It’s a big day here at The SOUL Project as we made our first delivery to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Laguna Niguel.  We are so proud to be there, and even more proud that we are being carried in their Ambassadors of the Environment boutique.

Our featured items include Water Dragon, Mariposa and Tiger Lily, but we’re most proud that Eric Diamond’s “Salt Creek Soul” is the signature piece in our collection.

A big thanks to everyone at the Ritz Carlton who made this happen, and especially to Lyn Evins, director of the Ambassadors of the Environment program for her vision and passionate support of The SOUL Project philosophy and mission.

Finally, we are proud to announce that $1 from every item we sell will be going to the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association which supports the future of one of our favorite Soul Places.

The SOUL Project BRAND AMBASSADOR Program

We are so lucky here at The SOUL Project to be surrounded by a community of talented, passionate and accomplished friends and colleagues.

From world travelers to master yogis, professional surfers to sports medicine pioneers, accomplished musicians to talented artists, our crew is simply amazing.

We’ve decided to unleash the creative power of this group by developing The SOUL Project BRAND AMBASSADOR program, which recognizes and empowers a core group of really cool people to spread the word about The SOUL Project through their every day activities.

Our “Freshman” class is now set, and we want to introduce this amazing group

• Kristen Thomas—Stand Up Paddler Extraordinaire
• Brian Wisely—Fitness Expert and Proprietor at The WELL
• Stephanie Chapel—Fitness Expert and World Class Spin Instructor
• John Meek—Musician and Lover of Life
• Steven “SLi Dawg” Chew—The SOUL Project Artist-in-Residence
• Dr. Tim Brown—Master Healer and Inventor of IntelliSkin PostureCue Technology

Look for detailed profiles of all of our Brand Ambassadors in the coming weeks.  We’ll be sharing their stories and their Soul Places with you.

We hope these stories inspire you to get out there and live your dreams.

And if you know someone who should be a Brand Ambassador, please let us know.  We’ve started close to home, but as we grow and expand we will be adding to this group with amazing people from around the world.

With love…

The SOUL Project Team

In addition to a unique product line-up, Seed offers a variety of classes, events and seminars including POP Physique, boot camp, book binding, yoga, blogger night, art shows, and a whole lot more. SEED People’s Market takes retail therapy to the next level! You can find out more details about these events by checking out their Seed Feed.

Stop by their shop for a unique, sustainable and personal shopping experience. The best part: snag one of their homemade cookies to enjoy while perusing through the collections!

The SOUL Project can also be found at SEED People’s Market  and we are thrilled to share in this unique partnership.

Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Pam Estes with Summer Meek and 4 happy kids!

Giving back in our Soul Places is central to The SOUL Project, so it was great that our first donation was in our hometown. In addition to the $500 check to Boys and Girls Club, we also donated $500 to Surfrider Foundation South Orange County. This is all possible because of our loyal friends and supporters who have purchased a tee shirt or hat, or picked up one of our original artists’

pieces at our art auction in August. We are busy tallying up our 4th quarter sales and looking forward to making another donation in early 2012.

For more, click here

Here’s wishing all of our family and friends a wonderful 2012 full of love, light and laughter.

Happy New Year!

Zeev Klein giving his closing remarks

Thanks to my friend Zeev Klein from Landmark Ventures, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend their “Social Innovation Summit 2011″ yesterday in Palo Alto, and walked away more encouraged than ever about the mission and journey that we’ve undertaken at The SOUL Project.

First off, the caliber and quality of the presenters and panelists was simply amazing.  From Scott Harrison, the founder and CEO of charity:water to John Wood, the founder and board co-chair of Room to Read, the lineup was great.  And to have the whole day capped off with a “fireside chat” with Wyclef Jean and Dikembe Mutombo talking about how their celebrity has helped drive their charitable efforts was inspiring and enlightening.

The audience was no less stellar with senior executives from UNICEF, The White House (yep, THAT White House), Facebook, Google, CBS, Jefferies, PWC. Chevron, Microsoft, Intel, The United Nations, X-Prize and on and on.

The theme for the day was all about how our growing “Social Conscience” and social consciousness can be enhanced and driven by technology, collaboration and modern business-oriented management disciplines.

Some big takeaways:

-Web 3.0 is upon us and it is driven by data–any new venture–public or private–will need to have a data component embedded in order to measure the effectiveness/success of the effort and allocation of resources–think of it as measuring “Bang for the Buck.”

-The growing importance of not-for-profit organizations both for their impact on society AND the way they are creating jobs around the world.

-That technology and social engagement tools will necessarily be part of every successful effort going forward. Melissa Kushner, founder and CEO of GOODSFORGOOD talked at length about her vision for creating an “eco-system platform” for social innovators to work together to eliminate redundancy and waste in the delivery of critical services to disenfranchised communities around the world.

-Ideas without execution are just dreams.  I really understood how hard every one of the entrepreneurs in attendance are working to make their dreams into reality.

In the cab on the way to the airport to come home last night I was reflecting on where we sit in the whole eco-system, and I realized that, even as small as we are today, our formula–SOUL PLACE + LOCAL ARTISTS + LOCAL CHARITIES = THE SOUL PROJECT is a formula for success that is consistent with the imperatives of today’s marketplace ,and benefits a wide spectrum of constituencies.  From our local artists to our local retailers to our local charities, The SOUL Project delivers value all along the way, while at the same time allowing us to build an enterprise that engages all of our skills, provides for our families and lets us have some fun along the way!

So in the spirit of the season, I challenge everyone reading this to think about how you plan to leverage your organization, your skill and your heart to make a social impact in 2012.

Peace

Wyclef Jean and Dikembe Mutombo at Social Innovation Summit

The SOUL Project arrives at Hobie Laguna

Tomorrow we install our very first retail display window at Hobie Laguna to support the debut of our line.  We’re also exhibiting at the Dana Point Turkey Trot Expo where we will be unveiling Eric “E.D.” Diamond’s “Salt Creek Soul.”

We’ll take a quick break on Friday to regroup and then we’ll be at SEED People’s Market for their “Last Saturday” event where we’re part of a really cool group of talented artists and crafters with very cool holiday gifts on hand for all your shopping needs.

On Thursday 12.1 we’re part of The December Art Walk Holiday Fest at Taryn Michelle Boutique, and then on Friday 12.2 we’ll be back at Hobie for Hospitality Night in Laguna where we’ll be selling our Soul Project and Don Bueno Hats for $10 (that’s half off!) with 100% of the proceeds going to The Boys and Girls Club.

On Thursday 12.8 we’re sponsoring the premier of TGR’s new winter sports film at the White House in Laguna, and from there who knows what adventures we’ll have along the way.

Stay tuned and Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s what’s on tap for The SOUL Project over the next few weeks:

A range of men’s and women’s product will be debuting in Hobie Laguna by this weekend and we will be installing our very own Soul Project window display next Wednesday, 11.23

We will be participating in the Dana Point Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning where we’ll debut our new Salt Creek Soul tee-shirt!

On Saturday 11.26 The SOUL Project will be part of SEED People’s Market’s big “LAST SATURDAY” event where you’ll be able to see our ENTIRE line just in time for some holiday shopping.

On Wednesday 11.30 we will be attending Landmark Venture’s “Social Innovation Summit” in Palo Alto.  This unique summit features a roster of high-profile speakers and attendees with the goal of connecting and inspiring a unique network of Business, Technology, & Community leaders interested in affecting positive social change.  We are beyond thrilled to have been invited.

On Thursday 12.1 from 6-9pm we are partnering with Taryn Michelle Boutique and Long Lost Jewelry to host a holiday fest at Taryn Michelle at 1500 South Coast Highway across from the Surf ‘N Sand.  We’ll have food, drink, music and fun to enjoy during the December First Thursday Laguna Art Walk

On Friday 12.2 we will be at Hobie in Laguna for Hospitality Night where we are planning a very cool fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club–we’ll be offering our Soul Project and Don Bueno trucker hats for $10 (that’s half off!!) with all $10 going to Boys and Girls Club!

On Thursday 12.8 we are sponsoring the premier of the new TGR ski and snowboard film at the White House in Laguna–big thanks to Ben Warner for inviting us to be a part of this.

And through it all we are continuing to add new designs to our line-up, open new retail doors, fill online orders, raise money for our foundation and have fun, because in the immortal words of SLi Dawg, “It’s Not Fun Unless It’s Fun!”

From Ella