Align Yourself with the Right People and You’ll Go Far

At the end of 2014, Jake Greenberg was looking for a way to give back to those who sacrifice everything for the sake of freedom. He started an Instagram account featuring inspiring pictures of military, law enforcement, first responders, and other all-American images with inspirational quotes. Jake had an idea for an apparel company and wanted a portion of the proceeds to benefit active duty and veteran military and public servants. Thus, Patriot Alliance began.

In May 2015, Jake launched his business and listed his first T-shirt items for sale. By the end of the month, he had only sold 161 shirts. That was a far cry from what he had hoped to sell to support his heroes. Maintaining troop support and morale is key to successful missions. Knowing there are people back home who support you in your deployments helps increase resiliency. Simply put: it feels great to see your family and friends pulling for you back home, and it gives you more to fight for. Countless studies have shown that to be resilient and have a high morale, social support is necessary. Building on this idea, Jake simply wanted to let those serving overseas and at home know that there was always someone rooting for them and waiting for them to return safely.

Within a year after launch, Jake and his partner, Jared Leblanc, developed more apparel products and designs geared towards not only the military but also law enforcement and first responders. What began as an effort to align patriots to a common goal of patriotism, awareness, and support of veterans has blossomed into a company Jake says he couldn’t have envisioned. Quickly becoming renowned and respected, Patriot Alliance’s mission is to “INSPIRE PATRIOTISM in the lives of people across the United States by creating patriotic-inspired gear and apparel rooted in our faith and our Constitution”.

Patriot Alliance believes in changing lives through raising awareness for first responders and giving a voice to individuals who feel unheard and unseen. Every item on their website has a message that supports soldiers, law enforcement, the American Flag, and the Constitution. They also donate a portion from each sale to numerous charities that work in support of the military and law enforcement communities.

Patriot Alliance operates on the six core values of faith, integrity, consistency, support, rooted, and others. Their faith leads them to glorify God first, others second, and themselves last; they guarantee that what you see online is what you will get in person; their mission has stayed consistent since day one; they will continuously support service members at home and abroad by raising awareness and funds; they are rooted in their unwavering faith and the importance of the Constitution; and they believe that building up others only makes a better team.

They also want to stress that you don’t have to be a veteran to be a patriot, and being a soldier isn’t the only way to serve your country.

Learn more about Patriot Alliance on their website and catch up with them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

A version of this article originally appeared on LifeFlip Media