The RiserUnited journey has been a wild one to date, and it has been fuelled repeatedly by 'good juju' and/or 'positive mojo' at every turn.
If you’ve been following along, you've probably seen our sneak peeks of the first shoot that we had in March. We pulled it off with limited samples available, but it was a pivotal moment for the brand to deliver on-model imagery, and to give our followers a look at our products that they've been dying to see.
Our first shoot left some urgent gaps, and when additional samples became available in St. Louis, we needed to find a local solution— FAST! Photographers and models do not (ever) happen fast, so… enter the “good juju!”.
St. Louis has an incredible community of artists and some amazing photographers. One of the most well-known is Lauren Muckler. Her schedule is booked out months in advance. She has families flying in from out of state to capture their moments because she is THAT GOOD.
Alina has known Lauren since 2010 and has had her own family photographed by her. She knew that the chances of her being available for a quick turnaround shoot were slim to none. She sent a text to inquire about her future availability, and seconds later received a reply saying that Lauren was in her studio and had a spot open the very next day due to some last-minute schedule changes.
Enter one more caveat… we needed a model. As mentioned, our team is operating with one set of samples and a limited sizing set. We needed a male model, size Large. After brainstorming some options, Alina realized that one of her neighbors, Curtis, could possibly work. Here comes that luck again—Curtis wears a large and by chance, was working from home and had availability to help out at the exact time that Lauren could see us… now do you believe in our juju?!
We didn’t have all of the equipment that we needed for all of the right angles, but Lauren worked her MAGIC and made Curtis truly shine. Curtis, with no experience but a lot of patriotic spirit, was himself surprised at how much fun this was and how awesome the images turned out. This shoot didn’t have a stylist, so Alina had to act as that and as a director of the shoot… hey… more things to add to that resume!
This was an incredible experience with amazing people who also believe in our mission. We use the term "product beyond purpose," and wow does it make it special to do what we do. We have amazing product—our newest model wholeheartedly agrees—but what makes it THAT much more special is talking about stories during the process. About the fact that Curtis’ dad served in the navy and how much more meaningful our USS Iowa hoodie series became to him.
Learning about Lauren’s father who has been an entrepreneur his whole life and passed on that spirit to her and the fact that our country offers so many opportunities to everyone and anyone! It gives us chills to be a part of this incredible journey and mission, to bring you apparel that is more than just a product but a line that delivers a message that helps us all unite and reminds us every day that in gratitude we do and always will STAND!
