CARMIN BLACK | HALF UNITED Founder, Women’s Designer
My name is Carmin Black and I am an eternal optimist. I really believe that despite everything people are really great at heart (a quote taken from my most favorite author, Anne Frank). I love discovering new talent- be it a great new artist, or singer, or director, really anyone who I can feel inspired or pleasantly surprised by gets an A in my book. Try as I may to change, jazz music and soulful R&B will always be my go-to tunes, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Amy Winehouse, and Astrud Gilberto’s voices can often be heard around my house. I think learning is wonderful, and I get really pumped every time I learn anything new. I love God and love learning from the ebbs and flows of my relationship with him. I love my family, and spending time with quality friends. Fashion reigns supreme in my life, and even though I rarely ever shop, I love learning about this industry and constantly becoming inspired by old and new designers. If you ever want to travel anywhere, you can pretty much always count me in. I love reading the biographies of successful people, and I love rags to riches stories…they always fill my heart with hope. I believe if you dream it, you can achieve it and I don’t care how cheesy that sounds. Global hunger gets a huge thumbs down from me which is why I am so pumped I get to fight this nasty epidemic with you!
CHRISTAN BLACK | Creative Director/Men’s Designer
My name is Christian Black, I am the Creative Director at HALF United. Other than design, I love to surf, skateboard, play music hang out with friends and I really enjoy alone time…. I like to be alone so much that its kind of a problem. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with The Office thanks to Netflix and you might not take me for a football fan but I’m a die hard fan of the Carolina Panthers. I love that I get the opportunity to use my God given talents for something that is amazing on so many different levels and I’m proud to be able to do it with the team that we have here!
SARAH BROWN |Operations
I am the newest addition to the HALF UNITED team! Can I get a “whoop whoop!”? Having developed my 13 year of retail experience in the chaos of Northern Virginia, I suddenly found myself in Wilmington, NC looking for a sense of purpose behind my passion for the industry. In the process, I found a love for the wild beach air and discovered that I longed to be a part of an organization that wants to make an impact beyond itself. HALF UNITED is that company.
KATE THOMPSON | Lead Intern
My name is Kate Thompson. I’m from Fairfax VA. I’ve lived all over these United States of America, Alaska, Texas, Minnesota, Georgia, and Wilmington NC is where I call home now. I have worn a lot different hats in my short time on this planet so far, I was in the Army, worked in the service industry for years, and then I decided to fully embrace my creative side so I became a stylist. Recently, I decided to go to college where I’m studying Communications/Marketing. My whole life I have done charity and volunteer work so when I heard HALF was looking for interns I had to sign up! Fashion and working for a company that wants to give back to the world and make it better place. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. I’m honored to part of the HALF team.
ALLISON HALL | Giving Intern
I’m Alli Hall! I’m a freshman at UNC-Wilmington, hoping to study Business or Special Education. I am so excited to start my internship with HALF United. I love their vision as a company and am honored to get to be a part of that vision. I have always had a passion for helping the less fortunate and make it a life long goal to serve others whenever possible.
MIKE MERMELSTEIN | Accounting Intern
Mike is currently an accounting major at UNCW and is also currently crunching numbers at the HALF UNITED office in Wilmington NC. Mike is OBSESSED with coffee. We love coffee but Mike loves it more (thats difficult to fathom).
