Our Story
My childhood was good in many ways, but also filled with fear, doubt, and violence. I didn’t speak much until I was in my late teens, and by then I had been in countless schoolyard fights and confrontations. I was so young that I did not understand how to talk my way out of a problem; it seemed fighting for respect was the only way.
After graduating high school in Texas, I felt a bit lost. Leaving behind the structure of school, studies, sports, and home life was a significant change. I attended college for a few semesters, but I still felt lost and like I was not living with purpose. However, I remembered that I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish in my lifetime, which I had jotted down in high school. It was called my “100 Dreams” list. I believe that reading this list was the catalyst for all my future successes in life. When I looked at the top three dreams on my list: 1) become a doctor, 2) become an Olympic champion pole vaulter, and 3) become the top male model in the world, I decided to go for dream number 3. I dropped out of college and hitched a ride to South Beach Miami in search of a top modeling agent.
I ended up homeless on the streets of South Beach, Miami for about six months. With some luck, I was eventually signed with the talent agency Irene Marie. Only a week later, I was rollerblading down Ocean Blvd when a man grabbed my right arm and said in broken English, “I want to do a photo with you.” I was wondering why a stranger would be so direct with such an odd question, so I instinctively pulled my arm away, saying, “Call my agent, Irene Marie.” As fate would have it, that man was Gianni Versace. And within weeks, I was shooting his international clothing line campaign with photographer Doug Ordway.
This one chance meeting catapulted me into shooting with many of the top photographers in the world from 1993 to 1998. I had the opportunity to learn about many cultures globally and meet some truly amazing people. I was even a guest on the Joan Rivers Show as an up and coming Male Super Model. What a ride! Everything was changing rapidly, and I even accomplished 90% of the things on my original 100 dreams list. Some of the items were things like dating Cindy Crawford, but at that time her net worth was 10 to 20 times mine, so I just decided it was a lost cause. However, as many things had changed in my life, one thing seemed to follow me no matter where in the world I traveled: my anger and my difficulty in expressing my truth or true feelings.
Over the years, I have struggled to find ways to quell my anger that had been driven deep into my soul during those formative childhood years. Those years are supposed to mold you into the person you are destined to become. They can either break your spirit or instill enormous self-worth. Shockingly, my parents were able to do both. However, I have never known how to take my hurt and the abuse I suffered and turn it into something positive. Nonetheless, I knew how to feel pain and sorrow and then transform them into success because anger propels me forward, and that is how I became a top model. I had no fear of rejection or the unknown. Through counseling and the right relationships in my life, I came to an understanding. I must learn to identify those feelings that have held me emotionally hostage for so many of my adult years. It became evident to me through counseling and self-reflection that the emotions and some of my actions were inflicting damage on who I was and what I wanted to become. They also had an effect on how I treated others. Anger, negative self-talk, disrespect, resentment among many others, I categorize them as “inner weapons.” They are negative feelings that lead to self-destruction. How can we learn to find peace when we are constantly at war within ourselves?
I wanted to share the concept of “burying your inner weapons for peace” with the world. It takes humility and bravery to identify and overcome our own inner weapons. Only then are we able to experience peace within ourselves that can allow us to truly be our best.
In 2014, my wife Kelly and I had the original idea for this clothing line, coinciding with the peace movement. But it took us time to create our brand and the peace symbol. We tirelessly worked on it and realized that the true ancient peace symbol is the broken arrow, while a crossed arrow signifies friendship. By embracing the broken and crossed arrow, we can show the world that we are not afraid to become the best version of ourselves and stand for peace!
Modern peace warriors like John Lennon performed “bed sits” to peacefully protest wars showing the world his brave and strong opinions. Mother Teresa would not attend “anti war rallies”, instead she boldly chose to exclusively join “peace rallies”. Mahatma Gandhi also fearlessly and defiantly performed many highly public personal fasts to peacefully invoke great positive change for his people.
Our custom designed clothing and accessories proudly display an ancient indigenous symbol of peace, “the broken arrow.” Peace warriors are the bravest of the brave.
As you wear the broken arrow, you will feel empowered to be your best self and draw on the strength of our tribe. May we “Bury our inner weapons of war” and together lift each other as we boldly stand for positive growth and peace.
May you live your most authentic life filled with personal power, wonderful beauty, endless joy and inner-peace.
100 Billion+ Broken Arrows 4 Peace!
Welcome to the tribe filled with the bravest souls on earth. The Peace Tribe.
With Love and Gratitude,
Stewart and Kelly Marriott