Student Spotlight: Using Entrepreneurship to Spread Positivity: Rylan Montoya鈥檚 Journey with DumbClub
You are here
While most people attend college to prepare for the job market, decided to do things differently. As a sophomore at the 麻豆影院 (CU 麻豆影院) Leeds School of Business, Rylan decided to put his skills to the test by founding the clothing and content creation company . Over the past two and a half years, Rylan has amassed over 1.7听million followers on , , and .听Rylan exemplifies that through determination and creativity, he can simultaneously pursue a startup and earn a degree.
The Spark
Rylan is incredibly passionate about the art of creation. He dabbles in creating music, singing with his acapella group (), creating social media content, and even creating new clothing. These artistic expressions inspired him to spread joy with the world by creating a positive global oasis and spreading good vibes with a company of his own: DumbClub. Rylan notes that naturally, by being creative in everyday endeavors, he was able to funnel that passion into starting a company.
Rylan came to CU 麻豆影院 鈥渨ith the goal of gaining valuable experience and lasting relationships in the business realm鈥 in 2020 after founding DumbClub. Rylan spreads good vibes through entertaining game-show-style TikTok content where he interacts with students on CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 campus for a chance to win hoodies and spread positivity to DumbClub鈥檚 1.7听million+ fans all over the world.
Challenges
Every day Rylan overcomes obstacles with his creativity. Managing an extremely successful and growing company while being a full-time student is one of his biggest challenges. When asked about these challenges, Rylan says that
鈥淚 think how you look at challenges matters the most. Challenges are obstacles, not roadblocks. They are part of having a business and that鈥檚 what makes them fun, stressful, and exciting.鈥
Over the past two years, the DumbClub team has grown exponentially, giving Rylan the support he needs to grow his company and overcome challenges. Rylan says they now have 鈥渇reelancers who are website听designers, website developers, film editors, TikTok filmers (shout out to Ethan who is a CU student and is our filmer), email marketers, and customer support specialists.鈥 On top of this all, Rylan has a partner, Ari Savitsky, who is according to the DumbClub鈥檚 website, 鈥渢he guy behind the business side of things鈥. Ari recently owned his own clothing company, and the two joined forces to combine their unique skills.听
Rylan mentions that with Ari, they often talk about how the speed of decision-making matters the most. Rylan notes that this quick-paced decision-making process can be scary at times because you might fail quickly. This fast environment is something that Rylan loves about being the founder of a company. He says that you immediately 鈥渒now what works, and what doesn鈥檛鈥.听
Advice
Through the past couple of years, Rylan has learned a lot and has some words of advice for current students and aspiring entrepreneurs. He says
鈥淭hings take time, they always take longer than you think they will take so be patient and just focus on your daily actions toward your goals.鈥
Through his entrepreneurial journey, Rylan lives up to DumbClub鈥檚 mission of bringing fun energy, wherever they create.听
Want to Work with DumbClub?
Rylan and his team are currently looking for summer interns, and people to help grow DumbClub by editing content, filming content, and with clothing design. If you are interested in being a part of DumbClub, email your resume and why you want to be a part of the team to ari@dumb-club.com.
听
听