Currently In Style: Social Responsibility
While most of us college students wait around and leisurely explore our interests in hopes of finding our “professional calling” for the real world, there are a few who go one step further. The students who don’t just take classes to figure out what excites them, but who take a giant leap in actively pursue their interests, even when it requires saving money to fly to a foreign country. Meet Matthew Kordonowy, a senior here at W&L, who has a passion for diving into a wide array of business adventures, from a home delivery pie operation to a socially responsible apparel company.
Since high school, Matthew has always been in an entrepreneurial mindset. With his best friend, Viktor Mak, Matthew formed Vern Heritage, LLC, which acts as the legal entity for all future companies the duo dreams of and creates. In 2013, Matthew and Viktor started Vern Clothing, the product of a shared passion for entrepreneurship, style and travel.
Initially, Matthew and Viktor traveled to Guatemala and volunteered at various weaving cooperatives, where they set their own fair wages, and realized that they had a role to play in bringing these women’s work to the States.
They started an Etsy store to sell the beautiful hand-woven scarves and products, but to further help the cooperatives, the Vern Clothing founders made the decision to scale up and move from selling products on Etsy to having a more in depth role in promoting these cooperatives and stronger relationship with the weavers.
Matthew and Viktor used their business knowledge to form Vern Clothing and sense of style to help design and create new products that they knew would sell in the U.S. The product line (which is amazing) has grown from scarves to ties, belts, and other accessories for both men and women.
Matthew spends ten to 15 hours a week managing the business in addition to having a typical senior W&L workload (aka he’s really, really busy). With the growth of Vern Clothing and immense success for it’s first year, bringing in nearly $10,000 in sales, the only option was to grow even further. Matthew and Viktor chose to work with only two core cooperatives and hired a third member in Guatemala to oversee the quality control of the products.
Even though this company has grown and takes a great deal of time to manage weekly. Matthew talks about how Vern Clothing “doesn’t feel like a job since I’m in total control and don’t have to report to anyone. The more I put into [Vern], the more I get out of it.”
While running a company that helps empower and bring indigenous women into the 21st century, it does have its frustrations and limitations. Matthew mentions how “it’s frustrating that you can’t just clock in and make money,” but that you have to work and work and sometimes not see your effort come to fruition until months later. But the beauty that Matthew sees in it all is the direct correlation between his efforts and the success of the company. Matthew and Viktor pitched Vern Clothing at Colgate University’s entrepreneurship competition and raised over $15,000 from grants through this program and raised an additional five thousand from various equity stakes.
Matthew takes a non-traditional approach to starting his businesses. Rather than doing everything you are taught in the C-School (Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics), Matthew just dives into his projects and plays everything by ear, adapting where he see’s the need. Don’t get me wrong, he mentions how his “accounting skills come into play with financial modeling, tax returns and figuring out how much needs to be invested in inventory,” but the whole idea of planning ahead and creating a business model isn’t his “way.” For him, it’s important to “just do something cool” and not spend time creating a business model when the environment is just going to alter. Matthew believes that “at the end of the day, you just have to start…W&L has great resources and [Professor] Shay and [Professor] Hess’s advice and programs have really helped [Me and Viktor]. I don’t think we’d be in the position we are without the Venture Club and their help.”
As W&L students, I’m sure we can all tell a story about how our professors have given us advice that guidance that we will remember forever. But it’s refreshing to see their knowledge being put to the test in the real world, nonetheless by a current student who has used his resources to take such high risks in co-creating an amazing company that’s efforts are felt around the world. So thank you @MatthewKordonowy for showing us that you can have an immense impact on others while simultaneously trying to finish your FDRs and be one step closer to getting that diploma.
