Pycnic

This is a production of PBS39. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Amy Burkett. Many kids work their way through college by picking up part-time jobs. But two de-sales university students are taking that a step further. They've created their own company and are running the business in between classes. Erin Flynn has their story. The latest fashion trends usually come from New York, Paris, or London's runways. Not from a quiet college campus in Centre Valley, Pennsylvania. But these two fashion forward to sales university students think they found a niche in the market. We wanted to have something different. We just didn't want to wear the everyday norm clothes with Hollister and Abercrombie, which is you see a lot on campus. And we wanted to create something different and something fun. A lot of our designs are just spurred by random ideas that something we don't see out there. About two years ago, Andrew Marshall, a de-sales soccer player, and Stephen Thompson got together and designed this t-shirt. They sold it to their friends. Steve created the logo. We started selling it in Pomona around campus and we had a great following from that. And we sold a bunch of shirts right off the bat. They sold over 200 shirts within a week, but they weren't sure where to go from there. In marketing class, we had a really good teacher, Mike Kreiser, and he really taught us a lot of foundations of marketing. So using what he taught us in the classroom and then bringing it back to what were doing outside, we realized that what he was doing was really helping us get in a better grasp of the real world. At de-sales, I think we have a real entrepreneurial type of faculty and spirit here. So faculty really take a hands-on approach with students, encouraging them to get involved in smaller projects or job opportunities. Dr. Martin Bretts is an example of one of those teachers encouraging entrepreneurship. What do you think is it about that one that makes it stand out more or that people go after? This is really what we would Martin's really gone out of his way to facilitate what we needed to get done in terms of picnic, and he supports us 100 percent. That's what I should. Their friends back their clothing, too. The pair's designs are connecting with customers from Centre Valley to Australia. They say they're selling about 1,000 items a month now, and not just t-shirts. The picnic line includes hats, sweatshirts, and more. These two spend a lot of time at the computer. Andrew's the idea guy. I think we should move the logo so it's just one solid thing. And Stephen follows through with the design. Juggling college and work takes a toll, but these two say it's worth it. The ultimate goal is just to make our career out of this and just to get in more stores and just to get our name out there and to make it a big-time name. I didn't want to have that nine-to-five job with that nagging boss that wanted me to get that TPS report done. I just wanted to do what I Andrew and Stephen say they aren't making loads of money yet. They're putting everything they make back into the company. It's really pretty neat that it just started with two guys here in Centre Valley with a small idea, and it's just grown. For now, these two will continue to soak up all they can in the classroom and apply it to picnic. And who knows, the line could be in the store near you soon. For Tempo, I'm Erin Klin, reporting.