asked the question... What if we kept selling those? What if we stamped one more, two more, maybe three more? What would happen?
This month we will have reached 9,500 cuffs sold. Yes, 9,500 and GROWING!! Can you believe that?! We’re close to 10,000 cuffs.
It did not take us long to realize we are not a t-shirt line, but a jewelry collection. And though the tees may one day come back, we have fallen in love with making jewelry and adding to our numbers each day. We are a growing family of BRANDEDs.
Thank you, each and all. And of course, a very special thank you to those first 100 folks that said yes to something so much bigger than we realized! We are now 9,500 strong. Thank you First One Hundred...
erin barnett #1 nyk huber #2 carly bergthold #3 amanda pace #4 laser one, inc. #5 given in the name of christ #6 community garage of madison #7 colleen whitver #8 bonnie keen #9 kelly davidson #10 george conners #11 beth conners #12 vonnie thomason #13 rindy schlatter #14 beverly gaia #15 priceless moments by charlotte #16 nan gurley #17 janet ivey-duensing #18 ashley collins #19 michele kolz #20 michele kolz #21 lauren thomas #22 susan hudson #23 cindy landham #24 emily landham #25 bob landham #26 cali huber #27 david blanton #28 ashley blanton #29 katie richards #30 david and lisa ask #31 michelle arwine #32 amy mcclenathan #33 barbara ritchie #34 vicki day #35 joyce jones #36 lee ann estes #37 amanda laake #38 deanna maurice #39 freedom's promise #40 diane arsenault #41 addie graham #42 nick norwood #43 elizabeth "sissy" pace #44 diane west #45 brad cowart #46 in memory of marky pace #47 nashville shakespeare festival #48 stonestreet studios nyc #49 deborah hagerty #50 lynn ross #51 megan hogan #52 cindi parmenter #53 leesa leclaire #54 ashley strawn #55 melanie jacob #56 j.r. estes #57 dawn rolland #58 compass cinema #59 just love coffee #60 gwen moore #61 eric stevens #62 beth sydell #63 mike corl #64 jill englett #65 samantha poore #66 dr. b. g. & faye norwood #67 jodi mcdaniel #68 mark and tasha lemley #69 erin turley #70 christa yandell #71 ashlee walworth #72 the contributor #73 logan yandell #74 sherri joyce #75 sarah condley #76 katie gray landham #77 dustin & courtney koctar #78 alice sullivan #79 cathi carson johnson #80 greg yandell #81 anne whitver #82 alex yandell #83 chris carpenter #84 leslie halpern #85 tricia poore #86 kori francis #87 terri cooper #88 abby fraebel #89 joe shultz #90 jan gotto shultz #91 jessica suiter #92 teresa carpenter #93 john carpenter #94 susan carson #95 jennifer mcleod hagerty #96 tara christensen #97 katy boatman #98 jr landham #99 lauren carpenter #100
