The hiss of a teenager’s skateboard wheels skimming the pavement is often background music to an adolescence of ambition.

Making it big and doing something for their home turf in the Des Moines skate scene was on the minds of two ambitious students since they arrived on campus.

A little more than a year ago Payam Imani, sophomore in apparel merchandising design and production, and Dan Bergeland, sophomore in electrical engineering, went to an art supply store and split the cost of a basic screen printing kit with ink.

After playing around with designs and throwing out ideas for a company, they hooked up with high school friend Michael Greenlee of Des Moines and decided to become entrepreneurs.

They were prepared to make their dreams a reality.

“It’s called Eleven:Eleven,” Imani says. “We always make wishes when we see 11:11 on the clock and that means something to us.”

The close-knit trio has been developing T-shirts using screen printing and experimenting with methods of dripping bleach on dark vintage colors. Many of the designs have some kind of tie to Iowa, such as “flood of ’93” or the eagle design from the Iowa flag.

“We believe that by staying true to Iowa, we will attract customers worldwide with our presentation of something different,” Imani says. “If we are successful, we will be an outlet for Midwest talent to be seen by the world.”

Their ideas have been spreading like wildfire by word of mouth and soon they plan to take their highest quality designs to boutiques in Ames and the East Village in Des Moines. There are also prototypes in the works for jackets, pants and an array of other products they plan to produce.

But the ambition doesn’t stop there.

“The vision is to one day sell our Des Moines-based clothing on a national level through retailers like Urban Outfitters that reflect our image,” Imani says. “Eventually, I would like to sponsor some local skateboarders, to create exposure for them.”

They have a long list of other ventures and events they plan to create and support to make the voices of Iowa’s progressive culture heard. But right now it’s all just a fantasy.

“We’ve definitely had some setbacks,” Bergland says. “But we believe in it.”

Believing in each other also is important, with each person bringing individual talent to the table.

“I like to call myself the head of sales and marketing, the public relations person and definitely the dreamer of the group,” Imani says. “Michael is incredibly talented, and he’s the designer of the group. Dan is the business guy. He works with the legal stuff and he’s the brains of the group.”

Bergland says he agrees.

“Any one of us could not have done this without the others,” Bergland says.

Many people at Iowa State also helped the trio make its ideas a reality. Imani made many contacts as president of the Entrepreneurship Learning Community his freshman year, including Judi Eyles from the ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, and ISU alumnus Wendell Mosby, who owns his own clothing line called Wimp Wear.

“Above all, if we are going to be successful, we have to stay true to our hometown,” Imani says.