The HALF UNITED team just got back from an AMAZING trip to New York City.  We flew into the city Tuesday afternoon.  It was nice coming from the hot weather in North Carolina to the cool air of the city.  It was a rainy week.  My sister and HU Founder, Carmin Black hated it but Sarah and I loved it!  We took that Tuesday night off- drinks, dinner with friends, then it was off to the apartment to catch some sleep (I personally love going to bed early regardless of where I am).  

The next morning came early.  We had a 9am meeting at Gemma (Bowery Hotel) with Andrew Pollard the President of Project Trade show, and his VP of Merchandising Stephanie Seeley.  It was a rainy morning and the restaurant we were meeting at was miles from our apartment.  After getting lost, trying to find our train, and getting turned around (thanks to our iPhone maps) we finally made it to breakfast…15 minutes late. WOMP.

Luckily Andrew and Stephanie were more than forgiving. We introduced ourselves, discussed surfing, shared some laughs and spoke about HALF UNITED and what we do. These two retail geniuses were not only smart, kind, and very inspirational but they also gave us some excellent advice that could shape the future of what we sell, and how we feed children in need! Carmin, Sarah and I left the meeting feeling confident and excited about the future of our business. One of the most memorable things I took from this meeting was the value of partnering with businesses similar to ours in order to broaden our reach, and offer exciting new products.

After our meeting with Andrew and Stephanie we went on to find new items for our #fightinghunger necklaces and bracelets. We spent hours searching for chains, leathers, findings etc…the search ended up an overall success. The best part? Carmin, Sarah and I left the city with a great sense of what our Fall and Spring lines will truly consist of.  

After meeting with Stephanie and Andrew, Sarah took us to meet one of her good friends, Peyton Jenkins.  Peyton founded “Alton Lane,” a men’s custom suit brand. Peyton took Carmin, Sarah and I to lunch and we chatted for a bit. Peyton gave us a lot of great advice on how to improve our business, as well as, insight into how he runs his own company. Peyton is one of the nicest guys i’ve ever met, not to mention uber-talented. Just as we were leaving our lunch meeting Peyton handed me a rectangular shaped box with a tie in it. He told me the purple tie would be the latest addition to his Fall line. I was moved. His gift meant a lot to me.

After our meeting with Peyton we met with the staff from Thestashbox.com, a website that we were featured on a few weeks ago. The Stash Box is a site which allows its members to vote on where a developing brands like HU should head. The Stash Box team was amazing and they really treated us really well! Unexpectedly, this team took us out for drinks, to a jazz show and to an amazing dinner!  Not too bad for a meeting that I thought would last just a few minutes.  I ended that day with some really great new friends.

New York was excellent to us.  We learned more than we ever thought we would in 5 days (Our trip was supposed to only be 2 1/2 days but we missed our flight on that Friday). Our team grew so much as a result of this trip, I honestly believe this is the city where so many dreams begin.

HALF UNITED Creative Director,

Christian Black

Purchase our Men’s “Logo Tee” and feed a child in need!  This tee is comfortable, simple, goes with ANYTHING and HALF of the profits from YOUR purchase goes to feed hungry children locally and abroad!

HALF UNITED, FIGHTING HUNGER

SHOP HALF UNITED

We’re working on rebranding HALF UNITED…particularly in our package design.  Today, our new packaging tape came in!  We love this design.  Our new tape is clear with black lettering that reads HALF UNITED FIGHTING HUNGER and has the links to our Instagram, Facebook and twitter.

Yesterday was an amazing day!

Our founders, Carmin and Christian Black, began their day speaking at Laney High School, in Wilmington, NC, to a class that won a food drive contest.  They spoke on the multitude of things that HALF UNITED does and how they feed those in need.  The class ended with a ROCK PAPER SCISSORS tournament with the winner taking home a free HALF UNITED AZTEC TEE (Big ups Adams!).

After a skateboarding session we got back to our “normal” day of #FIGHTINGHUNGER.

Go Bucs!

We LOVE this photo!

WELCOME TO MOE’s!

It’s been a crazy and fun few weeks at HALF UNITED. HALF UNITED had a Moe’s event where we hung out at Moe’s most of the day, got to know each other better, sold merchandise and filmed a few interviews. The Moe’s event was hosted by Moe’s Southwest Grill on Military Cutoff in Wilmington! They were generous enough to give us 20% of every profit made when the guest mentioned they like fighting hunger at the register. We also got a chance to get to know our fans better! We enjoyed hanging out with all the guests that came to eat at Moe’s. Stay tuned for the interviews our new intern, Buffy, captured. They are entertaining and informative, to say the least! Also, stay posted for more Moe’s events coming every month this summer. Moe’s events are a great chance to eat some good food, support us and get to know our team. Stop in to the next Moe’s event, we’d love to see you!  Keep fighting hunger!

-Alli

Michelle Pimm from Uncharted Style, pictured above, wearing our Cambodian Bracelet!

“I love HALF UNITED; HALF of all profits go to a wonderful cause. Do good, be bright!” -Michelle Pimm, Uncharted Style

Big thanks to Michelle Pimm for featuring our CAMBODIAN BRACELET in her “Uncharted Style” blog!

Follow her blog HERE!

We’re designing a new hang tag for our bullet necklaces.  We need YOUR input.  What do you think????