Rob Starkman dreams that one day, athletes everywhere will wear his socks.
Not the ones in his sock drawer 麻豆精品 S� the former UCF student is talking about the socks produced by Rock 麻豆精品 S楨m Apparel, the company he launched in his college apartment. That was four years ago, and now the business has brought in more than $1 million in revenue each of the last two years and has four UCF alumni and two current students on its payroll, Starkman says.
The company recently released its product line for Knight fans, as well as lines for Gators and Seminoles.
麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檝e been very fortunate to grow very massively very quickly, 麻豆精品 S� said the 25-year-old, who spoke recently to a group of budding entrepreneurs at the Blackstone LaunchPad in the Student Union.
Rob Starkman shares insight about his company with UCF students at Blackstone LaunchPad.
Starkman didn 麻豆精品 S檛 set out to start a business. He was student manager for the UCF men 麻豆精品 S檚 basketball team for four years. Initially, Adidas held the exclusive contract to supply apparel for UCF athletics. That relationship ended in 2009 when basketball player Marcus Jordan wore his famous father Michael Jordan 麻豆精品 S檚 Nike shoes on the court.
UCF signed with Nike a few months later, and the basketball team began wearing the company 麻豆精品 S檚 gear. But Starkman thought the company 麻豆精品 S檚 basic black-and-white socks didn 麻豆精品 S檛 show enough Knights spirit. He bought dye at a department store and turned the Nike socks black and gold.
The players loved them, and fans began to take notice, too. Starkman, then a communications student, listed some of the socks on eBay and saw them snapped up quickly.
麻豆精品 S淭he company never started because I was trying to start a business, 麻豆精品 S� he said. 麻豆精品 S淚t was out of necessity for my position with the basketball team. 麻豆精品 S�
Rock 麻豆精品 S楨m Apparel now has seven employees, not including Starkman. Four are UCF alumni 麻豆精品 S� Austin Crane, Josh Netterstrom, Mike Pacini and Steve Rollins, all 2013 graduates 麻豆精品 S� and two others, Colin Cleven and Justus Griffith, are currently enrolled at UCF.
The company based near Mall at Millenia makes socks using its own dyeing process that 麻豆精品 S檚 capable of producing crisp, intricate designs. It 麻豆精品 S檚 branching out into other apparel, as well.
Rock 麻豆精品 S楨m Apparel has a growing following, including a social media audience of more than 600,000. The company has done custom sock projects with ESPN, Red Bull and Champs Sports, as well as professional, collegiate and school teams 麻豆精品 S� including producing the NBA Championship socks for the Golden State Warriors.
In addition to its online store, Rock 麻豆精品 S楨m socks are sold in the Magic team store, and the Gator, Seminole, Knight Fever memorabilia store in College Park. Starkman is talking with national retailers with an eye toward further expansion. That goes for on the field, too.
麻豆精品 S淭en years from now, I want every piece of clothing worn by UCF athletes to be Rock 麻豆精品 S楨m Apparel, 麻豆精品 S� Starkman said.