It Took Me 19 Years to Realize and Accept That I've Been Doing It Wrong

When it comes to reuse, something that I talk about is how it helps us avoid wasting time. (i.e. Reusing water bottles takes way less time than recycling them and making new ones.) But I recently had to accept that I wasn’t avoiding wasted time in all of my work. This past September, I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my reuse apparel brand, STAY VOCAL. And as I’ve said to many people in recent months, it took me 19 years to realize that it’s my side gig.

Back in 2008, after my first speaking engagement about reuse and my brand, I knew that I wanted to be an edutainer (even though I didn’t know the word at the time). While waiting to speak in that high school auditorium, I watched as students literally fell asleep while someone was trying to teach them something with monotone explanations, charts and facts. I knew that I needed to do something different, and I thought back to my years of touring with bands and how they would engage the audience. I incorporated some unique tactics into my talk and began by screaming, "WAKE UP! There is only one planet and you can't recycle it!" Upon receiving a room full of attentive students and teachers clapping, I was hooked.

Since then, I've grown to love sharing ideas in fun ways about the benefits of reuse solutions. (We hear the doom and gloom problems enough.) And over the past 15 years, I’ve created numerous things to do just that: The REUSE! Documentary, The REUSE! Box Truck and The Box Truck Film. With STAY VOCAL being my baby and first fun reuse solution though, I always went back to it as the focus. But the brand never got me to that educational or financial point that I needed it to. And sometimes I felt trapped.

It’s taken me a long time to realize and truly accept that I’m not meant to make an impact one shirt at a time. It’s things like my movies, speaking engagements, and collaborations that have made a bigger difference. I still 100% believe in the brand and by no means am I calling it quits. I just know that I can't put the same time, energy, and money into the brand that I have since I created it in 2003.

I’m stepping back from focusing on creating new STAY VOCAL designs, but will work with other brands, musicians, organizations, and individuals to print their shirts on rescued garments. As I say all the time, “the more we work together, the more positive change we can create.”

Last year, I decided to test out not prioritizing STAY VOCAL and focused on setting up screenings and events. And well, it was the the most successful and impactful year that I've ever had. And it's funny, the shirts did well too, as I always bring a shirt selection with me to events. It's a great way for people to learn about wasted resources and take instant reuse action. So, I've decided to hone in on the "edutainment" piece. And to help with that, I've created the key piece of the puzzle that's been missing.

Through all my years working with reuse, I’ve never had a true hub for the different work that I do. I sometimes wouldn't know what website to send people to or what to call what I do. But after taking a deep dive into who I am, what I truly want to do and what I'm best at, I now know the answer.

I'm a reuse edutainer and I help people escape the waste.

I hope you'll take a look around my new hub and find a way to get involved. Cheers.