SANS END

Meet Christina and David, creators of Lost Cruces Clothing Co - a new clothing company based out of the small city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Before Lost Cruces, though, David and Christina started their production company Cut Above The Average, about half a year into their relationship. While they were working on that, they were simultaneously trying to get out of Las Cruces and move to Denver. They quickly realized that a move like that wasn’t realistic in the short term. Soon they began to appreciate, more and more, the beauty of their home city as they understood that they weren’t stuck there - they were choosing to stay.

Meet Andy Parauka, creator of Properfit Clothing Co. - an apparel company, pattern provider, and YouTube channel. Much like I discovered Eric Yelsma and Detroit Denim on YouTube, I discovered Properfit through Andy’s fantastic sewing tutorials (do I spend too much time on YouTube?).

It all began when Andy moved from Michigan to Lake Tahoe, California to pursue a skate/snowboarding career. He was studying business at the time, while snowboarding everyday. As he delved deeper into the local scene, one thing became clear: it’s kind of like a fashion show at the mountain.

Meet Eric Yelsma, founder of Detroit Denim Company. Eric has always loved jeans. The idea of making them had entered his mind, but it wasn’t valid - you couldn’t make jeans for a living. And so, Eric spent fifteen years of his life working a corporate job in the chemical industry as a “glorified sales guy.” Well, in 2008/2009, Eric found himself out of a job. The chemical industry was going through some substantial changes, and the world was falling into financial crisis - millions of people were left without work.

Meet George. George Poulos is a skater, Youtuber, and creator of Arrow Skate Co, a clothing brand all about following your heart and doing what you love. He started the brand out of his Wesleyan University dorm room last year and has been growing it ever since.

Meet Alex, or as many of his friends call him: Nemo. Alex, a native to Miami Florida, graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Sports Medicine - a degree his family and friends and parents thought would profitable, but one Alex wasn’t passionate about. In a field where eight years of experience is required to get any experience, Alex couldn’t find a job post grad in spots medicine, so he started working at AT&T - just trying to make ends meet. Him and his boss got to talking about his dreams and goals, about Full Sail, when his boss suggested he make the leap while he was young. He did. He jumped ship and changed his career around into something he was passionate about, studying audio engineering at Full Sail University no matter how foolish it seemed to everyone else.