// OUR STORY

Growing up in a small town and moving to Los Angeles for college opened my eyes to a world where people obsessed over their appearance. Whether they used models in magazines or peers as their benchmark, I found it heartbreaking to see friends lose a part of themselves when they became absolutely absorbed in appearing a certain way.  I could see they were creating a never-ending cycle of self-defeating behavior.  It wasn’t until I saw some of my friends suffer from eating disorders and other body image related issues that I understood this problem stemmed farther than just my friend base. During one of my classes in my last year of college I noticed an unhealthily skinny girl who continually showcased a rotation of stick-thin models on her computer backdrop. Her struggle to attain a physical ideal was plainly obvious, as was watching her lose herself in a spiral of self-loathing. I desperately wanted to tell her that what made her special was found within herself.

During all of this, I started brainstorming how I could help people that were dealing with these issues. An amateur artist, I experimented with hand painting graphics on t-shirts as holiday gifts for my friends including text that read “the monument of our hearts” in the designs. The text was inspired by the idea that our hearts are where our desire to impact the world manifests itself and that my generation can serve as the monument for future generations as an enduring example of changing people’s lives for the better.

From Within,

Brett