In this episode of The Exit Whisperer, we sit down with Ali von Paris, founder of Route One Apparel, a Maryland-themed clothing company that went from a viral college T-shirt idea to a self-funded powerhouse. Ali dives into the early hustle of building a business from scratch, learning e-commerce when it was still the wild west, scaling to 4,000+ SKUs, and eventually navigating the emotional and strategic complexities of selling her business.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to exit a company you built from the ground up—or how to scale a community-rooted brand into a full-blown movement—this one’s for you.
2:12 How a Viral T-Shirt Sparked Ally’s Journey
5:00 Launching Her Business With $12,000 in First-Day Sales
6:51 Balancing College Life With Entrepreneurship
9:30 Hiring Her First Employee and Building a Team
13:15 Community Excitement and Deep Brand Connection
14:50 Lessons Learned From Early Business Inefficiencies
17:10 Why Finding the Right Office Space Matters
18:50 Testing Market Interest Before Launching New Products
21:00 Hitting Her Financial Stability Goals
25:00 Figuring Out Who She Is Beyond the Business
30:00 The Decision to Sell Her Company
31:57 Exploring Options for Preserving Her Business Legacy
34:01 Learning to Embrace a Life of Leisure
36:00 Shifting From Productivity to Genuine Joy
39:04 Discovering Her Personal Identity Beyond Entrepreneurship
