Five years ago, three ISU alumni created a different way to order graphic tees.

Paul Friemel, TJ Mapes and Matt Ingleby were driving home from visiting a friend one night in January 2009 and came up with the idea that would lead them to success in the apparel industry. They had seen similar business models but thought they could bring their own unique twist to it.

“We got the idea, got home and got to work,” Mapes said.

The three friends all had different backgrounds that helped them come together to make their company RIPT Apparel a success.

“We figured out the three of us had skills that worked well together,” Ingleby said.

Friemel said that it took about 6 months to get things rolling. Now RIPT, based out of Chicago, is a huge success.

Currently Ingleby serves as the CEO of RIPT. He said he mainly handles human resources, planning analysis, accounting and finance.

“Our customer base is people who like pop culture products,” Ingleby said about the typical RIPT customer.

All three owners agreed that their main target market is people who are heavily interested in pop culture, video games, comics, TV shows and movies.

Friemel said he is mainly in charge of the art department at RIPT. He explained that the typical demographic is men between the ages of 18 and 35. But their products also appeal to women.

The overall aesthetic of RIPT Apparel is that the products are high quality, cool and reasonably priced.

RIPT’s main focus is T-shirts, but it also carries other extra products such as sweatshirts, posters and coasters.

All the designs seen on RIPT Apparel’s website are submissions from users of the site. Submitting a design is a very simple process.

“You sign up for an account and fill out the submission processes,” Friemel said.

Once you submit your design, it is up to RIPT to decide which designs get to be showcased on the shirts. The website also has a full gallery of all past T-shirt designs for users to look at for inspiration when planning their own T-shirt design.

The T-shirt designs are available during a 24-hour window on RIPT’s website. Once the time goes out, users are unable to purchase that design.

“We are different from similar companies because of customer service, quality and turnaround time,” Ingleby said about the uniqueness of RIPT.

RIPT Apparel takes a lot of pride in its customer service.

“Our biggest focus for a long time now has been the customer,” Mapes said.

Fast turnaround, high quality products and quick shipping are a few things on which RIPT focuses.

Ingleby encouraged those wanting to start their own business like RIPT to meet with successful entrepreneurs and ask a lot of questions.

“Get help and ask a lot of questions,” Ingleby said. “There is nowhere you can go that will tell you what you need to do step by step.”

Mapes said having an idea is the first step and if someone has an idea they should go for it.

In other words, take a chance and go for your idea, Ingleby explained. If it doesn’t work out life isn’t over, just try again.

Friemel added one final piece of advice for anyone who has an entrepreneurial idea, apparel related or otherwise.

“If you really feel strongly about an idea don’t be afraid to just start working on it,” Friemel said.