By Desiree Prieto
Contributor
Jonathan de la Garza, a real estate broker based in San Antonio, Texas is the creator of the Positive Pin™, a lapel pin meant for everyday wear to remind ourselves and others about the power of positive thinking.While fashion is as much about making a statement as it is about looking good, who would’ve thought it’s as much about science too? Featured on the Positive Pin™ website is an article from The New York Times concluding that depression and negative thinking can lead to a weak immune system, increasing the risk for heart disease, the cold, the flu and more. It was exactly that feeling of depression that inspired de la Garza to create the pin to begin with.
“One morning, when I was having slumping sales and feeling down, I wanted to create something that would remind me to think positive all day,” de la Garza says, “something that other people in a professional environment could also wear.”
Only a year ago de la Garza sat down with a paper and pencil to sketch out thought bubbles and positive signs, however today the demands for his pin has inspired the hat, t-shirt and coffee mugs, “I placed a small order for friends, and then a small business I knew,” de la Garza recalls, “first 100 Positive Pins flew off the shelf, then it was 500, then 1,000, then I placed two more orders of 1,000 and now I’ve just placed an order for 3,000 Positive Pins.”
Only a year ago de la Garza sat down with a paper and pencil to sketch out thought bubbles and positive signs, however today the demands for his pin has inspired the hat, t-shirt and coffee mugs, “I placed a small order for friends, and then a small business I knew,” de la Garza recalls, “first 100 Positive Pins flew off the shelf, then it was 500, then 1,000, then I placed two more orders of 1,000 and now I’ve just placed an order for 3,000 Positive Pins.”
But that’s not all. In May 2010, the Positive Pin was featured nationally in Realtor Magazine, as one of the “Cool Tools,” and eventually companies began to get excited about the product and ordered the Positive Pin in their company colors.
Typically a classic white, the lapel pin was created in teal for ExitRealty, and de la Garza created the “Positively Pink” pin for cancer awareness, a message recently swapped with the Komen Foundation.
“In February we participated in the Fight for Air 5k run/walk, which benefits lung cancer research and we’ll showcase the arrival of the organization’s new red positive pin next week,” de la Garza explains.
The Positive Pin was also featured on Great Day SA, as its following in San Antonio is strong. The Positive Pin, which began in Houston, where de la Garza lived for several years, can only be purchased on its website and at the Houston Association of Realtors.However, it’s showing up on collars across the nation. When Berney Dohrmann, founder of CEOSpace International Inc., flew in from San Francisco to address the new San Antonio CEOSpace chapter, he was wearing de la Garza’s Positive Pin and was excited about its message.
In addition, de la Garza received a hand-signed congratulatory letter from Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, praising him for the idea. But, while de la Garza is excited about all the hype around the Positive Pin, at the end of the day, it’s the fact that his message of thinking positive is paying off in people’s lives.
A portion of the pin’s proceeds go to various charities, including the World Wildlife Fund, Ronald McDonald House, Scouts Honor Rescue, Breast Cancer Research and Habitat for Humanity. And his success stories are inspiring.
“I received a story from a lady whose sister passed away from cancer. And while her sister was dying, she wore the pin and stressed upon her family to be positive because her sister’s blood type was BPositive!”This article was originally published in the San Antonio Current on March 21, 2011.
Prieto is a graduate student in the School of Business.
