San Fran

I’m beyond excited to head out to San Francisco on Monday morning! The purpose of the trip is to attend the “Ahead of the Fashion”(AF) event that takes place on Tuesday at the Julia Morgan Ballroom. “Ahead of the Fashion” (AF) is a growth accelerating program for early stage technology start-ups in the consumer, fashion, and retail industries, as well as fashion designers. It promotes a monthly event and in its accelerator program it provides a selected group of companies advice and access to capital in partnership with industry experts and investors that have experience and relationships in the technology and consumer industries. I sent in an inquiry concerning submitting an application for the last cycle, and even though we didn’t get ours in, they still invited us to attend their May event (we aren’t pitching but still)! God is so awesome. As the founder of a fashion brand that sells through an online platform/community, it’s hard to find incubators and resources that are directly aligned with our company. Today, most tech incubators are focused on disruptive and innovative tech companies, not consumer goods. While most fashion incubators are strictly focused on fashion designers. So to find an accelerator that is focused on both is amazing.

Even though the event’s on Tuesday, I’m not leaving right away! I’ve heard so many amazing things about the Bay Area, however, have never been. I’m going everywhere during my 3 1/2 day trip. Golden Gate Bridge. Check. BK Circus San Francisco. Check. Unionmade. Check. All that. I also plan on meeting with a few manufacturers in the area to see if we can make some ground securing our product development here in the United States. I talk about that a little in my last post – Under Construction: Finding Your Focus. I also plan on enabling some goodness while I’m there by spreading the Merit name and mission around town. Here’s a look at some of the essential items I’ll need on the trip:

San Francisco Essentials

1. Merit’s More Than Conquerors Tee
- I’m going to this investment/fashion event already More Than A Conqueror!

2. Canon T2i Camera
- How can I record all the sights and sounds of the trip with no camera? Is there a “Get Ready” episode in the making?

3. Wallet
- Duh

4. Polo Shorts
- Make it hotttttt!

5. Merit Badges + Enable Goodness Coin
- San Francisco will know about Merit after this trip.

6. iPhone + iPad + MacBook Pro
- My first Mac product was the computer that looked like a desk lamp.

7. Air Jordan 1 Retro
- Come fly with me.

I’ll be back throughout the week with photos, posts, and everything in between. If you have been to the San Francisco area, what must I check out? Thanks!