I absolutely love the Soulful Shout Out series here on Soul Speak! I get to highlight and introduce you to beautiful people and their wonderful offerings!
I love connecting people and sharing products that I love, and so I’m just thrilled to be able to do that each week with you here.
If you would like your product/website/service promoted here, please click here to read the details and then email me to apply. (I take what I share very seriously and will only share products and services that I am in alignment with.) The spaces are going quickly because the introductory prices are going way up after the first of the year, so please keep that in mind when you’re signing up!
***There is one space left in January, and then we’re scheduling into February. Be sure to reserve your space while the prices are still low! (You can pay for your space now and use it any time in the future!)***
A huge thank you to everyone who has already done so. You’re all absolutely wonderful, and I am so grateful for each of you.
And now, let’s get to this week’s beautiful soul, his inspiring company, and his wonderful offer just for you!
This week, I am featuring Ian Palmer from Inspired Warehouse!
I was recently introduced to Ian by his proud aunt, Karen Palmer. (Karen was featured on Soul Speak several months ago.) Karen and I were recently chatting on Skype, and she was wearing a t-shirt with an inspiring message on the front. I loved it, and she mentioned that it was part of Ian’s clothing line. I went to his site to see what else he offered and loved the positive messages and also the emphasis on giving back.
So I’m really happy to introduce you to him!
Welcome, Ian! I love that you’ve created a company that focuses on inspiring others! Can you share more about how your company started?
Inspired Emotion actually started as a social network. I believe Facebook has its place, but I was getting really tired of all the negative posts. I decided to create a place were you can only post content that inspires you. It could be a picture, a video, blog, forum post, quote etc… just as long as it’s inspiring. The website has become a great resource for inspiring content.
I had partnered with a friend in my younger years to develop a clothing line. Although it did not work out how I envisioned, I learned so much about the clothing industry as well as how to make the designs and print the shirts. I thought it would be fun to make some inspiring and positive clothing and see if anyone likes it. Thankfully they did, and it motivated me to pursue the clothing even more. So Inspired Emotion has really transformed into a clothing line as well as a social community.
I love your mission statement:
“Our mission is to inspire individuals to take action in their lives and be positive role models for others.”
I believe that inspiration has a contagious effect on others. Can you share how your t-shirts have had an inspirational ripple effect on others?
I wanted a mission statement that I can always look at and ask myself, “Is what I’m doing in line with my mission?” So everything I do, from designing a shirt to posting content to social media, I make sure in some way it will inspire people.
I feel there’s no better way to inspire others than leading by example. I’m active, and I take fun trips (later I’ll tell you about the Inspiration Mobile). I try to be really encouraging to people, and I hope that people can be inspired by that.
Clothing represents who you are – not to mention that you become a walking advertisement based on what you’re wearing. If you’re wearing a shirt with “Dream Big” on the front, you’re going to inspire others. It’s really cool because people are always commenting on my inspirational shirts when I wear them.
A friend of mine was wearing one of my “Livin’ the Dream” shirts recently, and he told me that a guy across the street spotted the shirt and had to come ask where it came from because it was his favorite saying. When I hear things like that it truly inspires and motivates me to keep pursuing this dream.
I think it’s wonderful that you have dedicated an entire product line to supporting wonderful causes. Can you tell us more about how this works?
We take the essence of a particular charity or cause and come up with a positive shirt from it. We take care of everything from manufacturing to promoting and selling the product. Not a dime comes out of the organization’s pocket, and we donate 35% of sales to the cause. All we ask is that they actively help promote the product as well.
So far we have helped raise money to send a group to Haiti to do mission work; we have raised money to help support the arts for inner city kids; and we are in the works with two more organizations: one that brings awareness to many current issues in the world from animal extinction to political agendas and another that supports musicians.
The charities closest to our hearts are those who help kids, disaster relief, environmental education, and spread awareness.
How do you wish to continue positively impacting the world?
I hope to grow the clothing line and get more people wearing it. I think that will have a trickle effect that will inspire many others, especially with social media.
I want to partner with many more organizations and hopefully help promote what they are doing and help with financial support.
What’s your favorite inspirational saying that you have on one of your t-shirts?
My favorite saying so far is “Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me.” Gosh I LOVE that!
What are 3 ways that someone can begin inspiring others today?
I would say just lead by example: go for a run, volunteer, wear inspiring clothing, laugh, create something, do something for someone without them knowing you did it, and smile because you never know who’s looking.
I recently heard about someone who would play a game when he took his family out to dinner: they would choose a table and pay for the people’s meal without the people knowing who did it. I think these kinds of acts of kindness are a great way to inspire others. The story certainly inspired me to want to do the same.
What’s next on the horizon for you and your company?
I want to continue to grow the clothing line and social community, and from there the sky’s the limit. I am in the beginning process of creating inspirational handmade signs for your home. I’m also currently developing the Inspired Emotion Media House, which is a video production company dedicated to providing inspiring content.
What does your soul want you to know?
I think it wants me to stay true to my morals, keep putting in hard work, and like I said before, continue to lead by example.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I mentioned the Inspiration Mobile earlier, so I wanted to quickly mention a part of my company that I call Inspired Field Trips. We bought a 15-passenger van to pack full of people to take trips. The point of these trips is to create community among all of us, push our limits, volunteer, and get active. We just took a group up to the Minarets in Mammoth Mountain for a backpacking trip. It was a great time of being active, creating a bond with each other, and just camping out in incredible scenery. I hope to pack that van full of people all year long, it’s a great way to inspire!
Ian is offering a 10% discount to everyone in the Soul Speak community on all of their clothing!
Just enter the code: SOULSPEAK when you check out.
These t-shirts are such a creative gift to give this holiday season. As you know, I’m all about spreading love and positivity into the world, and this is a great way to do exactly that!
Also, be sure to check out the Ian’s Products with a Cause page. Like he mentioned above, he’ll donate 35% of each sale to the charity that’s listed on that page. I just love that so much. You get an inspirational t-shirt, and someone else is helped in the process.
Please spread the love and share this post on Facebook and Twitter!
Big hug,
