When I was 7 and my sister, Carrie, was 10 years old, we lost our father to heart disease. He was only 37. As adults, we watched our step father fight through melanoma cancer and leukemia, and eventually die from the latter. Most recently, our mother succumbed to dementia and slowly deteriorated for eight years, until she was finally freed from her suffering. And, we're sure this is not uncommon. At some point, disease touches everyone, whether it’s you or someone you love.

Then, there are global issues that touch us all, and make us want to advocate change, things like animal cruelty, world hunger and discrimination. These are causes you want to get behind, because witnessing the devastation, neglect and violence is almost too much to bear.

There’s so much to be done in the world. The big question is, how do we make a difference? Many of us work hard just to make ends meet. But, we’re tired…tired of cancer, hungry animals, diabetes and heart disease. Yet, we just don’t know how our small contributions could possibly make a dent in changing anything.

This was the reason for the “I’m Tired of” (ITo) concept. We’re building a huge community of caring people, each contributing a small amount and showing their solidarity and how much they care by wearing a cool fashionable and eco-friendly bracelet.

With every bracelet you purchase, you’re helping important causes big-time!

The bracelet concept was sparked by the success of Lance Armstrong’s effort to raise money for cancer with a simple silicone bracelet. We decided that, like Armstrong’s, first and foremost, it had to be inexpensive so everyone could afford it. And, equally important, we had to be able to make a substantial donation to charity from each one. We’ve accomplished both.

Next and really important too, the ITo bracelets had to be fashionable and eco friendly.  We wanted people to want to wear them because they’re great looking!  We’ve spent the last 10 years in the fashion business, the last four in eco fashion. So, we designed and created the bracelets out of recycled tires and metal. Not exactly the colored silicone things you’re used to seeing…  Last, but certainly not least, the bracelets are completely made in the USA.

Who We Are
Carrie and I are a brother/sister combo and we’ve been business partners for more than 20 years. Together, we built a computer products company from the ground up, with more than 100 employees and over 100 million dollars in annual sales. Then, after taking some time off to play golf and travel (that’s me, not Carrie), we started a product development and marketing company.  We love marketing and starting new projects!  Believe it or not, our first product was a toy, which we ultimately sold to a toy company.  Then (don’t even ask me how this happened (Carrie’s doing)), we jumped into the fashion business, where we’ve created several successful product lines.  Some of these lines have been worldwide successes and sold in Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf-Goodman, Bloomingdales, Fred Segal, Harvey Nichols and many other popular stores and boutiques from New York to Japan to Saudi Arabia. They’ve been worn by Halle Berry, Cameron Diaz, Paris Hilton, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Anniston, Kate Beckinsale, Patty LaBelle, Jenny McCarthy and Sharon Osborne, to name a few…

White Apricot (our eco baby) was launched a few years ago, because we identified an opportunity to introduce an online publication dedicated to eco fashion and help bridge the gap between mainstream and “green.”  WhiteApricot.com has become a leading online newsletter and website, covering news, tips and trends in the eco fashion world.

The ITo project is by far the most exciting thing we’ve ever done and we’ve done a lot!  It brings together big pieces of all of our business experiences, plus one new ingredient that’s more important than everything else combined, giving.