Published: Feb. 23, 2023 By

While most people attend college to prepare for the job market, Rylan Montoya decided to do things differently. As a sophomore at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) Leeds School of Business, Rylan decided to put his skills to the test by founding the clothing and content creation company DumbClub. Over the past two and a half years, Rylan has amassed over 1.7 million followers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Rylan exemplifies that through determination and creativity, he can simultaneously pursue a startup and earn a degree.Rylan Montoya Laying in a pile of DumbClub Sweatshirts

The Spark

Rylan is incredibly passionate about the art of creation. He dabbles in creating music, singing with his acapella group (Mile21), 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 Boulder “with the goal of gaining valuable experience and lasting relationships in the business realm” in 2020 after founding DumbClub. Rylan spreads good vibes through entertaining game-show-style TikTok content where he interacts with students on CU Boulder’s campus for a chance to win hoodies and spread positivity to DumbClub’s 1.7 million+ fans all over the world.

DumbClub's signature duck embroidered on a hoodieChallenges

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

“I think how you look at challenges matters the most. Challenges are obstacles, not roadblocks. They are part of having a business and that’s what makes them fun, stressful, and exciting.”

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 “freelancers who are website 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.” On top of this all, Rylan has a partner, Ari Savitsky, who is according to the DumbClub’s website, “the guy behind the business side of things”. Ari recently owned his own clothing company, and the two joined forces to combine their unique skills. Screenshot of one of the DumbClub TikTok Videos

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 “know what works, and what doesn’t”. 

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

“Things 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.”

Through his entrepreneurial journey, Rylan lives up to DumbClub’s mission of bringing fun energy, wherever they create. 

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.

 

 

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