In April, Brian Carman woke up at 3 a.m. with a name in his mind — In Pursuit Of.
In Pursuit Of became a nonprofit that will give suits, polo shirts and business clothes to men who are veterans, unhoused or have a low income, so they can feel confident during job interviews. Figuring out the name was the moment he went all in.
“I liked it so much that I pulled out my phone, covers over my head to not wake up my wife, and I filed for the articles of incorporation, the business entity ID and 501(c)(3) status. And I tell you what, $750 later in application fees, there was no looking back,” he said.
Last week, he had another late night, this time preparing to serve his first client. He was trying to figure out how to calculate a suit size based on measurements.
On Monday, Carman tried out his tailoring skills, measuring the client for a suit at the AMP at 16 Tech, where one of the organizations he partners with, LISC Indianapolis, has its offices. The client was a veteran who had searched for a year before landing a tech job he’ll start soon. Carman sent him home with a few shirts to try and promised to find the perfect suit.
Brian Carman, who started the nonprofit In Pursuit Of, conducts a suit-fitting for a client Oct. 13, 2025, at 16 Tech in Indianapolis. In Pursuit Of provides suits, polo shirts and business clothes to men who are veterans, unhoused or have a low income.
In Pursuit Of will start serving clients regularly in January. Carman is finding clients through referral partners, such as InteCare Veteran Services, which connected him with the first veteran he served.
Carman’s big goal before the new year is to get a commercial van, a place to store suits and a way to bring the service to his audience, who may have transportation challenges.
So far, people have donated over 100 suits. They hang in dry cleaning bags on racks Carman bought to put in the basement of his home in Perry Township.
But before he got this inventory, Carman donated a few of his own suits. He’d lost weight and had nice suits from his banking career that he didn’t know what to do with.
“I knew that there’s folks out there who needed them,” he said. “And I wanted to make sure that my clothes ended up somewhere where people would be able to use them for some sort of self-empowerment purpose.”
Carman, 38, works at Regions Bank in community development and lending. Before that, he’d worked in Baltimore as a housing counselor, helping people buy their first homes and avoid eviction and foreclosure.
When he moved to Indiana, he worked for the state to help fund nonprofits that serve people with low-to-moderate incomes. Then, he was the executive director of Near North Development Corporation, an affordable housing developer.
In those roles, he worked with local organizations such as Helping Veterans and Families, InteCare Veteran Services, Fathers and Families Center and RecycleForce, organizations who serve the people he wants In Pursuit Of to help, too.
But one of the inspirations behind In Pursuit Of was more personal to Carman. His brother, Patrick, died in February. He worked as a bike messenger in Baltimore for years, but couldn’t find a job again after an accident.
“Clothes for an interview wouldn’t have solved my brother’s challenges,” Carman said. “It’s just anyone going through a career transition — it’s not as easy as filling out a resume and sending it out. There’s mental, physical barriers and obstacles.”
“But I would say that the last thing he would have wanted to think about was what clothes he was going to wear, he would’ve dreaded that, and he would have dreaded potentially, having to ask for help to get them. So this would have been one less thing to worry about,” he said.
“I think about Pat a lot in this space.”
How to get clothes from In Pursuit Of
In Pursuit Of plans to get connected to most clients by referrals from partner organizations, such as nonprofits that serve veterans, formerly incarcerated people or the unhoused. If you want to connect with the organization to get clothes, you can fill out a contact form and share how the clothes could help you.
How to give to In Pursuit Of
If you have professional men’s clothing to donate, you can fill out an online form to get in touch with Carman. You can give suits, suit separates, dress shirts, dress pants or ties. If you’d like to donate money, the funds will go toward getting a van to make the service mobile.
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Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
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