Jen Gotch is the Founder and chief creative officer of Ban.do. She uses her brand to talk about mental health. Ban.do is an online retailer I first learned about from Entrepreneur. The online retailer sells clothes, shoes, accessories, and more with fun, positive messages. The real beauty of Gotch is her stigma-free living regarding mental health.
Mental health is a real issue many of us deal with directly or indirectly. Gotch “never felt a stigma and didn’t keep it private”. After her divorce, Gotch talked about her feelings and her struggles. When Ban.do started selling necklaces that said “depression”, “anxiety”, and “bipolar”, you could hear crickets in the background. What they didn’t know and what inspires me is that Gotch and Ban.do used 100% of the net proceeds from the necklace sales to benefit the nonprofit Bring Change to Mind. Gotch’s stigma-free actions led to the necklaces selling out within minutes and customers sharing their own mental health stories. Her business received engagement (and sales!) and customers felt a real engagement with an online company.
Jen Gotch is an inspiration to me because she gets that there are bigger things out there. She inspires me because she is fearless about putting herself out there. She was unafraid to talk about her mental health on Instagram! Her stories and her products make me feel happy, relaxed, and encouraged. I hope you take a look at her items and share my joy and inspiration from Ban.do and Jen Gotch!
Learn more about Ban.do and their inspiring company here: https://www.bando.com/pages/about-us