I have been asked many times “why are you doing this”?  The answer is simple.  We want to make a difference.  We want to help bring serenity back into our homes, work places and schools.  I guess I should start from the beginning.  In July 1994 Erin Gordon was the unfortunate victim of a drive by shooting in Salem, Oregon.  He was affectionately known as Guido.  He used to hang out at a house right across the street from where I lived.  I remember vividly hearing the news that a 15 year old kid with a shot gun had fired into a crowd of people at a Subway Sandwich shop in Salem, Oregon.  Erin and Tony Sanders were killed and others were wounded.  Erin did not know his killer, it was a random act of violence.  Erin was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I was deeply affected by his murder, and found out that Erin’s favorite color was purple.  We began tying purple ribbons on a very large tree that was across the street from where we lived.  Soon the tree was covered in purple by people from all over the state.  It was a living memorial for Erin. 

During this time I became involved with the family of Erin and began helping them push for tougher laws.  I gave a speech on the steps of the Capitol building in Salem Oregon.  It still wasn’t enough.  I wanted to help more. I was driving my car towards Salem and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  It wasn’t “No Fear” that we needed it was “No Violence.”   I was the manager of a small boutique at the time, and the one thing I knew was how to sell clothes.  I teamed up with a victims advocate and started producing tshirts with No Violence on them.  We took them to Monster Truck shows and they sold like hot cakes!!

About that time I was approached by someone with a lot of money that wanted to back the idea, and I agreed whole heartedly to move forward.  My intention was to raise enough money to pay for both funerals of the boys that were killed.  Unfortunately that would never come to fruition.  No Violence became very large very fast and was available for sale in 37 states Tahiti and Guam.  We were on the fast track to something great.  Unfortunately No Fear didn’t like our new found success and sued us for trademark infringement just short of us receiving our national trademark.  We disbanded and went our separate ways.  That was 1996.

Since that time I have maintained employment with an auto dealer for the past 11 years.  I thought my days of saving the world were done.  I knew that the secret was in tshirts, but I no longer had the means or the will to try again. 

March 2006:  I was introduced to an entrepreneur that had made his fortune in apparel.  We were making small talk and I told him that I was the originator of No Violence.  He just stared at me and told me that I needed to get up and get going that No Violence was my destiny and I needed to take my message “Worldwide”!  Of course I was still licking my wounds from 14 years before and was not ready, (Or so I thought), to continue this daunting task.  With a lot of encouragement and true grit, I began my journey again.  This time with no partners and no money.  The entrepreneur who I now call friend encouraged me to try and get No Violence back from No Fear.  No Fear had purchased it during litigation.  I prayed a lot about it and told him that I thought it was a different name.  2 months later Break The Chain was born. 

I was standing in the bathroom getting ready to go out to dinner with my husband and some friends when it hit me; Break The Chain, I kept saying it over and over. I started yelling it and running through the house in my underwear screaming Break The Chain, Break The Chain!!!  My husband looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “babe you’ve done it again!”  I quickly went to the computer to see if it had already been trademarked and lo and behold it hadn’t!!!  I had been talking with a dear friend from my childhood bouncing things off her to see what she thought.  We came up with the first logo in September 2006. Jim and I were getting ready to celebrate our 3^rd wedding anniversary and were heading out of town after work for the coast.  I sat up in bed at 4:00 a.m. in the morning and said “fashion with a voice”  Jim said don’t you mean clothing?  Clothing with A Voice was born.

There have been a lot of bumps in the road along the way, but the most amazing thing is the stories we hear.  About recovery, about getting out of a verbally abusive relationships or escaping an abusive spouse.  These are real people with real stories, each one different each one important.  We always take the time no matter what we are doing to listen.  It is important to be able to bring into the light the horrible things that we have hidden deep in our emotional closets.  We were finally making a difference. We had developed a clothing line that allowed people to wear what they could not say.  No money was coming in but we knew we were on the right track. 

 We had a couple of tshirts the first we called logo, the second was meth=death and the third was love is not black and blue.  Everything was a struggle.  We pushed through the start up growing pains.  In the mean time I had friends checking in almost daily to hear the progress.  As most of you who know me I have been very passionate about this line.  I think about it constantly.  My poor husband has stood by me through thick and thin and knows more about the apparel business than he would like.  

We began to have growing pains, Tami my friend was going to have to find a full time job, and I was unable to hire her.  I knew we had to keep going,  we had done a few festivals, and I was selling the stuff right out of the back of my truck so I knew we had a sellable marketable product.  The months went by and we hadn’t come out with anything new for about  8 months.  I decided to contact Church Artworks the same group of artists that had designed No Violence.  I was thrilled to hear that they were indeed interested and our relationship from 14 years prior began again!  We worked very hard over the next 3 months to develop the line as you see it now.  We brought it out in March 2008 at in Stayton Oregon at Market Place.   It is an event that showcases all different types of business.  We sold 35 shirts in 6 hours!!  We then did an interview with Our Town, Statesman Journal, and the Stayton Mail.  Things were really looking up. 

We were asked to join a networking group out of Salem, Oregon that met on the Second Friday of each month.  I remember being very tired as I am still working fulltime for the auto dealer and running behind this ever growing mission!!  We were very well received and met Sarah from Le Shoe Boutique at this meeting.  She said that she loved what we were doing and we could put it in her store on Court Street in Salem.  Also around this same time we had contacted Fall Line Sports in Silverton, and they too wanted to carry it.  That was April 2008. 

We have always taken great pride in the fact that we donate to a different nonprofit each month.  Although we are definitely far from being financially successful we feel it is important to do what we had set out to do.  To date we have given to ABC House of Albany, Oregon, Stayton Meth Busters, Liberty House, Family Building Blocks, No Meth Not in My Neighboorhood and 60 shirts that we donated to the call center for Crystal Darkness.  We have given dozens of shirts for silent auctions, and other programs.   We are currently donating $3.00 of every Make A Stand Against an Angry Hand to Sable House in Dallas, Oregon.  We do not claim to be a program but we have the tools and the want to help fund the people in the trenches.

As some of you know, I am a domestic violence survivor.  I am living proof of the unendless possibilities.I do not dwell on the fact nor do I intend to name names.  This is the story of success and the continued story of success.  I pray everyday that the lord light my path so I may see what it is I am supposed to see, and that the ones that need help find comfort in the fact that they are not alone.  That violence and addiction do not come with a W2 that they are equal in there destruction.  Neither race, religion, age, sex, or income bracket are immune to there destructive paths. It is time to stand up and bring the ugliness out of the closet and shine the light on it.  We cannot heal what we cannot see.

We have been blessed by gathering a group of people just like us along the way and I would like to give a special thanks to; Shelly and Carol Gordon, Jennifer and Curry Stutzman, Tami McVein, Billie Mauer, Ron Klingler, Sheldon Traver, Melinda Hickey, my friend, Don Warner, Heather Klein, my children, Stephanie, Kati and Corrie.  My wonderful mother Jan, Athena, Church Artworks, and most recently a Christian Rap artist Christian Treborn, Tracey Reynolds and of course my special partner and soulmate Jim. If I have forgotten anyone it is not intentional we have been blessed by many people and many more to come.