Jack Uesugi spends a lot of time in his garage, but he isn’t tinkering with cars or bikes. The 17-year-old doesn’t have time for typical teenage hobbies while pursuing his entrepreneurial interest: creating clothing and products to sell on his website, www.a1000x.com (A Thousand Times). One of his latest ventures was designing and printing bandannas for the community arts event Pow Wow Hawai‘i.
Uesugi’s decision to launch his business venture while still in school at Island Pacific Academy made perfect sense. After all, he’s been surrounded by art his entire life: His mother is a professional photographer, and his father is a graphic designer.
"I’ve always been exposed to great art, so why not bring it to others?" said Uesugi, who lives in Wahiawa. He takes a collaborative approach to his business, manufacturing clothing bearing designs by local artists including Gruntled Funk creator Ryan Higa, John Koga, Boy Genius, Kelli Maeshiro and Lawrence Seward.
The artists receive a percentage of the profits from products sold.
"I like to work with artists who people might not know about and showcase their stuff. I interview the artists and get to know them," Uesugi said.
He doesn’t consider himself an artist, but he does create some simple designs with words, like "run," which is juxtaposed with a pair of oversize scissors. It was inspired by his philosophy of taking risks and pushing limits. Other designs pay homage to such iconic art personalities as Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí.
"If you’re gonna do or create something … do it big," said Uesugi, who watched his parents grow their businesses and learned to put his own plans into action in the process.
Running a business is nothing new for Uesugi. As a fifth-grader he collected produce orders from family members, friends and neighbors and delivered the goods straight from farmers markets. His younger sister, Annie, a sixth-grader, has since taken over that business.
Uesugi’s online shop generates profits of $1,000 to $5,000 monthly. He donates a portion of the income to charities on a quarterly basis, although student realities of preparing for finals and filling out college applications took their toll.
"My business suffered a bit of a decline since I was focusing on college stuff," he said.
Uesugi SAID the business has brought him a greater sense of confidence. "I’ve worked on my people skills. I can easily talk to people I don’t know. Before, I was hesitant to approach strangers."
He plans to attend college on the mainland, which will put him an ocean away from Hawaii and his print shop, but he’s confident new technologies will help him continue what he started.
"I won’t be focusing on the printing aspect of the business and will use other online resources for printing, such as a partnership with teespring.com (a T-shirt company based on crowd-funding)," he said.
Now that he’s nearing graduation, he’s been able to focus more attention on his business and is establishing a scholarship for student artists. Two winners will be awarded $2,000; one will receive $5,000.
"Giving back is important to me. I try to volunteer at numerous art events and donate T-shirts to organizations that focus on art," he said. The name of his company is based on his motto: "Every time you give, you get a thousand times back."
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On the Net:
» www.a1000x.com
