BY DEAN ROVENTINI
In his junior year, Jason Saran had an internship with Sprayground. Sprayground was a start-up project designed by two brothers, who ultimately transformed it into a major company in New York City. During his internship, Saran earned some time with their CEO to get insight on running a start-up project and expand it in to something bigger. This ignited a spark in Saran’s brain to become his own boss and create his own brand.
“I was a lost soul for a while and I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Saran, 21, said,about his first years in college. “Getting the internship helped me realize what I wanted to do and have my very own start-up and now things are falling together nicely.”
Today, Saran is not only a senior at Rutgers University. He is the founder & CEO of his own fitness apparel company, ALVA Fitness.
According to Visualcapitalist.com, 67 percent of millennials report their career goals involve owning their own business. Millennials are considered people who are born between 1980-2000.
Saran is running on a wave of online shopping.Launched in March 2015, ALVA sells products such as sweaters, hoodies, tanks, shirts, and leggings.The price range for these products doesn’t exceed 40 dollars for any individual item of clothing.
According to Koeppel Direct, the United States have spent about 51 billion dollars while online shopping. The quality of the ALVA products are professionally adequate. The prices for these products are affordable for any age.
Millennials are the major consumers for ALVA Fitness. Time.com did a study about how millennials spend their money. One of the top things millennials spend their money on is athletic apparel. In a year, the sales of athletic apparel rose 13 percent and it is expected to continue to rise each year. Saran can be on a very successful path as he focuses on ALVA Fitness.
All it took for Saran to start the business was an ecommerce website. An ecommerce website is used for buying and selling products. On ALVAFitness.com, Saran displays his products categorized in sections of style, performance, and lifestyle.
The Beginning
Saran grew up in Old Bridge, New Jersey and attended Old Bridge High School before committing to Rutgers University in 2013 with a major in digital marketing. While taking 18 credits during the semester, Saran tries his best to balance time between school and ALVA. “I give ALVA about 50 percent of my focus during school. After I graduate, I will put 100 percent of my focus on ALVA and look to expand.”
Just at the age of 20, Saran sought to help start his vision from his older brother.Desi, 30, an entrepreneur and owner of some of his own companies. Some of Desi’s companies included Playa Bowls, a healthy organic eatery, and a clothing company, Triangle Athletics.
There is almost 10 years age difference between Jason and Desi. The age gap prevented them from growing up with one another. But their passion for fitness and fashion brought these brothers closer through the years. Desi saw the passion and determination from his younger brother and decided to invest into ALVA Fitness.
ALVA is a play off the word “Alpha”, which is used to represent being the best or number one. Desi is the one to come up with the idea and Jason agreed to it.
The Message
Saran explained the internal meaning for ALVA. “It (ALVA) isn’t suppose to be an elite body building or cross fit company. We want to include all aspects of life, ALVA represents the best version of one’s self and to continue to improve and better that regardless of interests or beliefs.”
The Ambassadors
Jason is very committed to ALVA’s value and moral message. In order to expand, Saran hired ambassadors for his brand. The ambassadors use their strong following on social media to advertise ALVA Fitness.
“I look for people who demonstrate the same morals and values as our brand. Our ambassadors don’t have to be the biggest or strongest guys or girls,” Saran explained. “They (ambassadors) get a percentage of the sales they generate.”
Saran selected Jasmine Sawaged, second year student at Rutgers University, to be one of ALVA’s ambassadors. Sawaged follows the ALVA message.
“It (being an ALVA ambassador) means being realistic. A lot of other brands have ambassadors that are national bikini competitors or famous models on Instagram. But I’m a pretty normal person that’s into fitness. I think it’s an important message that Jason tries to have.”
Savaged seems to fit the ALVA criteria for an ambassador.
“I look up to him (Saran) a lot. Many people talk about wanting to start their own business and they either never do it or they realize how difficult it is and give up. So for him to not just start it but have so many people just on campus know about us, it’s pretty amazing.”
Long-Term Goal
Social media has played a huge role in the success for ALVA. One of the factors to selecting an ambassador is social media presence. Saran mentioned that social media is a “powerful tool.” He has become a constant presence on social media for his company and himself.
“I’m trying to grow my personal presence on social media and making myself well known. As I do that, I can grow ALVA along with it. If people see me then they will definitely see ALVA and be introduced to it.”
According to Adweek.com, 73 percent of small businesses use social media. ALVA Fitness is apart of that statistic. Instagram is ALVA’s hot spot as they have over 1,000 followers, Social media can be used to expand a company. Saran plans to use his social media presence to grow ALVA as a brand.
“I would like to expand into department stores once I can fully focus on the brand. Right now majority of our sales are national with a few international sales. The main goal is to become the next Nike or Adidas.”
This story is both interesting and inspirational — it’s always nice to read about a young person’s success. The inclusion of several statistics was very helpful in providing context, and helped fully flesh out the story. There weren’t any holes to the story — I didn’t finish the article believing there was a dearth of information — although this is a story I’d be interested in following up on in a few years.
This article was really interesting because it talks about a senior at Rutgers University who is the founder and CEO oh his own fitness apparel company ALVA fitness and is only 21 years old.
What brought my attention is that the ALVA merchandise is affordable for any age group, everything is $40 or less.
His vision also caught my attention, during the interview, he says “he wants people to feel better about themselves when they wear his cloths regardless of what your background might be . He doesn’t want to exclude anyone out”
Something i didn’t know: Time.com did a study about how One of the top things millennials spend their money on is athletic apparel.