My College Start-Up

"Manners Maketh Man." This is the saying that I live my life by.

The first time I had ever heard this truthful phrase, I instantly gravitated towards it. An old english way of saying that a man’s character is defined by his manners. It's short, but it's powerful.

Weeks later, during one of my college visits at Rollins College, I noticed the three words yet again, this time on a plaque outside one of the buildings on the campus. Let's get this straight, I went my whole life without hearing this simple saying once to seeing it twice in a matter of weeks. This time I really took notice.

Fast forward three years later to the fall of my sophomore year at Rollins College and I forgot all about the phrase until one day when I stepped outside. It wasn't until I was in the breezeway that attaches my fraternity house to my girlfriend's sorority house that I then realized this was where the plaque I read on my college visit was, on the shared wall of our respective fraternity and sorority. Now this is just meant to be...

They say college is a time where you find out who you really are and I think that is so true.

Once I found my niche at Rollins and my place outside of Rollins, I truly felt like my own person. I noticed that in order to truly get the most out of college, you have to know when to pick your head up out of the books and just talk to people. I've met the most interesting people and constructed a pretty strong network. I was fortunate enough to have secured a very strong bond with my barber and he opened my eyes to the world of crisp and unique haircuts. I went from always dreading haircuts while growing up to absolutely loving them. I combined this with my already existing appreciation to dressing well and being a good person; I had become a Gentleman.

I've always been a bit of an old soul. Maybe this was partially due to my parents' influences on me from a very early age but I always viewed the best musical period as the  1950s-70s. It was real music and I could relate to it. There is just something about the smooth voices of individuals such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and many others and the vocal groups with the full instrumental ensembles such as the Four Seasons, Rat Pack and the Temptations. They were more than musicians: they were performers and they sure could dance. They dressed well and they had catchy, clean lyrics that don't necessarily exist in today's music and culture. Most importantly, they treated women with respect.

A good friend of mine from high school initiated a spark of interest in me to help further express my appreciation for music by collecting vinyls. He and my brother-in-law both stressed the importance and satisfaction of owning physical copies of music. There is nothing better than listening to a vinyl and looking at the album cover and for that I thank them.

Partying and all is fun but I wanted to be more productive with my time, so I set a pretty ambitious goal for myself that I intended to fulfill and that was to start a business while in college. I could use my fresh knowledge from the classroom and implement it directly into my new start-up. I also was in a once in a lifetime window in my life. I had four years to utilize the vast college network and market. I was already a sophomore so the clock was ticking.

I started a brand that encompasses all of these things that made me who I am, a preppy hipster. I think it is unique enough to stick. The name was a no brainer, Manners Maketh. Through much pivoting, Manners Maketh became the social online clothing brand it is today but I can assure you that is not all that it will be.

I have always admired the sharp, dapper dress of men in the 50's and 60's especially, with the parted shiny hair slicked to the side. They dressed this way on an everyday occasion, not just for events such as weddings and social events like we do today. The dress, music and the chivalry expressed in this era inherently became my brand image.

Ever since my favorite three worded saying caught my eye three years ago, I became very passionate about quotes. Quotes are another major part of the Manners Maketh brand and they are on almost all of the clothing.

Ever since my senior year of high school, when I learned about social businesses, I was intrigued by how for-profit businesses can still have a positive influence on communities. I also came into Rollins as a Social Entrepreneurship and Business major. I used the principals from what I learned and implemented them into my own start-up. That is why Manners Maketh uses 20% of our profit to help aid the homeless community in the greater Orlando area. This aid primarily goes towards cleaning up those who are poverty stricken and helping find job opportunities for them. Appearance is the first thing employers notice in a job candidate and that is the biggest obstacle for the homeless when applying for a minimum wage position. What Manners Maketh does is bring our partnered barber (who is my personal barber) to the homeless shelter to give those in need a cut and a shave. Then we help find job interviews at local restaurants or blue collar jobs in the area and provide them with a dress shirt for the interview. As the ancient Chinese proverb says, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Manners Maketh is one of the only brands in today's backwards society that actually promotes being a good guy by exemplifying good manners, dressing well and treating ladies like queens. It is a brand for modern gentlemen with old souls. We strive to live by the quotes we wear on our clothing. For we are living, breathing proof that chivalry is not dead!

I want to thank my college baseball teammate, Alex Miller (from Alex Miller Organics), for inspiring me to pursue my dream and to create my own business venture. He started his own hair product business while still in college and I looked up to him for that. It's amazing how everything comes full circle, we are now business partners after noticing that we have the same target customer. Not many college kids can say that they have their own business so all I can do is enjoy the ride!

My biggest lesson to you all is to take action on your ideas. Many people, including myself, have such great ideas but never follow through with them. As much of a cliche as it is, just getting started is truly the hardest part. Stay dedicated even through adversity and know when to pivot from your original idea. As we said on the baseball team, "don't talk about it, be about it." I am my brand.

"Good manners will open doors that even the best education cannot." - Clarence Thomas