Interview with Mike Burnstein, Co-Founder of Janji

Dave Spandorfer and Mike Burnstein -- co-founders of Janji

Mike Burnstein (Brookline H.S., Class of ’08) is one of the most accomplished distance runners to come out of Brookline’s renowned program. A recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Mike earned multiple Div III All-American honors in both Track and Cross Country there.

Beyond his athletic accomplishments, Mike is also co-founder (with friend and teammate Dave Spandorfer) of Janji, a running apparel company whose mission is to raise awareness and fund relief efforts to help address issues of food security and access to clean drinking water. Their clothing uses designs based on the flags of countries with urgent food and water crises; with every item sold, Janji directs a portion of their profits to relief organizations in that country.

Mike will be hosting a Boston launch party for Janji at Marathon Sports in Brookline on Tuesday evening, June 12th at 7:00 p.m. Mike also agreed to an interview, to discuss how and why he started Janji.

---

Jon: Welcome, Mike, and congratulations – I understand you just graduated from the Washington University, right?

Mike: Right.

Jon: What was your major?

Mike: I majored in Urban Studies and minored in Entrepreneurship.

Jon: When did you have the idea that you might want to start a business?

Mike: In 2010 -- the spring of my sophomore year – I came up with the idea for Janji while talking with my teammate and current co-founder Dave Spandorfer. We were on the bus to Track nationals at the time. Before then I hadn't considered a career in business, but the basic idea for Janji inspired me to get into it.

Jon: What is the basic idea of Janji?

Mike: Janji is a running apparel brand dedicated to fighting the Global Food and Water Crisis. Each piece of apparel is designed after a country's flag and each sale funds organizations in that country that are working on alleviating issues of food security and access to clean drinking water.

Jon: You’ve chosen to focus on running apparel, and it seems to me that the Janji message resonates especially with runners. Do you find that to be true? What kind of reactions do you get from runners when they hear about your company?

Mike: One of the amazing things about our sport is that the only equipment you need is a pair of shorts and a pair of shoes (and sometimes you can do without the shoes). Some of the best runners in the world come from rural areas with few modern resources. But two things that everyone needs to run successfully are proper nutrition and adequate hydration. A lot of runners tell me they feel they’ve taken those two things for granted -- in relation to running and life as a whole. Runners, more than most groups, recognize the importance of nutrition and hydration, and that inspired us to build Janji around that cause specifically.

Jon: On your web site you write that that in spite of efforts to address the crisis in providing food and drinking water to underdeveloped countries, the problem has actually gotten worse over the last ten years. It seems that additional funding, while welcome, can’t be the only answer.

Mike: One of the scariest things about the Food and Water Crisis is that it occurs silently. Childhood malnutrition was extremely prevalent in Haiti well before the earthquake in 2010 made the problems there visible to the world. Our goal at Janji is to create increased awareness for problems related to food and water through our distinctive apparel. We hope that runners continue to act as advocates for the cause beyond their apparel choices.

Jon: How does Janji make sure that money from apparel sales is directed toward the efforts and organizations with the best chance of making a difference?

Mike: We do what we can to directly impact the international crisis by funding organizations who are the best at what they do. We find organizations who don't just hand out food or water on a short term basis, but who use a systemic approach. They also need to be able to prove that their methods are successful over a long period of time. Right now we are working with Meds & Food for Kids (MFK) in Haiti (www.mfkhaiti.org), which produces peanut butter based nutritional medicine to children, and KickStart in Kenya (www.kickstart.org), which subsidizes sustainable water pumps for Kenyan farmers.

Jon: If runners want to get involved beyond buying the apparel, does Janji help them do that?

Mike: We’re not experts in public health, so we can’t recommend how to take action directly. However, promoting our partners is a really important part of our mission. MFK is currently building a new factory which will increase their capacity from 8,000 children served to 80,000! They need some help funding the construction efforts, and we encourage Janji runners to help contribute and help make the project possible. Janji can have a huge impact with direct funding, but I hope it’s only a small part of the total pie of what our community can accomplish as a whole.

Jon: I'm curious about the name of your company. Does that word have special significance to you or to Dave?

Mike: It does. "Janji" is the Malay word for "promise" or “commitment” and it relates directly to our company's mission. Janji's promise is to unite the running community in an effort to combat food insecurity and unsafe water conditions.

Jon: The Boston launch party for Janji is on Tuesday, June 12 at the Marathon Sports Brookline store. Is this open to anyone? What should people expect if they show up?

Mike: Yes! It should be an exciting night. Anybody can come -- the more the merrier. It'll be a fun social gathering where we will unveil Janji to the Boston running community. Haitian food will be served, in addition to drinks and snacks. Dave and I will speak for a few minutes and introduce the story and concept of Janji to the guests.

Jon: Before I let you go, I want to ask you about your own running. A few weeks ago you competed at NCAA Div III nationals in the 10000m and finished 8th, earning All-American honors. Congratulations! What’s next for you, or does running a company mean less time for actual running?

Mike: Thanks! Unfortunately I'm pretty much hooked on running and will probably be a runner for life, as long as I can stay healthy. I want to stay competitive and move up in distance to the marathon. I was really lucky to have great teams to train and compete with in high school and college, so I know it'll be tough to transition away from that community. It’s so much easier getting up in the morning for a long run, or kick the last lap of a tough 10k, when you know that your teammates are counting on you. One of the reasons we founded Janji was to give runners everywhere that extra motivation, to know you're running for more than just yourself.

Jon: Best of luck to Janji, and to you, Mike. You've had incredible success as a runner, and I hope that success continues, and translates to success in your business and humanitarian efforts.

Mike: Thanks Jon! See you at the launch?

Jon: I’ll try to make it!