Christopher Daus is not a typical high school student; Daus not only manages to be a teenager in high school with homework and tests, but he also manages to have his own clothing line, ‘Nice as Heck.’

“Last year, [my friends and I were thinking] of ideas of anything [to do] and I [thought] it would be cool to have a shirt that would just say ‘nice as heck’ on it because I thought that is a cool idea, and that night I went home and I made a few shirts,” Daus said.

Daus also mentioned that he launched the company about four months ago.  According to Daus, even though he has made a lot of money, he hasn’t earned anything for himself. Daus explained that he puts back the money he earns to make the company better.

“It’s not very big as of right now,” Daus said.  “I have about five products on the website currently and all of them have been sold. My total sales have come up to be just over 700 dollars to this day.”

As a matter of fact, Daus stated that a couple of his friends are helping him handle his company.

“It is my own business,” Daus said. “I own the rights and everything to it, but I really enjoy [having] advisors […] like Conor Itaya, Dennis Petlakh and Nic Cavallaro.”

According to Daus, not only did he have the support of his peers, but also the support of his parents. Daus also said that after he paid off his mother, he felt free because now he could put down the money to improve his company.

“My mom actually put down the first 400 dollars for the first installment, so they have my support and I like that,” Daus said.

Daus added that his parents were happy that he is getting experience in the field of sales and business at such a young age. Similarly, Petlakh, one of Daus’s ambassadors of the company, said that Daus’s commitment to whatever he starts is what is making him successful.

“You look at [Chris] and he kind of radiates motivation; you know he’s very, very dedicated to the game,” Petlakh said. “He wants to make the clothes and he wants to accomplish whatever he sets his mind on doing. He’s definitely going to put forth the effort necessary to get the end results that he is looking for.”

Additionally, junior Conor Itaya, the second and final ambassador of the company, seems to agree with Petlakh.

“Chris is a very ambitious guy who likes to see his ideas come to life and I really respect that in him because it shows that he strives to kind of do what he wants to do and make his own decisions,” Itaya said.

Moreover, junior Nick Cavallaro the ‘idea man’ who has come up with a design for a shirt and has had some marketing ideas for the company, agrees with Itaya and Petlakh.

“I think Chris’s ideas are a very accurate portrayal of his personality,” Cavallaro said. “If I would describe him in one word, it would be revolutionary.”

According to Daus, what started off as a pastime for himself, Petlakh, Itaya and Cavallaro is now something that they can make money off of.

“I think it was originally a hobby that turned into something that we saw as profitable, so kind of win-win situation,” Itaya said.

Daus admitted that he made the first shirt just because he wanted a shirt that says ‘nice as heck’ on it. The company started as a shirt that he wished he had, so he decided to make one online for himself. Daus also says that whenever he went out in public wearing his design, people would come up to him and ask him where he got his shirt, which inspired him even more to go ahead and create the company.

“When I went to Lollapalooza and I wore one of the shirts, people were just kind of coming up to me and asking me like ‘What’s this?’” Daus said.

Due to the fact that many people ask Daus about his business and where he bought his shirts from, Daus, Petlakh, Itaya and Cavallaro think that this company would not have succeeded without the spirit of the community of GBS and the help of their friends. Similarly, Itaya believes that Daus’s company will only become more popular in the near future because the name of the company is getting out there rather quicker than expected, according to Itaya.

Daus said, “I feel like it’s more the community of GBS and my friends that really are what has made the company what it is today, and the support of all my friends having all the stickers.”

In the hope that Daus, Petlakh, Itaya and Cavallaro learn and earn profit from their business, Daus explained that they are going to keep working hard to expand the business and the products as they move forward.

Petlakh said, “It’s the passion that drives us, it’s not the money. It’s just fun. I mean like if we want to have fun we go and have fun, so it’s never been about like making the most amount of shirts getting the biggest outreach it’s just like, ‘Hey this is cool. If you want to wear it please do.’”