Uju is the founder of Pop Style (), an on-campus pop-up thrift shop that allows you to buy, donate and trade clothing for $3, $7, or $10. Customers can donate clothes they don't want anymore but someone else could wear and trade clothes at each price point.
Where did you get the idea for your venture?
The idea for Pop Style initially originated from the concept of a thrift store fashion show that I created for the first Kent Creativity Festival in 2016. This concept was inspired by my love of thrift shopping and styling, so I wanted to make both available to the community. The following semester I took Introduction to Entrepreneurship, in which I had to develop a business idea for the final project. I took the thrift store fashion show concept and made it into a business model of an on campus pop up thrift shop.
How long have you been working on your venture?
Pop Style鈥檚 concept evolved from a thrift store fashion show into an on-campus pop-up thrift shop that launched on September 24, 2018. The delay from conception to launch was because I studied abroad for the 2017-2018 school year.
Where did your funding/capital come from, and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors/customers for your venture?
Pop Style has been funded by the College of the Arts Flash Grant, and I won third place for my business pitch at LaunchNET鈥檚 Idea Olympics. I expect many of my customers to be fashion students and faculty, but I hope other students are willing to make the walk to Rockwell.
What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
Thrift shopping and fashion styling are two of my favorite things to do. Those interests, along with my major in Fashion Merchandising and minors in Marketing and Sustainability, came together to inspire the creation of Pop Style.
What makes you happy?
Buying 15 items for $25 at a thrift store makes me happy. Bubble tea is a close second.
Pop Style has 2 more pop-up shops this semester, on November 6 and December 4, 2018. Check it out at Rockwell!