Name: Earnest Strickland
Hometown: Rockingham, N.C.
Year: Senior
Major: Psychology and Philosophy
Relationship Status: Single
He’s creative, open-minded and entrepreneurial! Meet Earnest Strickland, one of the founders of Artifakt – a clothing company created last year by Wake students.
HC (Her Campus): What’s your involvement with Artifakt?
ES (Earnest Strickland): I do the social media stuff, so I tell people about sales and ask for their input through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I also help come up with new products.
HC: How did you get involved with the company?
ES: My friends were working on it –Tobi Durotoye (Artifakt co-founder) and I had just become really good friends. He said that one person bailed and they were looking for someone else to fill that spot. So from then on I started helping out with the company.
HC: What would you say is Artifakt’s signature item of clothing?
ES: Probably the regular t-shirt with a pocket. Now we also have v-necks with pockets, and we have the denim shirts, and we’re working on hoodies.
HC: What’s been the most enjoyable thing you’ve done with Artifakt?
ES: Setting up the website was really fun. We were all scrambling to get it in order before it launched on a certain date and there were a lot of problems. But it was just really funny because everything worked out in the end.
HC: Do you want to keep working with them?
ES: Yeah, hopefully. I enjoy working with Tobi and Mark Reynolds (Artifakt co-founder), and setting up the photo shoots. It’s really fun to have the company you started with your friends, where you’re working for yourselves and no one else, you know? It’s liberating in a way.
HC: Would you say that you’re pretty into fashion?
ES: Yeah. I like fashion a lot, not gonna lie. It’s probably because of my aunt and my cousin from New York. They’re really into it, so they kind of got me on that when I was really young.
HC: Well that’s not a bad thing! You know how to dress well!
ES: Yeah, well… I like to think so!
HC: What are some of your favorite trends right now?
ES: Probably jean jackets, those are pretty gender neutral. Beanies too. I like the beanie thing that’s going on right now.
HC: Would you say there are some things that people should just not wear?
ES: There are a few things probably, but I like that people try different trends. I wouldn’t want to say specifics and limit people on their personal expression. Personally, I do think that there are certain things that I would never wear, but I can admire whoever decides to put them on that morning.
HC: Are you involved in anything else on campus?
ES: I’m a Pike and I’m also in the Philosophy Club. But I’m a double major so I have a lot of stuff to juggle around.
HC: Now for the fun questions. Who is your current celebrity crush?
ES: Probably Eva Mendes – definitely Eva Mendes.
HC: What is the first thing you notice about a girl? Is it the way she dresses?
ES: Yeah probably! The way she dresses and just her general attitude towards things.
HC: What are the most important qualities in a girl?
ES: Open-mindedness and willingness or ability to accept faults in other people.
HC: What do you think are huge turn-offs?
ES: I don’t like judgmental girls – the whole condescending, talk behind your back thing – I just can’t really get into that too much. That’s probably my number one turn-off.
HC: How do you normally try to impress girls?
ES: I don’t know! I’ve tried to impress girls so many times and things went badly, so I kind of just try to be cool (laughs).
HC: What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?
ES: In high school this girl couldn’t open this old-school Coke bottle. She was trying to open it, and she just couldn’t get it. My brother had shown me how to open a bottle with my teeth, so I tried to do it – it worked, but I chipped my tooth! And after that I just kind of stopped with the whole trying to impress girls thing.
HC: How would you describe your dream date?
ES: Probably dinner and a movie – something really simple and classic, but we just learn a lot about each other through the night.
HC: What’s something that a lot of people don’t really know about you?
ES: I have three half siblings, but I’m still technically an only child because my mother has two kids on her side and my father has one kid, but I’m the only kid by my mother and father.
HC: So do you ever think you’ll end up starting a clothing company on your own?
ES: I don’t know! I never even planned on doing anything with clothing like Artifakt, but it’s awesome that I got the opportunity. I like graphic design and I draw a lot, so one thing that I would love to do is start a graphic t-shirt company. That’s something I might work on in the near future with my mom and my sister. My mom’s an artist, so I might print off some of her designs and sell them in Charlotte or something.
*Photography by Laura Mazurak and Artifakt’s Facebook Page.