At a young age, a passion for business and entrepreneurship can be the foundation of a successful career. Student Abdoulie Salla has just that. At 17, he created and was part of four businesses, including his new clothing brand, Footy Flex, designed for people who love soccer and fashion.

“I started Footy Flex with one of my friends after being asked if I wanted to start another business. He’s a pro soccer player, and I do marketing, and we collaborated to make a clothing brand targeted to soccer players but for everyone; I like that it’s a way to combine my love for soccer and entrepreneurship,” said Salla, senior. 

Salla and his business partner share a passion for playing and watching soccer. They have set a goal to have 100 professional soccer players wearing their brand by next year. So far, they have recruited five players to promote their brand: Bubacarr Trawally and Ale James Hernandez. This representation makes their brand more marketable because of endorsements from professional players.

“This is something I’m passionate about, not because of the potential impact it could have by getting professional soccer players to wear it, but because it allows me to show my passion. The pro players are just a bonus,” said Salla. 

Their goal for the future is bright. They recently broke even in profit and plan to extend the brand and have more people proudly and confidently wearing Footy Flex.

“We have an in-person store that picked up our brand to sell in the Mall of Maryland. I hope that more people will pick up the brand to sell so we can reach a larger audience. Currently, we are making most of the sales online, and we promote them through social media,” said Salla.

Currently, Footy Flex has one design for T-shirts sold in four different colors: black, pink, white, and blue. In the future, they wish to expand their brand to make more products like hoodies in more designs, which are in the works. 

“I like to design, so I made the design for the shirts online. It took months, and I made multiple different designs and asked people to see which one they liked the most, which is the one I went with. I am doing the same thing to perfect and create new designs,” said Salla. 

Promoting and marketing a brand is an important part of getting the name out there. Instagram and other social media are their main form of marketing. Salla has used his friends to model and promote the brand, giving his friends involvement in his brand. 

“I think it’s a creative take on marketing to the soccer community and I admire his drive for entrepreneurship. Modeling for him was a great experience, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I think if he keeps up with his entrepreneurial drive, he will be successful in the future,” said Luke Rutheny, senior.