A young entrepreneur by the name of Chris Pfaff started his own clothing line, called Young & Reckless, at the age of 22. The amazing part is that Chris was able to do this with absolutely no experience in business or clothing design. After graduating high school in Ohio, Chris moved to LA with the hope of working in a skateboard shop, but his plans were changed around very quickly. Chris ended up working for his cousin as his personal assistant, rather than working at a skateboard shop. He helped his cousin film the pilot of a new show for MTV. This is where Chris said that he was able to see what being an entrepreneur was all about. He said that he would go with his cousin every time he went to talk to his various sponsors, and this is when Chris realized he liked the idea of putting together a business and running it.

After realizing that he wanted to start up his own business, Chris then recognized that he was very passionate about starting up his own clothing brand, so he got to work. He used his connection with his cousin to get his name out there. Another connection Chris was able to utilize was the that one of his friends owned another contemporary men’s clothing line. They partnered 50/50 and worked to get the new, Young & Reckless brand going. They barely had to use any money for the start-up since Chris’ friend owned all the equipment they needed to start making and designing clothes. The thing that really got the company going was when they were able to get a deal with the company PacSun to sell their product. Chris said that pretty much every day after the business launched revenue increased, and they started things off very successfully.

Today Young & Reckless is a nationwide brand that makes around 31 million a year. They also have distribution of their line in more than 3,000 Macy’s, Dillard’s and PacSun stores. Furthermore, Young & Reckless has many big celebrity endorsements including people like Justin Bieber.

I find it amazing how Chris could launch his own clothing line without any experience in the fashion, and he also was able to get this huge brand going with nothing more than a high school education. Chris definitely is a great example of an entrepreneur who took advantage of the great network of opportunity around him. He was able to use his friends and family to help his business idea get started and, in the end, become very successful. Looking at this company has helped me to realize how important it is to take advantage of the connections that you have around you. They can help you out in many ways and give you the push you might need to be able to get your idea started. Though the opportunities around me may not be as big as my cousin having a super popular YouTube channel, it is still important to use those resources that you have around you for the good of your business.