Peter Shoup has taken his love of quotes and self-improvement and turned it into a clothing line called Maximize LLC.
Sometimes an inspirational quote can go a long way for someone's self-esteem.
Peter Shoup has taken his love of quotes and self-improvement and turned it into a clothing line, called Maximize LLC.
“The business itself, what it's more revolved around, is self-improvement and I’m not done finalizing how I’m going to do all that,” Shoup, a senior pursuing a bachelors of specialized studies in strategic entrepreneurship, said. “That’s more of the overall concept of the idea and the shirts are kind of part of that — to wear it and live it.”
The company began in January, but Shoup said he is still working to perfect it and hopes to add more designs in the “very near future.”
Throughout his life, Shoup said he has been involved in leadership roles and self-improvement methods.
“I myself have struggled a lot with changing who I am as a person and trying to be better, and I had quite a bit of experience in doing that,” Shoup said. “I like to help other people do it too.”
All the business aspects of the company are handled by Shoup, who said he came up with the idea from a friend who tried and failed to run a similar operation.
The quotes that go on the shirts are picked by Shoup. He works with two other Ohio University students for the design aspect of the clothing line.
“Unfortunately you can’t fit an entire paragraph on your chest and even then, nobody is going to read it, nobody is going to buy it,” Shoup said. “So I like to alter it just a little bit, just to get the more concise aspect of it, to make to where it can fit.”
The company's sole design is a shirt with the phrase “I succeed on purpose." It comes in men's, women’s and unisex sizes and can be purchased for $29.95 on maximize-llc.com.
Because the clothing line is new, it currently only offers t-shirts, but may offer more clothing items in the future, Shoup said. Despite this, the company has still been able to make a few sales.
“I send that design to someone who actually has that equipment who can do those kinds of things and ... make sure it looks right and then they will actually send it out at that point,” Shoup said. “It’s not like Amazon where you get it in two days because there aren’t just warehouses full of them.”
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Since he is still enrolled in classes, Shoup said the work is challenging.
“It is extremely difficult to always do it every singe day, to always get up, to always be focused even though I don’t have a guaranteed chance of income or I don’t have a guaranteed sense of security,” Shoup said. “So it’s incredibly difficult to always maintain a high level of enthusiasm and still do what needs to be done in the harder aspects.”
The opportunity to help inspire others, however, keeps him going.
“It’s incredibly rewarding in the sense that it’s something I started and that I’m doing,” Shoup said. “So it’s a much different sense that I’ve had doing anything else I’ve ever done.”
@megankhenry
