Michael Geeker is a senior majoring in business management with an emphasis in small business at West Texas A&M University. Geeker is from Houston and has been thriving in the success of his company, RippTaggs.

Geeker has been pursuing entrepreneurship in vintage clothing retail for a couple of years after coming across a piece of clothing while shopping.

“So, yeah, I sell vintage clothing, and I’ve been doing that for about two years,” Geeker said. “It all started in January of 2021. I went to the Lids Locker Room, which is a hat store, and they also had jerseys in there. They had a Mountain Dew NASCAR jacket, which I bought. So then NASCAR kind of got me into vintage clothing, like the early 2000 stuff. Eventually, I started my business in April of 2022, and I would just bring clothes to high school and sell them.”

Geeker was inspired to pursue an apparel business so that everyone could express themselves the same way he was able to.

“I really wanted to start a clothing business because I really like clothes and how you can express yourself through them,” Geeker said. “I feel happy when I wear cool clothes, so I want other people to feel happy when they wear something cool.”

While Geeker faced challenges, he ultimately noticed his business overcame them and improved.

“I think the biggest challenge I have was once I started, I want to say I struggled with time management and scaling my business,” Geeker said. “During 2023, the first half of that year was not the best, but it was also the year that I noticed things in my business taking off. But this year has been pretty good for me, and I think I’ve gained almost 800 or 900 followers, which is quite a bit on Instagram.”

Fortunately, Geeker realized social media was an outlet for getting his business noticed by locals.

“Social media plays a huge role in my business,” Geeker said. “I am posting on Snapchat and Instagram all the time to promote my event pop-ups. I’ve hosted many pop-ups on a frequent basis so that people can come check out my business and buy clothes.”

Geeker prices his items mindfully so everyone can get authentic vintage apparel without taking advantage of his customers.

“I think my business is unique because I am the only one in Amarillo that sells vintage clothing for good prices, and the clothes are authentic vintage, like the early 80s, 90s and 2000s items,” Geeker said. “I just don’t sell fake clothing, and sadly, there are people who do that all the time. It’s just sad because customers think it’s vintage and old, but really it’s not, and the business is taking advantage of other people.”

While owning and operating a small business, Geeker has learned difficult lessons.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to put trust into people that are trustworthy and be mindful of where you spend your time since time is money,” Geeker said. “I mean, everyone knows that, but if you’re putting your trust into somebody and you’re calling them, spending time with them, and trying to get a business going, but then they backstab you, it’s not the best feeling. So, just learn who to trust and take steps back if you need to. Also, don’t burn bridges unless they truly need to be burned.”

Although Geeker is still a college student with extracurricular involvement, he has plans to build more into his business.

“A long-term goal for my business would be to own a storefront,” Geeker said. “It does take a lot of time and money, but it would be pretty cool. I’d definitely want to do it in a small town because there are so many people that do that in a bigger city. Like I’m from Houston, so I know a lot of stores are there, and they’re all the same, with no true vintage. But in a smaller town like Amarillo, there aren’t any vintage stores. Some people do vintage things in Amarillo, but there isn’t a storefront, so I definitely want to do that someday. Within the next five to 10 years, I believe I can scale my business; I know I want to maintain a small business because it’s been my side hustle while playing football, working at State Farm and being in college classes, but I will scale it pretty big once I have more time.”

Since joining WT, Geeker has learned valuable tips from his business classes, which he uses to continue developing his business.

“I think my academic background has shaped my entrepreneurial mindset because I don’t like to control people, but I like to be in charge,” Geeker said. “Like whenever I host pop-ups, I like to be the host who ensures everyone is there on time and that people are getting invited. I’ve been learning a lot about that in classes and figuring out how to come across to different people in the right way. Everything is a learning process, but I think that’s part of learning and practicing the entrepreneurial mindset, such as making smart financial decisions about what I’m buying.”

While Geeker is finding success in his business, he’s focusing on the present before planning to open more businesses.

“I’m not sure if I’ll ever own another business,” Geeker said. “I do like selling insurance and cars, but as of right now, I’m in a pretty good spot with RippTaggs; because I work for Russ Glaze at State Farm, I’m still in school and I have my clothing business, so I’m not thinking too far ahead about another business quite yet. Obviously, I think about the future and have ideas, but I’m not there quite yet.”

To anyone considering pursuing entrepreneurship, Geeker has words of advice.

“Some advice I’d give to a student or someone trying to start a business is that if you like it and enjoy it, then I would pursue it,” Geeker said. “Even if you fail, that’s better than never trying, because if you never try, you will never know if you’ll succeed, and there are always things to learn from what you do. I mean, you miss all the shots that you don’t shoot. So, if you’re never taking a shot, you won’t ever know what will happen.”

You can find Geeker’s business on Instagram and Snapchat @Ripptaggs to learn more about his business and attend his events.