We met in 2010 while working for an agency that provides services to people with disabilities. It was a small section of the agency; only about 20 employees total. What are the chances that there would be two pre-transition trans guys? We were both just starting to come to terms with who we were. It was Kismet really. We became fast friends, and then more than friends. We leaned on each other for what would be one of the scariest, yet most exciting times in our lives. We went through coming out to friends and family, some pretty serious dysphoria, and MANY surgeries together. Some of which were literally at the same time. We shared a hospital room!

Ben had been selling Stainless Steel Jewelry since 2004 at car shows, bike shows, and festivals. When we got together, we thought it would be fun to vend at our local pride show. We found some wholesalers online who sold some general rainbow merch and added it to the stainless steel jewelry we already had. It went really well, and we loved working within our community, so we started looking for more Pride festivals to vend at. Fast forward a few years and Pride became our primary job. We built a pretty large collection of rainbow merch, but the inventory was beginning to get a bit tired. We had so many ideas for things that we wanted to offer, including flags besides just the rainbow. There was very little representation out there for the other identities.

That was the point at which Outer Peace was really born. We started doing research and saving our pennies to get custom jewelry and merchandise made so that we could offer people accessories that spoke to their individual inner truth.
We try to give back to our community by making monthly donations to our local Pride centers, keeping our prices as low as possible, and we also have a consignment program to help LGBT community centers make money off of our products without upfront cost.

During these difficult times with the cancellation of live events, we are doing our best to take Outer Peace Gear's online presence to the next level. We want to become a brand that the LGBTQ+ community knows, and can trust! Please feel free to reach out to us through Etsy, our website OUTERPEACEGEAR.COM or on our social media accounts even if it's just to say hi! Instagram: OUTERPEACEGEAR or facebook.com/outerpeacegear

Wishing everyone ✌️❤️🏳️‍🌈,
Nick and Ben