Sam Brady is a freshman from Montville, New Jersey. She’s busy starting college while maintaining her own business: Sambradydesigns. Her company provides a wide variety of made-to-order college attire and more customized items.
Her Campus: Tell me a little about Sambradydesigns.
Sam Brady: Sambradydesigns is a business I started where I customize college apparel and game day clothes as well as paint and create custom Vans shoes. This includes tube tops, Sorority jean jackets, lace-up shirts and much, much more. I do everything from coming up with the design to actually painting and executing it before it’s eventually sold. I started this business because I felt there was a lack of creativity when it came to spirit wear. This also prompted me to start my own Redbubble page where I design college stickers on Photoshop and upload them to Redbubble for people to buy. This year, I am focusing on shoe designing and Redbubble more heavily because I find I have more artistic freedom with them.
HC: How long have you been running Sambradydesigns?
SB: I started Sambradydesigns my sophomore year of high school and have been developing it ever since. Usually my products are only available on Etsy, but this past spring I launched my Redbubble page and went digital as well.
HC: Did you encounter any challenges starting the process?
SB: I think challenges are pretty inevitable, especially in a startup. In the beginning, getting the word out there and figuring out how to advertise my business was tough. There will always be people who won’t support you or risks you have to take to get your business off the ground, but in the end, if it is something you truly believe in and love to do, it’s worth it.
HC: What has been the most rewarding thing about it?
SB: The most rewarding thing about Sambradydesigns is seeing my designs out in the real world. I remember scrolling through Instagram one of the first few days of school and seeing a photo of a few girls in one of their dorm rooms… and my Redbubble artwork was on her wall! There is something incredibly special about seeing someone love something you created.
HC: Which is your favorite out of all of your products?
SB: Picking a favorite product is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child, but I’d have to go with a pair of Vans I customized for myself about a year ago. They’re filled with random designs I think are cool and I wear them almost every day. At first, I was just planning on designing them for myself, but when I posted them to my Instagram (@sambradydesigns), I suddenly found myself swamped with orders and they are now one of my best sellers.
HC: Is there anything else readers should know about Sambradydesigns?
SB: You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Etsy, and Redbubble. For the first semester of college, I am focusing solely on my digital artwork so my Etsy page doesn’t have any listings, but it will be back up second semester and you can find past products I have created on my Instagram! My Redbubble is always available as well.