Support
Essential Heroes

When the world stopped, I built something

2020. The pandemic had locked down San Diego. The essential workers — the nurses, the clinic staff, the people in low-income and minority communities keeping things running while everyone else stayed home — were invisible in the coverage, underserved by the response, and exhausted.

I didn't have a client. I didn't have a grant or a sponsor. I had a garage, a conviction that this community deserved to be seen and supported, and a set of skills that could actually do something. So I built a campaign from scratch.

A full brand operation — built in a garage during quarantine

The concept: collaborate with local artists and a San Diego print shop (Enormously) to create a limited collection of custom shirts. Every shirt would be exclusively available through a new e-commerce platform — Support Essential Heroes — and every purchase would directly fund meals for essential workers from family-owned local restaurants.

I built the brand from scratch: name, identity, visual system, messaging. I built the website and e-commerce infrastructure. I developed the digital marketing strategy and content plan. I handled PR outreach that landed the campaign on NBC's Channel 10 and in the San Diego Union-Tribune. From concept to launch to media coverage — entirely self-directed.

The campaign was structured so that every dollar moved through the community. Local artists contributed designs. A local print shop produced the shirts. Local restaurants got the meal orders. The goal wasn't charity — it was a circular system that put community money back into the community businesses that needed it most.

Brought in artist Koysun — now one of the top creators on Instagram — to design the back print, lending the campaign a reach and credibility well beyond a typical charity merch drop.