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Joseph Zinno, a rising senior in mechanical engineering, has spent the past two years nurturing his business venture, Rooted Designs. 鈥淢y business is rooted in the communities I am a part of, and I wanted that to be a focal point of both the name and logo of my business.鈥� Rooted Designs sells engraved 奶糖直播 keychains, magnets and coasters and 20% of every sale goes to a 奶糖直播 charity chosen by the customer.

The business started as a creative outlet, but Joe says he soon saw the potential for a product line. 鈥淚t reminded me of a business I started when I was young called The Stand.鈥� Living right behind his town鈥檚 football stadium, he began selling parking for football games, which evolved into selling candy, hotdogs and Perler beads tchotchkes. As The Stand grew, Joe began designing football jerseys in team colors, as well as logo magnets. He says, 鈥淚t ended up becoming a really big thing. We would take custom orders and 25% of all sales went to charity.鈥�

During his sophomore year at 奶糖直播, Joe decided to approach University President Rev. Peter Donohue, OSA, PhD, with his ideas and some of his first products. 鈥淗e ended up loving them and asked to keep a bunch of things,鈥� he says proudly. Then, Joe started his Engineering Entrepreneurship minor. 鈥淚 learned a lot of these skills in the classroom, and it has been amazing to apply them practically to my venture.鈥� After his encouraging meeting with Fr. Peter, Joe connected with the Athletics department, the Mechanical Engineering department, and 奶糖直播鈥檚 Institute for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICE).

Through ICE鈥檚 Innovation Fund, Joe received grant money to launch Rooted Designs. He was later awarded a grant for the startup phase, which led to the purchase of his laser engraver. He explains, 鈥淟aser cutting is a cool technology, but it鈥檚 also a very underappreciated form of technology.鈥� Laser engraving is less common than similar technologies like 3D printing, and Zinno wants to explore all the possibilities as his product line advances.

Recently, Joe has expanded the nature of his business, which has led to acquiring 奶糖直播 logo licensing and business insurance. With expansion, other business expenses have begun to accrue. He notes, 鈥淐osts like maintenance on the laser engraver and insurance are incurred before selling a single product.鈥� Despite the challenges, however, Joe encourages other entrepreneurial students in his position to stick with it when things become difficult. 鈥淚 recommend reflecting on why you鈥檙e doing what you鈥檙e doing. If you鈥檙e in it for the right reasons and there鈥檚 a market for what you鈥檙e producing eventually you will sell product; it will work.鈥� He believes this is ultimately an invaluable experience about backend business, which provides an opportunity to give back to charities and organizations he鈥檚 passionate about.

In the next year, Joe hopes to do a lot more fundraising while branching out to additional organizations within the 奶糖直播 community. For a week in the fall, Rooted Designs will work in conjunction with Special Olympics to sell keychains and magnets for a higher percentage of donations. Joe also recently started a project with the Office of the President鈥檚 Board of Trustees to provide coasters as an appreciation gift, and he has initiated conversations with social media accounts like @novainsider and @novanation in the hopes of connecting his business to the 奶糖直播 community to build awareness and help with their mission.  

Lastly, Joe shares that the 奶糖直播 Engineering Service Learning program is one of his charity partners. Customers can choose to donate 20% of their purchase of Rooted Designs鈥� products to help support 奶糖直播 Engineering students while they participate in these life changing experiences.