>> ... Next Generation ...
Fly Boys
Two West Bloomfield High School students have style
and a successful business under their belts.
LYNNE KONSTANTIN I CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ndrew Jacob caught the
entrepreneurial bug when
he was in middle school. But
,
— he didn't go the lemonade-
stand route: He bought cast-off items from
friends, sold them on eBay and his own
website, cut his friends a percentage and
made a profit.
And like his dad, Joel Jacob, owner
of West Bloomfield's the Bottle Crew
manufacturing company and recipient of
the 2011 Activist Award from the Jewish
Community Relations Council, Andrew
says, "I always knew I wanted to start a
business."
He only had to wait until his junior
year at West Bloomfield High School.
Paired with Andre Najmolhoda, whom
he had known since his freshman year,
as study partners in English class, they
spent a lot of time in the library — not
studying.
"We became good friends," says
Jacob, who is a Hillel graduate and
belongs to Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield.
Najmolhoda, a first-generation
American of Persian, British and Mexican
descent, has always been interested in
fashion.
"I'm always up on the latest trends,"
says Najmolhoda."When Andrew told
me about his business in middle school,
and that he'd been thinking about what
he wanted to do next, I said, 'Wow! I
want to start a business with you.' His
enthusiasm was really contagious, and he
was very serious about it."
The pair, now 17, began brainstorming
and combining their interests, and
researching trends and manufacturers to
produce their product.
"We knew we wanted something
fashion-related, but most items already
have another trend tied into them, like
T-shirts," says Najmolhoda. "We chose
belts. They're not really seen as a hot
item, and we thought we could do a lot
with them."
They were right. After choosing a
manufacturer that bought their business
plan without knowing the duo were
teenagers ("They were really surprised
and supportive when they found out,"
says Jacob), doing more research,
Andrew Jacob and Andre Najmolhoda
OverTheFly Astro Belts
Skyping often, creating molds and
sending samples back and forth, they
came up with the Astro Belt, named after
Jacob's dog.
"I've had hat collections, T-shirt
collections — we wanted to find
something that could be collectible like
that,"says Najmolhoda."I've had a few
leather belts to hold up my pants, but
nothing really as a trend itself."
The sleek yet simple design of the
ultra-cool Astro Belt, just one product
under Jacob and Najmolhoda's growing
OverTheFly label, easily lends itself to
its assortment of 20 delicious colors,
like tangerine, azure, hot pink, basic
black and more, with 20 coordinating
and contrasting buckle colors that can
be mixed and matched and purchased
separately on OverTheFly.com . The belts
are one-size-fits-all; the ends can be
snipped off for a perfect fit.
Adds Jacob, "We wanted it to be
unique, something that kids would say,
'I've got to have that belt.'"And they are.
The partners started wearing their
creations to school to get people's
reactions, which were mixed."Some kids
weren't crazy about them; others were
like, 'That's awesome,'"says Najmolhoda.
"Our first order was 100 belts, and
we sold all of them out of our trunk at
school. A teacher saw me wearing one
in U-M colors and ordered one. Now
everyone's wearing them."
Najmolhoda, who has friends who
work at Pogo Skateboard Shop in
Birmingham, convinced the manager that
the product had potential. She ordered
six, which sold out in two days."People
were taking pictures and posting on
Facebook, saying how cool they are,"
says Najmolhoda. "It was amazing."
Most recently, Astro Belts were
featured internationally on Fab.com for
a three-day sale — which is all it took
to sell more than 200 belts around
the world and motivate them to begin
working on expanding nationwide.
Encouraged by their school's assistant
principal, Patrick Watson, to sell the belts
at school to help raise money for the
West Bloomfield Athletics Department as
well by Jacob's father's activism, Jacob
and Najmolhoda have developed the OTF
Plus a Purpose program, in which they
develop monthly limited-edition belts to
benefit in-need organizations.
Jacob and Najmolhoda are looking
toward their futures, which are bright
with the promise of expanding on their
success. Jacob has always planned
to study business in college, and is
considering U-M or a few schools on the
East Coast.
Najmolhoda, however, is considering
a change to his plans: "I had been
interested in science or medicine, but
now I'm really enjoying the business side
of things," he says. "I'm thinking of that
as my future." _!
Astro Belts range in price from $7.50 for
buckles to $25 for premium belts to $29.98
for limited-edition belts. Look for them
at Pogo Skateshop, Birmingham; Guys N
Gals, West Bloomfield; Rear Ends, West
Bloomfield; People Skate and Snowboard,
Keego Harbor; Goods, Detroit; and
OverTheFly.com .
October 18 • 2012
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