Published: December 09, 2020

Holiday Gift Guide

Still need a present for that hard-to-buy-for person? Look no further. Give them an item or service from one of these 11 UT alumni-owned businesses.

By Kelly Laffey

For the Healthy Eater

Photograph: Alex Mcknight

Liz Anthony Protein Bites

Available at: lizanthonynutrition.com
Price: $5.99 per container of eight Protein Bites
Alumnus: Liz Anthony ’14, M.S. ’15
Location: Tampa, FL

Healthy living has always been a part of life for Liz Anthony ’14, M.S. ’15. She came to UT by way of Tennessee to run track and cross country for the Spartans, an experience that taught her the value of hard work and determination. “Learning how to win is just as important as learning how to lose,” says Anthony. “In business, you make so many decisions every day. The most important thing is to keep going and not stand still. Even if you sometimes make a wrong decision, you’re progressing and you had a learning experience.” Once friends and family developed a taste for her good-for-you, homemade snacks, she realized the potential of her recipes. Anthony went on to pursue a master’s in exercise science and nutrition at UT and launched Liz Anthony Nutrition in 2016. Made locally in Tampa with just five to six ingredients per flavor (including oats, whey protein, sea salt, peanut butter and honey), Liz Anthony Protein Bites are available in a variety of flavors like chocolate peanut butter, honey peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly, and pumpkin spice. Nutritionally speaking, each serving has 8 grams of protein and doesn’t have the chalky aftertaste that many protein bars have (due to artificial sweeteners and preservatives). And these snacks are just the beginning. Anthony has plans to create additional product lines in the future. Are you hungry yet?

For the Hippie

Photograph: Dimitra Nikiforides ’16

Spiritual products

Available at: holographichippie.com
Price: $10 and up
Alumnus: Dimitra Nikiforides ’16
Location: Bayville, NJ

“After I embarked on my spiritual journey during college, I wanted to support people on their path and inspire them to embark on their (own journey),” says Dimitra Nikiforides ’16, who majored in communication and minored in film and media arts. Nikiforides launched Holographic Hippie in September 2017, selling spiritual creations like dreamcatchers, sacred wall hangings and crystal jewelry. Her best-selling items are the protection wall amulets — wall hangings made with the Greek evil eye, black tourmaline crystals and clear quartz crystals. “They are made to protect someone and their home from negative energies,” says Nikiforides, who is Greek and grew up with the protection of the Greek evil eye. A social justice communication course at UT has influenced Nikiforides’s business style today, where the experience of shooting and editing a documentary taught her how to work in a timely manner with an end goal. “This has especially helped me with my plans, creations and updates with my shop,” says Nikiforides.

For the Glamorous

Photograph: Sabrina Hendley

PowderRx for repairing broken makeup

Available at: powderrx.com
Price: $24.95
Alumnus: Gabriella Rezex ’19
Location: St. Louis, MO

Gabriella Rezex ’19 believes in living a joyful life — but there are few things that spark less joy than opening a powered makeup compact and seeing the shattered pieces. Rezex was met with that scenario on the first day of a summer internship. With no option for makeup repair, she decided to take matters into her own hands. PowderRx, which repairs powdered makeup in under 24 hours with a three-step process, was officially launched in May 2019. Rezex didn’t initially attend UT with the goal of becoming an entrepreneur, but she soon realized that a B.S. in Marketing was the right fit, crediting the late nights and early mornings at the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center with allowing her to find “who I really am,” she reflects. “It wasn’t only the faculty involved at the center — it was fellow students, members of the community and entrepreneurs-in-residence.” Beyond running PowderRx, Rezex is passionate about inspiring and motivating others, and she sends out a weekly Feel Good Friday email with pep talks and personal development tips and tricks. To that end, her best advice to budding entrepreneurs is to not be afraid: “Be resourceful and identify people around you who have done it, are doing it and can help you. You’ve got to start somewhere to get somewhere," she says.

For the Grill Master

 
Photographs: Courtesy of Action Holdings (BBQ-AID)

Barbecue grill brush and scraper

Available at: bbqaidtools.com
Price: $21.99
Alumnus: Andrew Gilliland ’20
Location: Tampa, FL

A grilling tool might seem ho-hum, but there’s nothing typical about BBQ-AID products. The brand’s best-selling barbecue grill brush and scraper has replaceable 3.9- inch by 3.5-inch stainless steel brush heads, eliminating the need to purchase a new brush every season, and it’s made from durable Acaia wood, making it one of the most long-lasting barbecue tools on the market. Pair it with the porcelain burger press and the three-piece set (spatula, tongs and fork), and your holiday dinner is as good as cooked. Andrew Gilliland ’20 acquired BBQ-AID earlier this year under his umbrella Action Holdings group, which he created to formally organize all his ventures. He credits the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center with helping him grow and launch various businesses since 2015, assisting him with everything from legal services, supply chain consulting and mentorship — plus, Action Holdings maintains a dedicated office space there. “BBQ-AID was a clear fit for our company due to the specific ways that our teams’ skills align with the identified growth opportunities,” he says of the decision to bring BBQ-AID into his portfolio.

For the Fitness Fanatic

Photographs: Courtesy of Bert Seither M.S. ’19

Optimo Grips, ergonomic grips for weights that reduce injury risk

Available at: getoptimo.com
Price: $39.95 for a pair of grips
Alumnus: Bert Seither M.S. ’19
Location: Tampa, FL

After earning a master’s in entrepreneurship at UT, Bert Seither M.S. ’19 is paying it forward as one the two 2020-2021 entrepreneurs-in-residence at UT, working with students across all majors to help them turn their passion, hobby, product idea or service into a business. As a part-time professor of entrepreneurship, Seither’s best advice to UT alumni who are looking to start their own company is to “ask what your customer wants and build that.” Outside UT, Seither is the co-founder of Optimo Fitness Ergonomics, which produces Optimo Grips that attach to barbells or dumbbells. The design of Optimo Grips helps reduce the chance of spraining a wrist when lifting weights. Seither stresses that getting a master’s at UT helped him become a better leader. “Because of the small class sizes and real-life group assignments, each student was given an opportunity to step up as a leader each week.” His cohort remains close to this day, an experience that he says “taught me about the importance of culture within an organization and how different cultures work for different businesses.”

Photograph: Courtesy of Levo Health

Qanya, a nutrient-dense post-workout drink

Available at: qanya.com
Price: $23.99 for a case of six 330-mL cartons
Alumnus: Maria Ruiseco MBA ’10
Location: Tampa, FL

Launching a business is always challenging. During a pandemic? Even more so. But an innovative product will prevail, as Maria Ruiseco MBA ’10, founder of Qanya Beverages, has learned. Born in Colombia, Ruiseco grew up drinking fresh pressed jugo de caña (cane juice) after long runs. But when she moved to Tampa to pursue her MBA at UT, Ruiseco couldn’t find her favorite post-workout drink. As she dug deeper into the beverage, she discovered that cane water has superior nutritional benefits when compared with more readily available post-workout drinks like coconut water, including polyphenols (antioxidants); vitamins and minerals for overall health; complex carbs with no added sugar for lasting energy; and electrolytes for hydration and recovery. Ruiseco started researching how to manufacture the drink and bring it to the U.S., opting to produce Qanya in Brazil. She founded Canal Markets in 2017 and launched four products (Lime-Ginger-Mint Pressed Cane Water, Passion Fruit Basil Pressed Cane Water, Original Pressed Cane Water and Pressed Cane Juice) in April 2020. She’s thankful that she got her MBA at UT because she learned a lot from the highly ranked business and entrepreneurship programs, as well as the diverse group of international and local students. “(The program) really helped me understand how interconnected our global economy is, and (it) prepared me to conduct business on an international level,” she says.

For the Fashion-Forward

Photographs: Courtesy of Latifatu Seini ’15, M.S. '19

Bold, bright African prints from the Flaunt Ankara clothing line

Available at: flauntankara.com
Price: $12 and up
Alumnus: Latifatu Seini ’15, M.S. ’19
Location: Los Angeles, CA

As a student and graduate academic coach at UT, Latifatu Seini ’15, M.S. ’19 got a kick out of introducing fellow students and colleagues to designs made in her home country of Ghana. Seini regularly wore African print clothing, prompting questions as to where she’d purchased her pieces. “It was evident that most people here were not used to seeing such vibrant colors and designs,” she says. Noticing a gap in the market, she started an authentic African print clothing brand, Flaunt Ankara. Seini, who majored in accounting and also got her master’s in instructional design and technology at UT, notes that her marketing, business management and speech classes, as well as her role as the marketing chair of the United Nations Student Association, boosted her confidence as a business owner.

For the Comedian

Photograph: Courtesy of Matt Fitterer ’14

Sheets & Giggles Game, a party game (for adults only)

Available at: sheetsandgigglesgame.com
Price: $39.99
Alumnus: Matt Fitterer ’14
Location: Houston, TX

“My goal is to build an empire like the Rockefellers,’ but of crude party games,” says Matt Fitterer ’14. The idea for the game stemmed from field day-style competitions between the co-founders that involved physical challenges, yard games, trivia and board games. In 2017, Fitterer and his business partners formed an LLC and started developing a game called Sheets & Giggles. It came to fruition after a successful 2019 Kickstarter campaign. A game for mature audiences that’s in the vein of Cards Against Humanity, the game asks players to act out outrageous words and phrases, occasionally under a sheet. Fitterer, who majored in sport management and minored in business administration, says that his time as the student coordinator of LASER Team (which provides safe rides to students around campus) helped him develop his leadership style. “I believe you can run a business by interjecting fun into each day, and it’s this positive work environment that brings out the best in people,” he says. Work culture remains of paramount importance to Fitterer as he plans to expand his brand with new versions of the game — including a family-friendly one. 

For the Homeowner

Photograph: Eliza Earle

Landscape art inspired by rock climbing

Available at: rhiannonklee.com
Price: $40 and up
Alumnus: Rhiannon Klee Williams ’15
Location: Nomad

You could say that the art made by Rhiannon Klee Williams ’15, well, rocks. Operating out of her van, Williams has been navigating the American West to both paint and rock climb. “I’m most interested in capturing the feeling of the landscape, which for me is inextricably linked to my experience (climbing) in it,” she says. “When you’re climbing in wild landscapes, you’re experiencing those places on a deep level.” Traveling with her partner when he’s not on assignment as a climbing photographer, she has an adventurous spirit that has brought her to places like Yosemite Valley and Patagonia. Williams graduated UT armed with numerous art electives and a degree in psychology, which continues to influence her work today. “I am always interested in how a painting has so many layers, and how that relates to our consciousness — layers that we hide, layers that we accentuate, layers that get covered up completely,” she says. Juggling a full course load and two jobs during her time at UT taught her discipline and time management, as well as how to know when to say “no.” “There is a real art to prioritizing, and the more you hone that skill, the more streamlined things naturally become,” she says. Her art was initially a side hustle developed while working as an editor at an online gear review company. Now, she paints full-time, with a goal of growing as an artist — including experimenting with different media — and tackling bigger climbing expeditions that she can incorporate into her work. It's no wonder she has been featured in publications like The Alpinist, Climbing Magazine and The Climbing Zine.

Photograph: Alex Mcknight

Moose Oliver Designs home decor

Available at: mooseoliverdesigns.etsy.com
Price: $5 and up
Alumnus: Jenna Schebell, ’02, MBA ’04
Location: Freehold, NJ

In 2016, Jenna Schebell ’02, MBA ’04 had just moved back into her home after a fire and couldn’t find decor that fit her farmhouse style, so she created pieces herself. Initially, the Moose Oliver Designs inventory was mostly wood signs, many with Christian inspiration. From there, it grew to include products to celebrate occasions like weddings and anniversaries, as well as ornaments, wine glasses, bottle openers, coasters and travel accessories. She has sold more than 3,000 items. “My time at UT definitely gave me the confidence to start my own business,” says Schebell, who majored in computer information systems and was a resident assistant (RA) in undergrad. She also earned her MBA with a concentration in marketing from UT. “As different as the two sound, the computer knowledge has come in handy, as I sell almost exclusively online. And being an RA, I was in a leadership role that required a lot of creativity,” she says. Schebell makes the wood signs out of her home, cutting the wood, staining it and designing all the graphics and layouts for custom pieces. The company was named for her two pets — Moose and Oliver — and besides running her business, she is passionate about rescuing animals and helping them find new homes.

Photograph: Taylor Krug ’19, MBA ’20

Pinworthy Design, virtual interior design services

Available at: pinworthydesign.com
Price: Starts at $30 for a 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation
Alumnus: Taylor Krug ’19, MBA ’20
Location: Tampa, FL

Taylor Krug ’19, MBA ’20 came to UT with dreams of working for Disney and left school with a different fairytale ending. A graduate of the 4+1 MBA program (a combined B.S. and MBA program), Krug founded Pinworthy Design, which offers virtual design advice, including product recommendations and room layouts, to make interior decorating more accessible. She was inspired after shopping at HomeGoods with a friend who commented on a product she liked, but lamented she didn’t know how to fit it into her home’s aesthetic. “I started Pinworthy to help people take their inspiration boards on Pinterest and translate them into their own homes,” Krug says. Her goals for Pinworthy include creating a course that teaches how she designs. “My hope is that it will help empower my customers to tackle decorating their own spaces. I believe we can (manifest) any dream we have, and for me, my space has been a physical reminder of that,” she says. For the holidays, she has this to offer: “Think about the colors and aesthetics of your home before you buy decorations … just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you need to decorate with red and green.”