I started Promised Land in a micro city on the east coast that most people have never heard of. It comes alive each summer when tourists pour in with their families, escaping the unforgiving heat of the city to enjoy some of the best beaches, food, and t-shirts the east coast has to offer.

Asbury Park, New Jersey.

It wasn't always like this—so busy, so sought after. For decades, Asbury was a ghost of its former self. Boarded-up storefronts, empty boardwalks, a city that felt like it was waiting for something. And then, slowly, it came back. Artists moved in because it was cheap. Musicians followed. Entrepreneurs (like us!) took chances on buildings that hadn't seen life in years. What emerged wasn't some polished, sanitized revival—it was something grittier and more authentic. Dive bars and murals. Rock clubs that still smell like the '80s. Coffee shops full of people working on their next album, their next book. Misfits. Lifers. People who came for a summer and never left.

Asbury earned this moment. It didn't get handed a renaissance - it built one, block by block, show by show, small business by small business.

Springsteen wrote about this place before he made it out. And then he kept coming back. That tells you something.

We started selling shirts for that small beach town. Simple stuff. The name of the place. The pride of the place. Shirts for the tourists passing through and the locals who never left.

But something happened. People didn't just buy the shirts—they also told us what Asbury Park meant to them. The weekend they met their spouse. A concert they'd never forget. A summer that changed their life. 

And we realized: Every place worth loving has this, and a culture of people who carry it with them.

You don't have to travel far to understand what we're talking about. Maybe you've lived in the same town your whole life and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Maybe it's the neighborhood you grew up in, the city you moved to after college, or the place you visit every summer that feels more like home than home does. That pull toward a place—that loyalty, that pride—it's universal.

Every place has a spirit. You feel it the moment you arrive, if you're paying attention. It's in the light, the rhythm, the way people talk to strangers. Some places feel like they're keeping a secret. Some feel like a party you just walked into. Some feel like coming home to somewhere you've never been.

That feeling—that palpable, almost physical sense of place—is what we're chasing.

The name "Promised Land" is a nod to the old stories. The biblical idea of a place you're destined for, a land of milk and honey waiting at the end of the journey.

But we don't think there's just one.

Your promised land might be where you were born. Or somewhere you visited once, for three days, fifteen years ago, and still think about. It might be the city where you fell in love, or the town where you finally felt like yourself. It might be a place you haven't found yet. The spirit of a place is worth celebrating. That's the idea at the center of everything we do.

The vision is simple: a line of apparel for every city in the world.

So yeah, we sell t-shirts. And hoodies. And all the rest.

But really? We're selling memories.

Left to right - sister Tiffany, Me, and Mom.