M B U N EWS
DRESSED FOR SUCCESS Senior Jamal Carter ’22 partners with Office of Personal and Professional Development to launch his own clothing line
J
amal Carter ’22 threw Nell DeVito a look of confusion: Had the director of MBU’s Office of Personal and Professional Development really just advised him to start a business? It was the spring of 2019 and the fashion savvy business major had been raving about designer Malik Jarrett’s indie clothing line, EAT. The acronym, explained Carter, stood for Elevate All the Time, and was meant to be aspirational. He loved Jarrett’s positive messaging and commitment to funneling proceeds into a nonprofit that helped at-risk Washington, D.C., youths. Did DeVito think Carter could do something similar in the future? “She told me not to wait, to do it now,” said Carter. But he was just 19 years old: “I knew nothing about running a business, much less [launching] a clothing line.” DeVito chuckled. She’d been working with Carter at the Vantage Point, the university’s student-focused
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MARY BALDWIN MAGAZINE
personal and professional development lab, for two years. There Carter held the title of peer career coach and helped facilitate programming around professional profile development. He worked with students to identify marketable skill sets, draft resumes and cover letters, prep for interviews, and more. DeVito knew he’d be successful if he took the leap. She suggested he take things one step at a time. They started with discussing the brand. Carter had sketched out an acronym based on a metaphorical interpretation of the word “hungry.” HVNGRY stood for Humility, Unfolds, Nonchalant, Gleeful, Relentless, Youngins. Bold, graffiti-style letters slashed across a backdrop of jagged claw marks. Carter envisioned young people internalizing the brand, projecting its identity as it reflected theirs: Donning the emblazoned t-shirts, sweatpants, hooded jackets, backpacks, and hats would be part mantra, part mission statement.
