Imagine Goods Empowers Through Dignifying Employment

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Aiyana Ehrman, Imagine Goods, Michelle Kime

Based in Smoketown, Pennsylvania, Imagine Goods is a social enterprise offering vintage-inspired apparel and home decor that provide jobs for marginalized and vulnerable individuals. Imagine Goods was founded in 2008 by friends Aiyana Ehrman and Michelle Kime, self-described “accidental entrepreneurs” who never really intended to go into business. After running a non-profit in Cambodia for a couple of years, the duo realized that giving people the opportunity to work and as a result giving them hope was the most empowering thing they could do for others.

Imagine Goods exists to uplift people who are at risk and recovering from exploitation through dignifying employment. The company teams up with non-profit organizations that seek out, train, and employ marginalized and vulnerable workers around the world. In many cases, the money they earn from making Imagine Goods products is the first fair wage they’ve ever received.

At Imagine Goods, people are more important than the bottom line. Kime and Ehrman strive to take a close look at their entire production chain to ensure that everyone involved in making their products are being empowered and earning a living wage. The co-founders describe Imagine Goods as a sustainable supply company, because they believe that the cost of each item should be able to sustain every person connected to it with a living wage. They also travel to Cambodia together three times a year to really get to know the people who make their goods.

Imagine Goods is committed to creating products that care for the human race and give individuals a fighting chance to break the cycle of poverty. The Terra line features fabric hand-woven by Cambodian artisans using all-natural dyes. The Salvage + Design line comprises upcycled goods from previously worn jackets. The ReImagine line consists of upcycled products from discarded items as well as supports the charity Love146.

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Sleeping Bags Saves End-of-Life Bed Linen, Turns Them Into Useful Items

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Andy Marks, Sleeping Bags

Sleeping Bags is a UK-based social enterprise that turns end-of-life luxury hotel bed linen into premium products such as bags, sleepwear, and soft furnishings. The company was founded by CEO Andy Marks, who had an a-ha moment on a Thai beach after a hotelier friend described how often luxury hotels retired bed linen. If laid end to end, the bed linen condemned by the top 300 hotel chains in one year would go around the world twice.

Marks started Sleeping Bags to reduce the amount of stuff going to landfill and change the way people see waste. Sleeping Bags doesn’t believe in waste and believes in saving resources where possible. Always striving to improve it products and the world, the company is also committed to total transparency and creating beauty. Artists that have collaborated with Sleeping Bags include Sir John Hegarty, Vicki Murdoch, Avsh Alom Gur, David McCandless, and Helen Bullock.

Corks N Canvas: A Different Kind of Painting Class

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Corks N Canvas, Painting with a Twist

Founded in 2007 by Renee Maloney and Cathy Deano, Corks N Canvas hosts painting parties that combines instructional art with friends, food, and drinks. With four locations in the Greater New Orleans Area, Corks N Canvas believes that everyone is an artist. At Corks N Canvas classes, participants learn how to paint landscapes, animals, florals, abstracts, and more, all while having plenty of fun.

In 2009, Corks N Canvas began franchising the business as Painting with a Twist. There are currently almost 100 franchise locations across America, all providing the same light-hearted experience the company was founded upon.

Both former fundraisers, Maloney and Deano have integrated the core value of giving back into their business. Each month, all Corks N Canvas and Painting with a Twist locations hold a fundraising event called Painting with a Purpose to raise money for local non-profits. Partner charities have included Leaps & Bounds Sports Center, St. Francis Animal Sanctuary, and the Al Copeland Foundation.

Clothing the World, One Person at a Time

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Mallory Brown, World Clothes Line

Headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, World Clothes Line is an apparel company on a mission to clothe the world. For every item purchased, World Clothes Line will donate the equivalent to someone in need in Indonesia, Peru, Africa, or the US. The company was founded in 2010 by Mallory Brown, who discovered how many people went without clean clothing every day during her travels. To her surprise, the folks she met asked for clothes instead of food or money. Upon returning to America, Brown decided to do something to help the people she had encountered.

“Clothing is one of our most basic human needs, ranking among air, food, water, and shelter,” says Brown. “However, in cases of extreme poverty, clothing is one of the first needs to be ignored.”

In September of 2010, World Clothes Line launched as an online clothing store. The company currently has four collections, each of which is designed specifically to represent its country/continent’s people and culture. Brown and her team travel around the globe to personally deliver fresh, clean clothes to those who need them most. All World Clothes Line products are sweatshop-free and manufactured in facilities that follow environmentally-friendly practices and pay workers fair wages.

Brown hopes that, within the next year, World Clothes Line would have clothed an entire village or area in each of its locations. She also wants to expand to other countries, as well as offer other types of apparel such as children’s clothes, jackets, scarves, hats, socks, and belts.

After three years of running World Clothes Line, Brown says the greatest lesson she’s learned is to never underestimate any relationship. “Some of the smallest relationships have turned out to be the biggest connections. Share your project with everyone you know, and you’ll be surprised who comes out of the woodwork.”

uBreakiFix: Saving Electronic Devices Left and Right

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uBreakiFix

Recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in America for 2013 by Inc. magazine, uBreakiFix is a nationwide repair shop for smartphones, tablets, computers, game consoles, and other electronic devices. With 45 locations across the country, uBreakiFix services a wide range of brands, including Apple, Samsung, Blackberry, HTC, LG, Motorola, Dell, and Google. Devices are diagnosed for free and customers are kept in the know every step of the repair process.

As one of the leading device repair companies in the world, uBreakiFix is committed to providing customers with parts and services of the highest grade. The company prides itself on delivering the fastest turnaround times in the industry – on-location repairs are typically done in 30 minutes, while mail-ins are completed in less than 8 hours. uBreakiFix guarantees all repairs for 90 days and runs a customer service hotline so people don’t have to “suffer through endless menu options or e-mail exchanges.”

Indochino: Easy and Affordable Online Custom Menswear

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Indochino

In 2006, Heikal Gani set out to buy his first suit. But after scouring local department stores and online shops, he couldn’t find anything that fit well or was within his budget, so he ended up buying a generic, off-the-rack garment that needed to be altered. Believing that there had to be a better way for men to shop for suits, Gani turned to best friend and classmate, Kyle Vucko. They agreed that custom made designer suits look and feel great but were too expensive. In addition, the fitting process was inconvenient.

Gani and Vucko decided to put their studies at the University of Victoria on hold to start a company that would change the way bespoke suits are made and sold. In 2007, the pair launched Indochino, an online service that provides high-quality custom menswear for less.

Based in Vancouver, Canada and Shanghai, China, Indochino makes it easy and affordable for modern gentlemen to dress stylishly. Customers measure themselves at home (or with the help of a friend) by following Indochino’s step-by-step video guides to set up their measurement profile, a process which takes less than 10 minutes. Indochino’s selection of suits, shirts, and accessories are updated every week, and men can customize their garments further by adding details such as monogramming and linings, free of charge.

All Indochino suits are hand-tailored and delivered from the company’s manufacturing facility in Shanghai to anywhere in the world for free within four weeks of ordering. By creating its own designs and cutting out the middlemen, i.e., the companies and individuals who purchase fabrics, manage suppliers, etc., Indochino is able to offer its products for a fraction of designer brand prices and pay its manufacturers fairly. Since its inception, Indochino has created customized apparel for thousands of men in 130 countries worldwide.