There’s a soulmate out there for everyone, and one student is helping people find them – though maybe not in the way most would expect.
English sophomore Jozell Green, 20, recently started a sock company centered in Baton Rouge. Green’s company, Sole Socks, aims for people to buy products that allow them to express who they are. She said she wants to change how people see and wear socks.
“We’re in the business of matching perfect pairs,” Green said. “I say ‘we,’ but it’s really only me, but still, we’re trying to bring happiness through socks.”
Green started Sole Socks in January and has already seen business from as far away as Jamaica. She said she started the company in hopes of collecting enough money to buy a car, but it has turned into something else entirely.
Green’s vision for Sole Socks is an apparels company. While it’s limited to socks right now, Green said it will soon be the home for glasses, jackets and hats all looking for its perfect pair.
“I want to start moving it to a whole apparels thing, but I still want to call it Sole Socks,” Green said. “I’ll be selling glasses with my logo on the side, and I’m also starting this new thing called ‘hood hats’ where I just sell dope hats. I’m just trying to do this whole dope apparel thing.”
Green requests the socks she wants from an online distributor and has them sent to her — a method that allows Sole Socks to sell great quality socks at cheap prices, Green said. She said that’s what makes her socks different from those at places like Forever 21.
Green said while stores may sell socks of equal or lesser quality for $10-$15, she sells hers at $5-$6. Her main source of advertising is Instagram, which leads customers to Sole Socks’ website.
Right now, Green is the only person working on Sole Socks. Though she said she has received offers from people willing to take photos of her products for free, she needs help with logistics and everyday workflow. Even with just an Instagram page, she said she finds the feedback slightly overwhelming.
“Distributing is the easy part,” Green said. “What I would probably need help with is the inventory and the social media. It’s hard to keep up with social media because people are responding and emailing all of the time and I can’t do that because I’m in class.”
As an English major, Green said it was a shock when she decided move in the direction of business. She said she has always had an entrepreneurial heart and being an English major will help her in communication skills, as well as certain work skills, like writing slogans for promotional pieces.
Green said she has many ideas for future businesses, and she is showing people that it’s never too early to start a business or follow a dream. Green said she won’t let anybody or anything hinder her from reaching her full potential, understanding that “you have to build money before building business.”
“A saying that I like is ‘Everything you do, trust in the Lord, and He will see you through,’” Green said. “To try to fit a whole bunch of things in the day, you have to be mentally strong, so I want people to know I want to spread happiness and strength in everything that I do.”
LSU English sophomore Jozell Green produces her own sock collection on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018, in Barnes and Noble on LSU campus.
