Navigating a busy college schedule is hard. Navigating a busy college schedule while running your own business is even harder.
For Elena Bonvicini, who founded the viral clothing brand EB Denim in high school, scaling her business during her time at the University of Southern California was a tall order. By the time she was a junior, EB Denim was bringing in over $1 million in revenue and Bonvicini was managing a handful of employees and interns.
The success got her thinking: Why keep paying tuition and taking classes when she already had her dream job?
“I was realizing I was already doing what I wanted to do with my future and I was making money,” she told CNBC Make It. “Like, real money that was tangible.”
On top of studying and attending class, Bonvicini would spend her weekends acquiring hundreds of pairs of jeans at the Melrose Trading Post or Rose Bowl Flea Market and building relationships with suppliers. She would then have those jeans reworked into new designs, set up shop in her sorority house and invite her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters to browse the selection.
If she could drop out of school, Bonvincini thought, she would have even more time to grow her business.
“I probably said it to my mom at least a couple dozen times,” she said with a laugh. “I was on the verge of tears having to study for finals and I was like, ‘Please, mom, I don’t want to go back!'”
Her protests, however, fell on deaf ears. She knew there was “never a question” that she wouldn’t get her degree. Despite the difficulties of juggling her academic and professional responsibilities, Bonvicini made it work.
Taylor Swift wearing EB Denim’s Polka Dress.
“It was definitely a balancing act,” Bonvicini said. “I would blow off class if I had to. There were times where I was going to Fashion Week and traveling and I’d just have to let my professors know, ‘Hey, sorry, I’ll have to pay the consequences, but I’m just not going to be there.'”
The now-26-year-old tried to make the most of her time at USC to help her grow EB Denim. She studied public relations and entrepreneurship, fields she said are “directly applicable to my business.”
“As much as it was annoying to have to get out of bed and show up to class and do the assignments, I ultimately was like, “OK, well I’m still applying it to my business, so it’s not the end of the world,'” she said.
Looking back, Bonvicini is glad her mom never gave her permission to drop out.
“My classes made me think about everything in a more professional and sophisticated lens,” she said. “Which I think really helped me in so many ways.”
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