Designer Earns $1M Giving It The Old College Try

Micah Whitson had spent his entire life in the south. He'd never set foot any further north than the Mason-Dixon line—that is, the line separating the southern states from the north and the mid-west. By the time he got married, he felt he needed to experience something new.

He and his wife decided to pack up the car and head north, beginning a new life with his skills as a designer. They ended up in Boston. It was a world away from what he knew, but they settled in well. He landed a job as the creative director with a large health company.

But, although Micah had left The South, The South had never truly left Micah. He knew that it was a part of his spirit, a piece that would be with him forever. But it wasn't until 2011 that Micah realized just how important that piece was to him.

It was that year where some of the worst tornadoes on record ravaged the region. Particularly, Micah's home state of Alabama. Watching the devastation unfold from afar made him long for a connection to home.

But where would he find it?

After thinking for a while, Micah was reminded of the types of flags and clothes people wore to their college football games. Those colors, taglines and symbols could bring a sense of community.

Then the penny dropped. He was a designer, and he had a friend who was a printer! He decided he'd create posters, pennants and t-shirts that symbolized schools and towns of the south. He'd recapture the magic of the old college football games. In turn, the spirit and the camaraderie of the southern states would be on show in the designs of these products. It would be his first side hustle … and as you'll hear, he turned this overtime project into a self-made championship.

He decided to call it 'The Old Try', named from the expression "The Old College Try', which means to give something your best shot, even if the odds are against you. Coincidentally, the same attitude you need when starting a project like this of your own.

The first thing Micah needed was a series of designs that captured the heart and emotion of people from the south. To find those designs he drew on his own experience. He'd lived in four of the southern states and felt he could represent them well. He took common phrases and images from the areas and began to design posters and pennants including them.

Before long he had a handful of designs that were all his own. Everything was printed and made at his friend's shop in Somerville, just outside of Boston. To showcase them, he built a website. With the site up, and the designs ready to go it was time to throw a Hail Mary pass and work on some promotion.

Micah wasn't expecting much when he launched the site. He sent out a few emails to prominent bloggers to inform them of the site and what he was trying to achieve. As luck would have it, a small blog called Design Sponge picked up the story. This was no small thing, the blog receives over 700,000 daily readers so things were about to get real for Micha and The Old Try website.

That one feature resulted in over 20,000 page views, thousands of dollars in orders and most importantly was the kickstart he needed to fully dive in. Micah and his wife celebrated by inviting some friends over for a packing party to get the first 100 orders out.

Now, you could put that launch down to luck, but Micah felt it was the concept that resonated with people. Again, a shared sense of community.

Remember, this project started in 2011. The side hustle was coming of age at the same time as Pinterest and Instagram. Plus, the types of products Micah creates are extremely photo friendly and likely to be shared. Over the months and years, some of Micah's posts have gone viral and have even been shared by celebrities such as Russell Simmons and Reese Witherspoon. This has helped to drive further growth and increase sales.

In addition, further growth has been fueled by new designs and suggestions from customers. People from the south are passionate about where they come from and more than willing to email Micah ideas for new products. The feedback he receives influences the types of products that get released on The Old Try website.

In terms of financial success, The Old Try has won the Heisman trophy! At the time of our story, Micah had generated over 1.5 million dollars in revenue, and the business was profitable. This has all been built on a foundation of just $7,000 in investment and all while Micah has continued to work a day job.

Looking forward, he sees a clear road to franchise expansion. The Old Try currently has designs for a small fraction of the total areas of the United States - about one hundred and thirty different incorporated places in the US. There are thousands more to go, so an obvious growth channel is to expand that range, promoting hometown pride across borders.

Listen to today's episode to learn more...