As a chubby 10-year-old kid, the days David Dean least looked forward to were when he had to take his shirt off in gym class. He begged his dad for weights and, finally, at the age of 12, his wish came true.

David vowed to work out every day and kept a piece of paper and pen next to his bed to notch off each session...four lines and a slash, four lines and a slash, four lines and a slash, until he had marked off 75 days in a row.

Working out changed David’s life. Ultimately, he became a second-team All-American athlete, won two National Championships with University of Miami football, and received his MBA in Business Law. He completed all six years of schooling in just over four and should have been on top of the world. But he found himself without direction, without a purpose, and wondering what he was meant to do next in life.

He was in LA, living hand-to-mouth, making only $17,000 per year as a personal trainer, waiter, bartender, bouncer, Saks Fifth Avenue candle salesman, and whatever odd job he could get his hands on to make ends meet.

He knew he was meant to do more and found himself sitting on the grey/formerly beige carpet of his $600 a month apartment, reading self-development books trying to figure out how to get from where he was to where he was certain he was intended to be – and, frankly, just to not feel so much like crap for a little while.

Just as being a kid with disproportionately pudgy love handles led him to a life of exercise, discipline, nutrition, and physical health, his challenge of feeling lost and empty was the catalyst that propelled him to his next mission.

David ultimately built two dotcom businesses that failed – but taught him everything he would need to know to create his third. He invested his $10,000 life savings and, after 11 years, his next venture was acquired by the largest healthcare syndicate in the world, creating a partnership that would subsequently go public with an IPO on the NYSE.

David began advising other organizations and conducting speaking engagements for companies, groups, and individuals to help them achieve whatever outcomes they most desired in their lives – personal, professional, mental, emotional, financial, and spiritual.

When suicide impacted his family, David recognized a place where he could apply these principles to making an even greater impact and mitigating suffering on a broader scale.

With the belief that there is nothing more tragic than the loss of a young life, David founded TONA Activewear for the prevention of teen suicide and self-harm.

His conviction is that well-intentioned people really can solve the greatest issues of our time, and David’s ultimate goal with TONA is to inspire others to join him in creating mission-founded, impact-driven businesses to do just that – helping those who need it most. Because if not us, who? And if not now, when?

Thank you for being the most important part of our vision and mission to make the world a more purposeful place.