Release Sunglasses is a brand that was founded in Oxford last April by three Miami University business students. Now, a year later, it has grown into a company that receives orders from both around the country and internationally.
The founders, Alek Toumert, Blaine Westropp and Matt Rosinski, have all been friends since grade school. Currently seniors, the three began by discussing the possibility of a company in which they could share a common vision and provide a great product with excellent customer service.
According to Toumert, they started off selling Miami-related products for such events as Green Beer Day.
"This idea for our own company began as an idea around early February of last year," Toumert said. "We sat down, and began to progressively make this happen."
Westropp described the initial start as an idea that rapidly morphed into reality almost overnight.
"I remember I was sitting with Alek, messing around with logos when we found a supplier and put in an order," Westropp said. "I was literally coding the site as we were talking about what to call the brand. Then the day we received the order, we put the sunglasses up on the site."
The name stems from a philosophy the trio firmly stands by, which is the importance in releasing oneself from a negative state of mind.
It's the importance of a positive outlook on life that really is the message behind the company and is something all three wish to share with their customers.
While currently based in Oxford, ‘Release Sunglasses' is a predominantly Internet sale-based corporation. Everything has been independently run and launched by the students from the beginning, including pooling money out of their own pockets to cover the startup costs. The site is completely managed by the three, and includes photos and videos shot and edited by them as well.
"That's definitely cool that Miami students have started a business while still in school," first-year Viktor Barricklow said. "The amount of time put into something like that while continuing to juggle work load from class has to be crazy."
All three founders have made time for their company, especially Matt Rosinski who is a double major and on Miami's varsity baseball team.
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"Overall, it's been a fun and rewarding experience," Tourmert said. "We have future plans to continue with this business right after we graduate. We're all from Cleveland so we want to startup an office downtown."
Westropp hopes to take ‘Release' towards a higher end of sunglasses with a unique quality that no one has seen before.
"We really enjoy the video production and photography aspect of the company, so we want to do more of that as well as generate more sunglasses." Westropp said.
Both Tourmert and Westropp agreed that one of the best parts of this experience has been watching their vision take off.
A year later from their beginnings as a developing plan, they now stand as company owners with the full satisfaction of success due to independent planning and effort. Their products can be found at www.releasesunglasses.com/
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