Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Norman
Hi Zach, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Where do I start? I think there’s many versions – or moreso layers- to us all. It all has to do with who we are and our origins. From that place, we all progressively find what inspires us and energizes toward our ultimate callings. I’m looking back right now to observe all the layers that were simply preparation for me and others still interweaved into what I love most to this day.
I am originally from Kennesaw, Georgia which is in the metro-area of Atlanta. I grew up with a Chinese-American mother who is a pianist and poet who grew up in the Washington D.C. area. Her parents shared the commonality of their artistry which was uniquely imprinted upon my mother out of her four other siblings.
My father is from Hollywood, Florida and was an amateur tennis player as a teen, traveling internationally. This would foreshadow his ultimate career as a pilot, where in his beginning years, he would fly fighter jets, large cargo planes like the C-5 Galaxy, private airline jets and for his longest tenure of 20+ years, various airplane models by Delta Airlines.
In the early ears of my youth, I can remember flying in a private jet with my dad flying & older sister becoming motion sick, learning tennis from my dad, singing at church with my parents, my mom teaching piano out of our house and the transformative shift that skateboarding brought into my life: it gave me a culture and a community and a way of life that brought out my creative side.
From that year (2002) to now I will unpack more quickly- Skateboarding is what brought me into music. These two hobbies were my first true expressions of who I am: someone who loves culture, art, entrepreneurship & thinking outside of the box.
With the first 10 years of my career being focused on music, I discovered more clearly how much I love the convergence of art, technology and entrepreneurship. This season of life feels like stepping into the paths that most interest in me and challenge me – and now it feels more like play. It’s amazing.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Many people talk about the challenges of their 20’s as discovering who they are while in their 30’s they settle into what they’re really good at. I’ve definitely experienced this as well. Being someone who is a creative entrepreneur at heart as well, I often struggled with sticking in a “lane”. When I was trying to focus on my music career as the only career, it always just felt like I subconsciously was trying to accomplish something different. I wanted different problems to solve.
Now it’s much more clear what that means – brand strategy, e-commerce, technology, blockchain, crypto and web 3 have been an amazing lane to exist in because they are specific but broad in their applications. I get to exercise my propensity toward art, technology and strategy altogether. It also brings me around such diverse groups of people, which I absolutely love.
Many companies are finding out how to solve complex problems by implementing innovative tech like blockchain and the partnerships I’ve just now solidified are massive to providing brands, companies, & organizations the solutions they are looking for.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The easy way to say what am I known for is that I am an audio/visual creator, technologist and entrepreneur.
Whether it is selling premium product like clothing, fragrance, crypto cold-storage wallets, global award-winning software development, or using onchain donations for non-profits, what I always like to start the conversation with is “I sell compelling products and causes”.
I like a hard problem, a beautiful product and a compelling reason to be a part of something. I want to know that I am offering value to people and bringing that value into culture and the world at large.
Through my company ZZN Collection, I get to utilize selling all of these things and continue to have the ability to streamline these products into one brand, one mission and one compelling experience. What I’m most excited about right now is three recent partnerships I have made.
Tangem is a cold-storage physical crypto wallet that is a global leader in the Crypto, Blockchain and Web 3 industry. It is a way to store cryptocurrency, tokens & NFTs securely offline from hackers, the design is sleek and minimal and what they are forging for the everyday use of crypto is their new partnership with Visa announced on July 4, 2024. They also just released their Crypto Ring. I’m very excited to be offering both Tangem Wallet and Tangem Ring as an authorized reseller.
Through ZZN Collection’s partnership with Artkai, an end-to-end software development agency based in Gliwice, Poland and London, UK, I have the opportunity to serve USA markets with the same software solution that has made some of the most prominent crypto trading platforms as well as NFT marketplaces for real-world assets like fine art, wine and real estate.
Lastly, at Love Justice International, I get to invite donors and businesses into creating verifiable impact through our anti-human trafficking work called Transit Monitoring, which is as far as we know, the world’s only real-time solution for intercepting people from the trauma of modern slavery before it occurs. At Love Justice, I have been entrusted with our VP of Advancement, Jason Dukes, to expand our use of blockchain technology in order to amplify the story of Love Justice and multiply our revenue and donor operations that have, thus far, enabled us to save over 62,000 lives. This is, by far, the most important work I have ever contributed toward, and I hope to, for a very long time, be a part of what we are doing at Love Justice.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Contact me at info@zzncollection.com. I would be glad to provide business development, help your company make an impact in the world by caring for our most vulnerable, or provide private label premium products and software to increase your value and customer experience. I am here to help you offer compelling products and causes that make a tangible difference in the world.
You can also learn more about the brands and companies I partner with in my online bio at zachznorman.com/about.
Pricing:
- ZZN Premium T – $45
- Love Justice hat – $35
- Tangem Wallet – starting at $54.90
- Artkai apps – inquire
- Board Advising – $250/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zachznorman.com/about
- Instagram: @zachznorman @zzncollection
- Twitter: @zachznorman @zzncollection
Image Credits
Donté Maurice, AB+DM Studio
ABDMSTUDIO.COM
