Aim High
Elevating Nonprofit Swag feat. Jonny Imerman (‘94)
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We’ve all ended up with some non profit swag. Whether its a tshirt or a totebag, its probably covered in company logos and mission statements, and something that stays in the back of our drawer. But what if the design was toned down, sleek, and something you actually wanted to wear on the day to day? Thats the mission behind CLOZTALK, founded by Jonny Imerman and his brother (both Cranbrook grads) in 2018.
CLOZTALK is branded apparel specifically for non-profits, in an effort to build a well-known brand and raise awareness for their missions.
Jonny joins Robert in this episode to talk about starting CLOZTALK, branding for non profits, B Corps, being class secretaries for their Cranbrook classes, and lessons hes learned from starting 2 organizations.
About The Guest:
Jonny Imerman is the class secretary for the Cranbrook class of 1994, and the co-founder of CLOZTALK, which designs branded apparel for non-profits.
He also started Imerman Angels, whose mission is to provide comfort and understanding for all cancer fighters, survivors, previvors and caregivers through a personalized, one-on-one connection with someone who has been there.
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Selected Quotes:
Lessons learned at Cranbrook
That's also a lesson I think we learned at Cranbrook, is always service. I can remember a Cranbrook going into a senior living home and visiting people once or twice a week in the area, it was at Square Lake in Woodward, I still remember that.
But you're always expected to do something for people outside yourself. And I think Cranbrook is awesome In that way, you have to do some community service. Because we all need to hopefully become the best people we can and always be thinking of others as you get older.
Changing careers after a cancer diagnosis
I was working in commercial real estate before, and once I got diagnosed, I just was like, I don't really care. And I don't really know how long I'm gonna live my life. And I just want to do something that I know makes the world better and makes me happy and make some real difference. It leaves a footprint.
Why branding is so important for nonprofits
We even argue that people who wear CLOSTALK apparel are happier. They make more friends, somebody asks about it, you're more connected. And you're just, you you're feeling good about yourself because you feel like you're volunteering when you're just going about your day as you normally would. It doesn't take an extra minute of your own time, right? Just to rock the cause. If you're wearing a t-shirt anyway, might as well rock it for a cause.