Our Story

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to get your attention.

My life changed with a suicide. I knew my friend was depressed after a breakup with his girlfriend, but I didn’t know how deeply he was suffering until he took his own life that lonely Christmas Day more than a decade ago.

That, along with a handful of suicides at a local high school – and scores more self-inflicted deaths of kids across the country -- prompted me to start a youth ministry called Meant4More in Cupertino, California.

I wanted young people to know that their lives have value and no one is here by accident, regardless of how or why they were born, or the life they have lived.

Our group started selling T-shirts with this theme to raise money for pizza. We later made them available at regional conferences. As the weeks and months passed, though, the response was the same: People of all ages wanted to buy our shirt because its message touched them deeply, and inspired them.

In 2009, a group of friends of all faiths, and no faith, joined me in forming Meant4More Apparel, confident such a message could reach beyond religion and secularism to empower those who have lost their way. As Harriet Tubman said, every great dream begins with a dreamer. We want people to start dreaming again.

Meant4More is a reminder, and a promise to our customers, that every life has impact. Everyone, no matter the obstacle, can aspire to greatness and reach for goals. Take Rachel Lloyd, the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, known as GEMS, whose sexual exploitation as a young girl became a beacon for change. With only $30 and a plan, Rachel overcome her past to start a national organization that offers girls who have been trafficked the chance to reinvent themselves. No situation is too hopeless.

Our company will eventually expand its reach to the athletic apparel industry. We hope to sponsor athletes who show by example how getting involved in sports can be life-changing. We are also determined to share the love and a portion of each sale goes to support worthy organizations that focus on youth, like GEMS, and F.A.C.E.S.S, or Fight Against Child Exploitation & Sexual Slavery.

Meant4More Apparel is not just about selling clothing, but imparting a global message which we know is as simple as this: We believe in you. You can do great things. You are meant for more.

- Primo Martinez, CEO