Student Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True

By Keli Demertzis

If you had to compromise your individuality in order to keep your job, would you do it?

Senior Adam Reiss faced this dilemma after being asked to remove his nose piercing for a new job. He refused, and Coffee and Cigarettes Clothing Company, his Web-based T-shirt company that officially launched two weeks ago, was born.

Reiss, who is a psychology major with minors in Spanish and creative writing, began his journey toward student entrepreneurship after a coffee shop chat in June 2011, when he and a group of his friends first envisioned the online clothing company. A potential employer's request for him to remove his then-unhealed nose piercing served as the catalyst to get his T-shirt business off the ground.

"To others, this seems like something really trivial and obvious: take out the piercing and keep the job," said Reiss. "It rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't — and still don't — want to have to compromise myself for a job, especially at this point in my life, and for a job where I'd be serving food and mopping floors. I quit the job before I even started and decided to make my own way, to find a way to make money and not compromise myself in any sense."

However, Reiss did not jump from a minimum wage employee to an overnight success story; he spent nearly four months looking for investors and completing legal paperwork. He first applied for and was denied a loan in early summer because he was "21 with no collateral and no income."

"So I went to my parents, informed them of the situation and upon hearing the interest rate — the estimate was 10 percent at best — my dad basically said, 'Eff a bank. I'll lend you the money. I trust you; you'll pay me back,' " said Reiss.

The next steps included producing the designs for the company's T-shirts. According to Reiss, finding a T-shirt designer was "pretty taxing" and "a learning experience." He had to learn how to approach and communicate with potential business partners in an appropriate way. "Figuring out how to navigate the world of professional correspondence was weird," said Reid. "I think I initially offended (a potential designer) by offering him financial compensation much lower than he expected."

Reiss has voiced plans for company expansion — proving that this isn't just an after-school hobby. He wants to add more shirts to his line, as well as hats, crewneck sweatshirts and women's clothes. Also, he has plans to host a promotional event with The Hut. "I plan on going as far as possible with this," said Reiss. "If this is my job for the rest of my life, that would be really rad."

As a student entrepreneur with real-life experience in the corporate world, Reiss offered some words of advice to his fellow Broncos who are interested in starting their own businesses, especially non-business majors. "Don't let anything discourage you, as cheesy as that might sound," said Reiss. "You have to make things happen, make your own way — there's no single path. I mean, I'm not a business major; I've never taken a business class. And here I am, running a business. Forget everyone else. Do what you want."

Reiss's recent business launch has proved that sticking to your guns can pay off. When asked why he thinks he has what it takes to be a business owner, Reiss answered: "Because I want it. I want it real bad. And I'm doing something about it. I think that's half the battle."

Contact Keli Demertzis at kdemertzis@scu.edu or (408) 554-4852.