Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Manos.
Matthew, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was in high school, I was skateboarding competitively. As a result, you could find me at skateparks quite regularly, training. One day at the skatepark, I met the Founder of a non-profit organization. I was 16 and had never met the Founder of a nonprofit before. His passion and energy was contagious and inspired me to want to work with organizations like his.
A few years later, while studying Design Media Arts at UCLA, I launched verynice, a design strategy consultancy that gives half of its work away for free to nonprofit organizations. Now, 11 years later, we still maintain this model and ethos and have been able to work with over 700 clients while also saving nonprofit organizations millions of dollars that they would have otherwise spent on design and marketing services.
Has it been a smooth road?
Every step of the way in my entrepreneurial journey has provided incredible learning opportunities. Having launched my company at age 19, a major hurdle was being taken seriously as a young person.
In addition, as the company began to mature, I found that we were becoming distracted by the mainstream visions of success… growth, growth, growth. Deciding to stay intentional small was one of the best decisions I ever made. If you’re reading this right now, and are feeling like you need to constantly compare yourself and your success to others, know there are other ways!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
verynice is a design strategy consultancy that helps businesses, non-profits, and governments expand their capacity for impact. With client experience spanning 700+ brands including the American Heart Association, Disney, UNICEF, and Google, our expertise is centered around brand experience and creative facilitation.
In addition, we publish a variety of design methodologies online that are currently used in over 130 countries. Driven by a mission to alleviate expenses for non-profits and increase access to design strategy for all, verynice launched in 2008 as one of the first examples of social enterprise in the design industry.
Over the course of a decade, through a range of impact models and initiatives, verynice has provided 10,000+ organizations, practitioners, and students with access to over $15,000,000 USD in discounted or pro-bono services and free educational resources.
After all of these years, what I’m most proud of is seeing verynice serve as a catalyst and example for many other entrepreneurs, designers, and students who want to utilize their skills to make an impact in the world.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
verynice would not exist if not for the City of Los Angeles. This city is such an incredible place for entrepreneurs who have interests that span numerous industries and disciplines.
Many people confuse LA for being a purely entertainment/media-driven town, but I’ve not found that to be true. We have so many wonderful creatives, activists, and emerging tech specialists that the options for exciting projects are endless!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://verynice.co
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/veryniceinstagram
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verynicedesign/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/verynicetweets
- Other: http://modelsofimpact.co http://giveall.io
Image Credit:
The Collective Europe, Katie Manos
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