Creative ambition drives the best of artists. Josh Staab , senior in civil engineering, certainly qualifies as an artist with ambition, with high hopes for the future of his fledgling company, Carolus . The company is surf inspired and primarily consists of surfing tees.
Staab and co-founders Jeremy Smith and Chris West created Carolus back in 2007. The company has a very Steve Jobs-esque origin, with Staab and co-founders creating the company products out of their garage in Atlantic Beach. They started printing shirts by hand on their homemade manual press and continue to do so today.
“We taught ourselves everything from YouTube,” Staab said. “At first we built our own printing press, then we bought one off Craigslist.”
All Carolus apparel is printed with environmentally friendly water-based inks, which allows for an authentic and comfortable feel. The water-based ink sinks into the shirt made of stock cotton from American Apparel and becomes part of it, rather than heavy plastisol based shirts, which feel like a vinyl sticker resting on top of the fabric.
Though Carolus was born to humble beginnings, the company currently sells in six different venues along the North Carolina coast. According to Staab , word of mouth is the best way to advertise due to its nonexistent price tag, but he has utilized other methods of advertising. In fact, Carolus was featured on the cover of Surf Carolina Magazine in 2009.
“We’ve had print ads in surf magazines, but surfing is about being creative and different,” Staab said. “We’re trying to get good footage so we can make something fun that people actually want to watch; it’s a little guerrilla marketing.”
For Staab, inspiration for Carolus derives from working in surf shops, a passion for surfing and a love for North Carolina. The name of the company, Carolus, is Latin for Charles, which is the namesake for Carolina, presenting the North Carolina loyalty.
“Carolus was born out of long nights working at surf shops at Atlantic Beach,” Staab said. “Three friends and I saw how bigger brands like Billabong were preaching out the core values of the sport but selling to Macy’s and other department stores. Surfing is a counter-culture; we are more about getting back to the core and getting back to the roots.”
Staab plans on expanding the products of the company in the near future. Expanding product range means a significant jump in production values for Carolus.
“Once the company gets going, we’re going to make the leap and go full time,” Staab said. “We want to start making some flannels, board shorts, and definitely denim since we’re a North Carolina based company.”
Expanding may not be so easy. Staab and co-founders will have to fit into the market and compete with prominent brand names.
“The market is so over-saturated for surfing,” Staab said. “There’s over 50 surf brands and they’re all doing the same thing. For us, competition is about finding our niche, and the best way to do that is to keep everything as American as possible; keep on the American train. What helps us is that we’re young; we’ve been on the front lines of the industry. We know what people are getting; we know what people want. Now it’s just about combining all those things to make something new.”
Though he is a civil engineer major, Staab has a passion for his company, so he minored in entrepreneurship and plans to follow that path for his future career. He does not see himself with a civil engineering job in the future.
“I definitely encourage anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship to take a minor in it,” Staab said. “It’s a cool experience to be in entrepreneurship here at State.”
Carolus is currently featured on kickstarter.com for its campaign to raise money to prime the upcoming company. The campaign ends Dec. 11; the company currently stands at nearly $6,000 with a $13,000 goal.
Staab said he’s thankful for the support he’s received from the surfing community in eastern North Carolina and encourages the N.C. State beach bums to check out Carolus.
