Nick Myerhoff's Blog

Blue Space Gallery Skate This Art Show

This was a great show and GirlRider (and me) got to do something benefiting SF homeless. There was some fantastic and diverse art, all created on skateboard decks. I ended up buying a few pieces and actually mine both sold. Here is a pic of the decks I painted, I really liked the scribble deck. My buddy "Lucky" was there, its always nice to see him. There were the usual SF freaks that make everything super interesting. The gallery is so small that I was knocking stuff over just turning around. But I guess they raised money for their cause which is what its all about anyway. The reason I agreed to do the show was because its a benefit for Hospitality House.

Save Our Shores

A few weeks ago I did a special shirt for Save Our Shores, a non-profit based in Santa Cruz. Well needless to say what usually happens when I try to do something good, it turns into trouble. But that is just the price you pay for trying to be good, its not alway easy.

So I promised to do this design and logo for free to build awareness around my brand and to help out a great cause. The design I created was totally over complex and took my like 6 hrs of production time on the computer. My arms and back were aching and I was grumpy as hell after completing it.

But it was all worthwhile when I got to deliver the shirts on July 4th to my good friend Michelle who works at Save Our Shores and is my primary GirlRider model. So those guys loved the shirts and sent me this nice letter thanking me.

Then it was all worthwhile...So again GirlRider is working towards being a better company and helping the environment even in this small way. Check out the shirt, if you want one email me and I'll donate a portion of the profit to them.

 

Donating money supporting local causes

Its that time of year, read about how GirlRider is giving back to our community as we grow.

Well its difficult for me, but I am putting my money where my mouth is, consistently. The causes I choose to support are local, for now (you can specify geographically when donating to national co's). Today I am making donations to Planned Parenthood and Friends of the Urban Forest.

The reason I choose Planned Parenthood is not because of my political beliefs, I respect everyones choice and in now way want to come across as pushing my position on others. Its because I have seen first hand Planned Parenthood help women and girls who otherwise had nowhere to turn. So I believe they serve an invaluable role in guiding less fortunate or uninformed women, as well as anyone who wants to learn about childbirth and pregnancy.

One of the other local organization that I absolutely love is Friends of the Urban Forest. These guys go out and plant trees in SF. Its an awesome thing and I have gone with them a few times to plant trees in various neighborhoods. People come out and give you crappy fruit salad while your digging, you get dirty, cops let you double park...lots of fun. But its a fantastic organization and I am happy to be part of it donating my time and money to improve SF.

My wife made a donation to the Sierra Club so we now have three charities that we are giving to so far this year. Our profits are small at GirlRider so giving at all is not the best business decision, but I made a commitment to myself that I was going to find a way to give back along the way, while building my company. I'm sticking to it! Hoping that spreading the love along the way will just become ingrained.

We encourage all of you reading this to do the same, either click a link above or choose your own way but give something, you'll make the world a better place.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are giving back, inspire someone!
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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.encourage
-Margaret Mead

Building a socially conscious company one hour at a time

As you may know from reading the Girl Rider Story , I decided from the beginning that if my company succeeded it would be making a positive difference in the world from day one. For me this means I find relevant ways of giving back to the environment and to people.

I have found it challenging to be profitable and green at the same time, but I am working on it every day.  My commitment to you is that as owner of Girl Rider, I am always thinking about conservation and giving to the community. I have so far built a relationship with the Women's Clinic in SF to donate my samples each year. I have given them 3 huge bags of clothes so far. This past week I donated 2 large bags full of change to World Wildlife Fund through the change machine at Cala Foods. My hands were so grubby by the end, it took a full 1hr to get all my coins through the machine.

We (entire family) have also participated in the California Coastal Commissions beach clean up at Ocean Beach 2006. This was an amazing experience. We urge any local friends or family to join us for the next one.