Quaveien Thomas, sports and leisure studies junior, started an online clothing company in May 2016 called The Heart Break Club. It has different articles of clothing, such as hats or shirts. Many of those articles of clothing sport the logo he owns and uses often. The clothing also supports movements such as Black Lives Matter and More Love Less Hate.

The Heart Break Club is a name that came from Thomas’s past experiences of heartbreak through his past relationships.

“Rather than letting this be a negative aspect in my life, I turned it into something positive,” Thomas said.

Thomas said he wants the brand to be recognized and the customers to become a support system for each other. Understanding what it’s like to have a broken heart and having a network of people be there for you is a great thing to have, according to Thomas.

“Wearing the clothes could create a positive change and have people stop and think and possibly change their views,” said Thomas about his clothing having certain movement logos.

Many of his pieces represents the phrase Black Lives Matter or hold the More Love Less Hate logo with a row of different colored hearts, but added his own twist by the last one having a broken heart, his logo he designed and uses often on his other clothes.

“I love the idea of bringing the movements on campus, even if it’s a couple of shirts or hats bringing it,” Oneida Mireles, accounting freshman, said. “It’s a topic that needs to be discussed on campus but has been avoided. Maybe this will get people talking.”

Thomas said he was surprised about the takeoff of his brand, but it’s started to mellow out.

“The company was really popular at first which is the opposite of what I thought would happen. At first they couldn’t keep up with the amount of orders they had received but now it’s at a steady, constant pace,” Thomas said.

He also said he believes that the reason he hasn’t had time to design more pieces is because of school. He hopes to find time this semester to design more items.

“I hope to have a big booth during homecoming,” Thomas said. “I want to show support to both of those movements.”

He originally wanted to work with young athletes and make sure they were headed on the right path physically and morally, but he can’t deny it the continuing success that his business has become.

“I didn’t originally plan on this being a career choice,” Thomas said. “But if this takes off I’m going to go with it.”