Magazine Feature / People

Snowboarding is alum’s passion and work

Drew Amer’s business (BSBA ’07) can be summed up in two words: simple and outrageous.

He co-owns the snowboard clothing company FUNhat, which produces hats, T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts. Originally from Ohio, Amer grew up snowboarding and continued his passion for the sport at DU, where he captained the snowboard team.

In 2005, Amer took a semester off to live in Park City, Utah, and work as a snowboard instructor. It was then that he and Justin Parkhurst started the company. They designed a few different hats and t-shirts and passed them out to some of their friends.

“Justin came up with the idea. He had a hat that he would always wear when it snowed a lot, and he would call it his ‘fun hat,’” says Amer. “We design our products towards the core snowboarders who are looking for something new and different.”

They wanted to make products that made people want to go out and have fun. Most of all, Amer and Parkhurst wanted to “give something back to snowboarding,” says Amer. 

Amer and Parkhurst say their close friendship has only helped them with the business. 

“We had to learn each other’s strengths and build off that,” says Amer, who returned to Colorado after a semester to finish school.

“We had to keep up communication every day. It was hard sometimes, but it was nice to have representation in Colorado,” says Parkhurst. 

What kind of advice does Amer have for someone who is looking to make it in the snowboard industry? 

“You have to get into it for the right reasons. As long as you are dedicated to the products you are making and work hard to meet people and promote your product, then eventually it will happen.”

To find out more about FUNhat, visit its Web site.

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