After being displaced from my career as a banker during the economic crisis, I found myself with more time on my hands. I decided to volunteer more of my time to the young man that I mentor. As I worked temporary jobs and assignments to suffice for my lost income, I also spent time with my little buddy and his friends. I noticed that it was an honor to be able to hang out with them as it reminded me of what it was to be young and impressionable. The young bunch are avid skateboarders, funny and creative individuals that have experienced their fair share of troubles as first generation Americans, one parent or no parent, latch-key kids. In January 2011, we created G-Steez Lifestyle Brand and decided to publish a magazine and sell apparel. To date, we’ve been very well received by our peers and have produced a series of magazines that can be seen at:http://issuu.com/gsteezmag. We were even on the radio when we launched (http://soundcloud.com/1080pixelation/g-steez-radio-intrvw) Until now, we’ve been able to make enough money to produce our magazine and apparel (for the most part) and I’d fill in the gaps.  Venture capitalists have thrown figures at us; however, the deal never seemed right.  I’ve fallen in love with this project and have gotten close to ruining my credit in order to see this through.  That’s how much I believe in G-Steez. Unbeknownst to my parents and others, my vehicle was even close to repossession at one point in time during this journey. The bright side is that we’ve been able to see what we’re made of; what were capable of… I feel that it is very important in this day and age to show our future leaders, voters, writers, filmmakers, athletes & designers that their options aren’t limited only to the typical Vegas jobs. I’d love to eventually facilitate scholarships, foreign exchange programs, summer jobs and internships for our young contributors while they currently continue to learn valuable life skills such as: critical thinking, deductive reasoning and decision making skills among others.  Please help us with our dream and to produce our One Year Anniversary issue that has yet to be released :-/ Otherwise, we’ll be forced to return the funds that we’ve recieved from the current supporters that we’ve contractually obligated ourselves to and end this mission before it makes the impact that it should. Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter.