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Apparel and merchandise offered by Volunteer Traditions. • Courtesy of Mason Jones and Volunteer Traditions
UT alumnus finds calling in Tennessee apparel company Marina Waters Staff Writer
You do not have to venture too far down Volunteer Boulevard before you are met with those three stars congregating in the center of a pastel-colored cap or on the back of a Tennessee-themed pocketed t-shirt. When Mason Jones, UT alumnus and CEO of Volunteer Traditions retells the
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story of how his star-clad company came to be, it starts on that same street. It is the story of how a college student turned a classmate’s South Carolina flag belt into one representing his home state of Tennessee. “There in those days, we didn’t really know what we were doing,” Jones said. “We got those (belts) in and started there. It was kind of cool to see how it just came together.” However, Jones’s journey from a start-up idea that operated out of his closet to a
company with merchandise sold in stores from Memphis to Bristol was just beginning. “Getting the word out was slow and tricky,” Jones said. “Because of that we took our time, and I think that really helped out. I did it part-time out of my house; I had a full-time job working as an attorney … I feel like that was a very beneficial time.” Although he has a degree in accounting and law from UT, the Volunteer Traditions CEO said he gained the most from being
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around other driven students while he attempted to find his calling. “Those majors and that education really put me around other people working really hard,” Jones said. “When you get around other people who work hard, it makes you want to work hard. It really ramps up your problem solving, which is something they certainly don’t really teach in general.” See VOLUNTEER TRADITIONS on Page 5
Wednesday, April 27, 2016