TRU Colors is a brewery that stands for unity across all kinds of communities—starting by breaking down racial barriers, stopping street violence, and bringing people together (often over a good beer). But this is a brewery unlike any other: TRU Colors was founded by and employs active, rival gang members who come together to do honest work and advance a shared mission to stop gun violence.
George Taylor, President and CEO of TRU Colors and founder of online beer community Untappd, joined Purpose 360 to share the TRU Colors story. The brewery is slated to open late summer 2020 in North Carolina.
Listen for George’s insights on:
- Why founders opted for the brewery model as a way to employ local gang members (and why George considers TRU Colors to be “in the opportunity business”)
- How the “unpitch” helped forge an authentic partnership between fledgling TRU Colors and Anheuser-Busch InBev
- How Community Ambassadors and the TRU Work initiative engage gang members in their communities to advance the mission to stop gun violence
Links & Notes
- (00:00) – Welcome to Purpose 360
- (00:47) – Introducing George Taylor of TRU Colors
- (03:25) – The Business Model
- (04:58) – Meeting the gangs
- (11:12) – The journey
- (17:18) – Building trust
- (19:02) – The Path to Prosperity
- (25:49) – Communicating peace over Zoom… And Madden 2020
- (30:30) – Finding the Social Impact investor
- (31:53) – Social impact data
- (38:25) – The Brand
- (41:17) – The Start-up Model?
