By Lauren Holcomb | Reporter
From hoodies to car fresheners to trucker hats, MyGirlTees has it all. Run solely by Cypress sophomore Aly Jasso, MyGirlTees has provided a gateway for Jasso to pursue her future aspirations all while letting her creative side out and making new friends along the way.
Dating back to August 2020, Jasso began her journey with custom tie-dyed sweatshirts for different schools. While she and many of those around her were soon to leave for their freshman year of college, the college crewnecks were a hit. Jasso said the sweatshirts were her best-selling item, and after solely posting through her personal Instagram account, she decided to officially create a page for her new business, MyGirlTees.
“I came up with ‘my girl’ because that’s what my grandpa calls me all the time. So, the ‘my girl’ saying, is huge on my heart,” Jasso said. “So I hit 1,000 [followers] less than a month within my starting period, and that was a huge accomplishment for me because I was like, ‘oh my gosh, like I hit 1,000.’”
MyGirlTees currently has two sweatshirts for sale, The Luv Hoodie and the Nice Day Hoodie. Each of these pieces are customizable in colors, but the star of the show is the text of affirmation on the front and back.
“I like how each of my hoodies has this specific topic,” Jasso said. “Like, how to make someone’s day, and how to say I love you with words that are not ‘I love you.’ It’s just how to make someone’s day by doing acts of service.”
Maintaining her status as a full-time college student, Jasso said she took on running MyGirlTees as her main source of work and income her freshman year. Jasso said while it was difficult to teach herself how to set up her own website, including a payment service, having this business as a freshman in college guided her to meet many new people.
“I lived in Collins, and so that was my way of meeting them. Room 625, you can pick up your hoodie from me,” Jasso said. “Some of the girls that I know right now are some of my closest friends because they ordered a hoodie. And so I think that was really fun.”
Now out of the dorm life and living off campus, Jasso runs her business from home. One of her closest friends and roommate, Highlands Ranch Colo., sophomore Reilly Tartre said it’s fun to watch Jasso work on new designs and ship products off from behind the scenes. Tartre also said watching her work gives her respect for small businesses in general, seeing how they can imagine a product and bring it to life.
“I think the growth her business has received recently is a true testament to Aly’s hard work and dedication to what she loves. I still remember her making her first tie-dye sweatshirt, asking people on her Instagram story if they would buy one from her,” Tartre said. “From that idea alone came an entire small business, one that has come to be known and successful on Baylor’s campus. That is only because of the grit and devotion Aly has had to her company and to the people she sells to.”
However, MyGirlTees is not limited to Baylor’s campus. Although Jasso primarily works in Waco, her work has been shipped to 38 states, and her goal is to make it to all 50. As a corporate communications major with a minor in entrepreneurship, Jasso is on her way to hopefully owning a clothing boutique of her own one day.
“When people order from another state, I just think it’s crazy — like you’ve heard of me, and you’re from a different state. And I think that’s so cool,” Jasso said. “I recently just shipped one out to Hawaii. That’s crazy.”
