All Things Achievable: An Interview with 46NYC
SwipeLife is always inspired by an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s more astounding when this drive is coupled with an obligation to give back through charity. The 46NYC company has combined their talents and passions to achieve just that.
Being able to affect positive change on a person’s life is a quality that many of us possess and have the means to. We’re all familiar with the merits of charity, and some of us are fortunate to participate or receive in these selfless acts. The images of depressed areas that flood our news media outlets are a stark reality for the people in these areas. It’s these harsh realities – abuse, poverty, hunger, education, water – that add to a growing epidemic.
It’s a privilege to have a direct involvement in improving a community that’s in need of basic resources and education. Having someone design a platform that enables the public to provide these necessities are the measures that make this change a reality. The 46NYC group is committed to bringing awareness to these areas of need, and their stout efforts have already made substantial contributions to these causes through their partnerships with several International non-profit organizations.
The first idea that spawned the 46NYC concept was to sell a t-shirt and have a portion of proceeds go to a proven relief organization. The idea was simple, but it required steadfastness to bridge these networks and market their idea – an ongoing process that presents itself as a rewarding challenge. Their latest campaign with the Wine to Water organization helps to raise funds for communities that are in dire need of potable water.
SwipeLife touched base with Operations Director, Hal Kivette, to understand the spirit that helped build the 46NYC company and all of their charitable endeavors.
Continue reading for the rest of the feature.
Please tell our audience what 46NYC’s mission is all about. What were the founding members’ motivations to begin a project such as this?
Our mission is dually motivated. We, as partners, set out to do something more to help others as well as exercise our individual creativity. As founding members, we wanted to create an opportunity to make a difference and change the lives of those in need.
What are the prescribed roles of 46NYC’s founding members, and what responsibilities do each of you hold?
As we started to gain momentum and the business aspect continued to grow, we separated 46nyc into three main areas. Graham is in charge of marketing, PR and events. John focuses on the internet, design and technology, and Hal concentrates on operations and production. All three of us are involved in the vision and scope as well as the planning for future projects.
Who were people or groups that inspired you to pursue these types of ventures?
We attribute much of our inspiration to family. We are each blessed with an amazing support system in our respective family members and are equally as grateful for our upbringing. We gained most of our business sense and work ethic from our college experience and the faculty at Appalachian State University. ASU continues to support us as alumni and we are very grateful for both our education and their continued involvement in our lives. Though we feel much of our willingness to do more came from our shared passion to help others, all three of us were definitely inspired by Product Red and its execution of social entrepreneurship. It opened our eyes to the fact that most people want to be involved in making positive change in the world we live in. As a company, we wanted to create an avenue for people to do just that – even if it’s something as simple as contributing and raising awareness by wearing a tee shirt.
Your website currently displays future campaigns for “remark46le,” “cur46le” and “valu46le.” Would you briefly touch on the progress in these areas?
46NYC hopes to launch the next campaign in mid December 2009. As far as progress goes, we are very close to production for remark46le, while the cur46le and valu46le campaigns are still in the developmental process.
We’re pleased to see your partnership with reputable organizations such as the International Justice Mission, Sunflower Children and most recently, Wine to Water. Are there any other charitable organizations that you hope to work with in the future to further your efforts?
We are currently researching numerous different organizations involved in childhood education, birth defects and various childhood diseases. We are currently halfway through our 6 main causes and hope to have each campaign completed by summer of 2010. Once we have the 6 completed, we have some very cool ideas to continue and grow the “tee shirts for charity” concept.
With regards to your latest campaign, describe the process of how your product helps the Wine to Water project. How does the Wine to Water organization help those in need?
46 has partnered with Wine to Water to create the achiev46le tee. Through every purchase, a portion of the proceeds will help Wine to Water in their efforts to provide clean water around the world.
Wine to Water is a non-profit aid organization focused on providing clean water to needy people around the world. Over 1 billion people in the world today lack access to adequate water and sanitation.
The concept originally was to put on benefit wine events, such as tastings, then use all of the money raised to support water projects around the world. The funding raised is then used to contract the help of material and equipment vendors that are local to that region to help build wells for clean drinking water and proper sanitation systems.
As a result, wine tastings became just one of many ways that they raise awareness and support for the global water crisis. Wine to Water has worked to provide clean water and sanitation in many countries including Sudan, India, Cambodia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Haiti.
It would appear that 46NYC looks to affect change on a global level by partnering with several international organizations. Are there plans to support domestic US programs, or is there already?
As we plan our next three campaigns, we are researching a number of different domestic organizations that concentrate on US programs. Before we move forward with a new campaign, we take a period of time to evaluate what’s going on our lives as well as in the world around us. We research numerous outlets and really let the partnership present itself. It’s a very unique process that we take very seriously. After detailed research, we allow the different organizations to draw us in. Then as a team, we decide on the strongest connection and begin to reach out. We make sure not to force anything and try not to limit our decisions based on location, time or any other factor. Though it may be a broad qualifier, as long as the organization is involved in improving the lives of children and is genuine in doing so, they are a candidate. It’s truly a unique process.
From a creative and marketing aspect, are there any design companies, whether web or fashion, that 46NYC is interested in collaborating with?
We have the utmost respect for Product Red and would love to collaborate in the future if the opportunity presents itself. In the past we have discussed potential projects with Victoria’s Secret and Sak’s among a few other department stores/boutiques and we are exploring some really cool ideas to produce a personalized, custom tee for an outlet such as these. We’ve even talked about creating something similar for an influential individual to benefit a children’s cause of their choice. In such a project, the partnering agent would be involved in the design of the 46 Tee as well as choosing the beneficiary.
Tell us of 46NYC’s latest events that helped in spreading the word of your movement. What future promotional events or tools can the public expect from you?
We have really maximized the power of the internet as well as personal appearances consisting of business conferences and various events ranging from fashion to charity-driven. We are also very grateful to have received press in US Weekly, The Appalachian Today (a university alumni publication) among others. We have hosted or been involved in numerous events to benefit a number of different causes. We rely heavily on grass-roots internet marketing and word-of-mouth tactics. We are very excited about hosting an event with our good friends at SwipeLife Novembers 7th and have recently launched our achiev46le campaign which aids in the fight to provide clean water around the world. We are currently busy planning an amazing new campaign we hope to begin before Christmas.
Have the media outlets caught on to your vision yet? Where can we see press coverage of your works and/or events
As we mentioned 46NYC has appeared in US Weekly several times, ABC Soaps in Depth as a part of their Christmas gift guide, cover story of the The Appalachian Today, featured on the Channel 11 News and have been very successful in the world of Twitter.
What advice do you give to those out there who want to begin their own campaigns that help those in need?
If you are passionate about it and willing to put in the hours as well as the blood, sweat and tears, go for it. The hardest part about building something is getting started. After the foundation is built, things start to fall in place, and though the workload seems to grow, the satisfaction of the mission makes it more than worthwhile. For us, it has changed our lives and given us a way to find personal fulfillment as well as the ability to create. We feel very fortunate to spend the majority of our time cultivating and growing our shared passion to make a difference. What more could a person ask for?
There are certain elements for establishing a business model that remain typical for every company: What service can we offer? How can it improve the lives of others? 46NYC demonstrates on how to be a successful model. By executing their simple idea, they’ve reaped the benefits of improving the circumstances for people of regions covering the entire globe. Your ability to affect change is not required to touch the global stage. However, you will need to affirm the idea that you are capable of doing it at any time.
SwipeLife thanks the team at 46NYC – Hal, John and Graham – for their inspired story. We’re extremely proud to be associated with them, and we’re encouraged of what is to develop from this very dynamic group.
Interview by Jason Rodriguez
Image Credits: 46NYC
This coming Saturday, November 7th, 46NYC and SwipeLife will be hosting an event for a good cause. As a co-sponsor of this event, we enthusiastically invite all of our readers and supporters to come and join us celebrate this partnership. Portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit 46 NYC and their campaign with the Wine to Water Organization.
EVENT INFO
When: Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 10:00pm to 4:00am
Location: Aspen
Street: 30 West 22nd Street between 5th and 6th Ave.
City/Town: New York, NY
Admission: $20
Must mention “SwipeLife” at the door for reduced admission of $20.
Please join us for a great cause!
For more information on 46NYC or Wine to Water, please visit:
www.46nyc.com and www.winetowater.org
For more information about our event please view the flyer below or visit our events page.
