Alumni Austin “A’Rob” Robinson and Andrew “Twin” Patton made their dream become a reality.
With the knowledge from classes taken at H-F and the goals of being self-employed, they established their own clothing store Members Only Boutique.
Neither Robinson or Patton graduated college.
“H-F was honestly a great school; I feel like coming out of there you can be anything you want to be with the things you learn inside and outside the classroom,” Patton said.
Patton suggests that students utilize resources provided here in order to contribute to their success.
“I don’t think I took full advantage of everything I could when I went there, but for the students there now, look into everything they have to offer and it will help a lot in the long run,” Patton said.
Some students may not be aware, but H-F offers a clothing and textiles class.
“I really wish that I would’ve taken the clothing class at H-F because I probably would have learned more at a younger age and would have been capable of doing a little more than what I do now,” Patton said.
Robinson, who works on the business side of Members Only, says Don Barron’s Economics class inspired him.
“He was a great teacher. Even though it was Econ, we still learned business. We were learning numbers of things and he was extremely personable which helped me a lot,” Robinson said.
After moving to Las Vegas his junior year, Robinson was able to experience a different side of fashion.
That’s when he became fascinated with clothing and did a lot of research on how he could possibly open his own business.
“Vegas in ‘08 was different, fashion in itself was different, it was a melting pot. Vegas is a transparent state with people from all over with different styles and I really grew fond of that,” Robinson said.
Robinson and Patton’s boutique is similar to the store LDRS.
Since this is a unisex store, there’s so much to choose from. Long sleeve and short sleeve T-shirts, hoodies, pants and sweats.
For current H-F students who are not sure of what career path they want to go down, setting a few goals and writing down your idea’s won’t hurt.
Starting with just a small idea can turn into something bigger than what was expected, but you also have to put in the work.
“Most importantly is the work, there’s no substitution for the work. It doesn’t matter how successful your parents are or how much money is being made in the process, working hard is going to keep you at that level of success,” Robinson said.