When Georgetown University students Laura Fawzi and Julia Greenzaid decorated a hairband with daisies and sold it to a friend, they had no idea what the small project would lead to. Two years later, they expanded to clothing designs that have become so popular that the two entrepreneurs, who graduated from Georgetown in May, have scaled their clothing idea into a fully operational company.

The founders of Lojobands describe it as a trendy clothing company that designs and manufactures apparel for college students to wear to show school spirit at sports games.

Both Fawzi and Greenzaid have always loved design and crafts and had the idea to expand their enterprise and make clothing during a snow day their sophomore year. With classes canceled and nothing else to do, the pair designed their first shirt, a cropped tee with daisies decorating the bottom. Soon after, through social media promotions and collaboration with local boutiques, their project took off.

Now Lojobands is a full-time job for the roommates. Fawzi and Greenzaid now sell their clothes through 30 different retailers. As their business grows, they plan to hire full-time employees to increase production. The company now makes around 500 of its most popular shirts each month and ships products across the country.

“We at first thought of it as just a college business, but after getting a lot of trunk shows, and a lot of orders, we don’t want to give it up,” Fawzi said. “We want to devote all our time to it and grow it even bigger.”

The designers agreed that running the company has taught them lessons about the business world that they weren’t able to learn in a classroom. They’ve also found some aspects of their education beneficial to their business: Fawzi’s major in finance helped to establish the business’s foundation.

“We had to create our own income statement balance sheet, profit and [loss] statement, and I did learn to do those in my classes,” Fawzi said. “Obviously, it was a lot more difficult doing them in real life because we had to set it up from scratch, but the classes definitely helped.”

Although logistics and paperwork initially challenged them, the two friends cherish the invaluable experience they’ve had working together, they said.

“I love doing it. It is my favorite thing to do and doesn’t feel like work at all,” Greenzaid said. “It’s just so fun. We keep making new styles and create things we want to wear, that we know other college girls like us want too.”

The college apparel industry is increasingly receiving more attention and has even inspired some Whitman students to start their own businesses. Senior Claire Brodsky began making customized phone cases to make money while pursuing her artistic talent. After seeing Brodsky doodling on her phone case, a friend requested a University of Maryland-themed case. The first order sparked a high demand for case designs for different colleges, Brodsky said. She then made an Instagram page, where people could message her or comment to order their personalized college phone cases.

“There are a lot of different college apparel businesses, so I saw that it was very in demand,” Brodsky said. “I thought that if I started making something college-based, a lot of people would buy it.”

The most difficult aspect for Fawzi, Greenzaid and Brodsky was managing their time between schoolwork and their businesses.

“It was really hard because we wanted to devote the most time to Lojobands,” Fawzi said. “When we had an exam coming up, but also a big order, deciding how to manage that time was difficult.”

Regardless of the challenges that come with running a company, the devotion to working hard and making the business successful is ultimately what keeps these students going.

“It is so rewarding and I’m so passionate about it,” Fawzi said. “I’ve worked other jobs and never felt the same drive that I do working at Lojobands.”