Chris Scarpulla

I'm weary of the corporate world. I worked it for 20 years and always did what I was told to do. I believe in individual rights. I believe true leadership is the person who can work right along side his or her associates and co-workers and get the job done together rather than standing back and shouting orders. I believe people should be paid fairly and not like just another cog in the machine that beefs up the stock or creates a larger bonus for the CEO while families starve or go without healthcare.

This is not a new thought process for me. I have always been a nerd, or quiet, or not in the mainstream. I have always related to people who also didn't quite fit into clubs, organizations, fraternities, and other social groups that are popular in our culture. I always enjoyed hanging out with people who had a different take on life or different beliefs than myself.

Saints and Sinners Gifts was created after I realized that most of the things I liked were edgy enough to make some grimace, while others smiled. I wanted to have a store that offered different and odd items that celebrated life and all the beliefs, philosophies, thoughts, and ideas we hold as individuals.

My apparel line is created by hand, by me, and represents an artistic approach to recycling, renewing, and restoring items that have been previously tossed aside, much like outcasts in society who choose to travel a different or unique path from others.

To thine own self be true. Learn to live among others in peace, but find that peace in yourself-even if people think you are a saint or a sinner.

That's my philosophy.