Entrepreneurs Aplenty!
High school is traditionally seen as the best time to experiment in different hobbies and activities. This is because high school lends itself to an abundance of free time, and that calls for pursuing recreational interests such as sports or music. For these four Samo students, their recent pursuits have been productive and unique business ventures.
How a Samo student flipped a hobby into a business
By Jeremy Platt, Staff Writer
$3,930,000. That’s how much a 2009 Bowman Chrome Superfactor Mike Trout rookie card sold for in August. Sports cards are one of the hottest markets and Samo student Zach Jacobs (’21) has been able to create a business out of it. Starting in July, Jacobs began researching the sports cards market and learned how he can make money off of flipping cards.
The process of flipping cards relies on understanding sports and scouting potential. Flipping cards means buying cards at a low price and selling them for a higher price. In order to make a profit from flipping cards, the seller must understand which players have the greatest potential and will be valuable in the future. According to Jacobs, Miami Heat point guard Tyler Herro is an example of a hot commodity among card traders right now.
“People who bought rookie cards of Tyler Herro before the start of the bubble were able to get his cards for cheap. Now that Herro is playing in the finals his market has skyrocketed,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs’ favorite card that he owns is a 2008 Topps Kobe Bryant card. The card is a landscape image of Bryant being defended by Lebron James. Currently the card is being graded, which means it’s going to get a rating on its condition and authentication. Once the card gets graded, the value drastically increases and will sell for more money. Jacobs has been collecting cards since he was a little kid but started buying them off of eBay this summer.
Opportunities have presented themselves for Jacobs in the sports world. He has been able to have conversations with sports card enthusiast Gary Vaynerchuk about the potential of sports cards. Since Jacobs wants to be involved in sports marketing when he grows up, he was happy to get his foot in the door by flipping cards.
“This is my first taste in being involved with the sports world in a business sense,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs has been investing in soccer cards because he thinks they have the biggest potential to increase in value out of all professional sports. He acredits soccer cards with this potential because the sport is played all over the world. Jacobs is looking forward to the 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention and the 2026 World Cup where he believes that soccer cards will hit their peak.
“The Price is Right for Vague Los Angeles”
By Jeremy Platt, Staff Writer
Since quarantine started, Samo student Quentin Price (’21), has been able to focus his energy on starting his own clothing brand. In late June, Price launched “Vague Los Angeles” which is a Los Angeles style streetwear clothing line. Vague LA consists of T-shirts, hats, hoodies and sweatpants that you can check out on his website, https://vaguela.bigcartel.com/. He wants Vague to represent the city of Los Angeles and the culture that the city stands for.
Price’s first drop sold out; in his words “it went crazy”. Price designed his first t-shirt to have art of Bart Simpson spray-painting “Vague” on a brick wall. Prior to his first drop, Price sought advice from fellow clothing entrepreneurs and Samo alum, Luke Economou (’20) and Josh Rhodes (’19) on how to start his own line.
“Not many big brands inspire me more than my friend’s smaller brands do,” Price said.
He’s been able to build connections with people all across Los Angeles and has different people who help him produce hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts and more. Outside of his brand, Price’s sense of style is unique and his customers have described it as “highly fashionable”.
“My style is drippy. It’s different. I don’t wear lots of bright colors, I wear mostly black and white. I am versatile though, one day I can be wearing a sweatsuit and the next day it will be a jean jacket,” Price said.
Price has sold his clothing through Instagram @VagueLosAngeles and has goals of collaborating with brands all across Los Angeles. Now more than ever, it is important to support black-owned businesses. His clothing is empowering and can be worn on several different occasions. Price’s friends and family have been supporting him throughout the start of “Vague Los Angeles”.
“Vague is the best clothing brand in LA,” Mark Phifer (’21), a close friend of Price said.
Price is an extremely creative and joyful person. Vague has provided him an outlet for his creativity and passion. His favorite part of Vague is seeing his customers wear his clothes.
“The best feeling in the world is seeing another person wearing your clothes or having someone come up to you and ask where you got your t-shirt and you can say that you made it yourself,” Price said.
Quarantine Glow Up - An Update on Moth + Twine
By Sakura Amano, Staff Writer
Since Samo mother Nikki Fergusson first started her home business Moth and Twine selling fashionable, tie-dye masks in hopes of encouraging safety among youth, there have been many new and exciting changes made to the brand. With the assistance of her daughter, Ella Dreibholz (’21) and fellow Samo student Dasha Rothblatt (’21), the brand is expanding to make clothing items such as tank tops and sweatpants, all with their signature tie-dye design. Yet, they will certainly continue to sell their original masks as well.
Luckily for the two girls, Fergusson has much experience within the fashion industry, which has been extremely helpful in their process of building and growing Moth and Twine. Additionally, the girls expressed their newfound perspective on the clothing industry, now being on the production side rather than as a consumer.
“It’s insane how much goes into creating a successful business...you don’t realize how many moving parts there are until you’re actually witnessing it firsthand on a larger scale,” Dreibholz said.
The intention with their Instagram (@mothandtwine), was to meet viewers with a very positive, uplifting feel, hoping that by creating this niche, they could help promote the importance of wearing a mask through the pandemic among youth. Now, as they move to clothing, they have been cautious of upholding values such as inclusivity within their sizes. While they currently have sizes small, medium, and large, they hope to have an even larger range as the company grows.
“Especially since our target audience is mainly young, impressionable teens, we feel it’s our responsibility to ensure that we aren’t creating an unrealistic body standard through our clothing,” Rothblatt said.
Although at the start the two girls were mainly taking part through advertising/promoting, they have recently become much more involved in the business and professional aspect of the brand. Rothblatt’s role within the company is influencer outreach and social media management, while Dreibholz’ role is described as more “behind the scenes”, with tasks such as creating their website or getting product shots.
In terms of future plans, Rothblatt and Dreibholz have made it clear that even though everything is extremely unpredictable at the moment, they plan to continue growing Moth and Twine. In fact, they have already begun talking to contractors, looking for a location to move their business, planned to partner with influencers and talked about hiring seamstresses as orders gain speed. Even as they juggle the responsibilities of being high school seniors during a global pandemic, it is without a doubt that Dreibholz and Rothblatt's determined, hard working character will lead to a bright future for Moth and Twine.
Young Entrepreneur Abby Juan’s Unique Role in the Fight Toward Social Justice
By Sakura Amano, Staff Writer
When the Black Lives Matter movement began gaining momentum following the tragic death of George Floyd in late May, many looked for ways to be an active ally and be involved in the fight toward justice. Yet, the younger generation of activists can likely relate to the situation Abby Juan (’22) found herself in, where she was not allowed to attend protests due to safety reasons and ultimately felt that she was not doing enough to contribute.Wanting to participate through more than just an Instagram post, she began her business, Abby’s Bags, to raise profits in order to donate to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Since our society today revolves much around what is “trending” at the moment, Juan built a business around what is currently in-style; fluffy tote bags that often sport bold designs. She sells the bags on a social shopping platform called Depop in which she has listed bags of various material, size and design. The prices range from $30-$40, a more affordable price compared to others listed for 50 dollars and above on the same site.
Juan devotes over 5 hours a day to working on her business, as well as often working into the night to make sure her products are of the best possible quality. Once she receives an order, she’ll first cut out the necessary pieces of fabric, which she buys at Fashion District LA. Then, she’ll sew the pieces together using a sewing machine and also attach the satin material which lines the inside of the bag. Lastly, she’ll quality check by lint rolling the bags and looking for any possible taints, before packaging with personal messages, stickers, candy and bows. Additionally, all of her packaging is eco-friendly, an upside of buying from small businesses.
“I really want to make sure that everything I’m sending out is representative of the work I put in and that it feels personal for the buyer,” Juan said.
Although Juan does not plan to continue her business after high school as of now, she is certainly very committed to building the brand and making profits to donate to different charities each month, now branching out to more causes such as The Trevor Project, an organization focused on preventing suicides within the LGBTQ+ youth. Seeing how much time and effort Juan has put into her brand is definitely a personal reminder to support local small businesses during these unprecedented times.