Brought to You by Follow Function
June 2006
Throughout the history of human civilization, very few people have lived the type of lifestyle that I enjoyed during my time at Phi Delta Theta, Ohio Zeta. This is perhaps a bold statement, but one which I have been pondering over for many years now. I was very lucky during my college years to have received emotional and financial support from my parents and grandparents. I did not have to work to buy food or to pay off future student loans. My only focus was academics, and even those never posed too much of a challenge.
Indeed I was experiencing a brief period in my life of absolutely zero responsibilities or consequences. It was a magical time. Sure there were a few things I needed to accomplish: go to class (but as I said, it was too easy), recruit new pledges (this was way too easy, we were having so much fun the house sold itself), and be sure to eat everyday (thanks, Chef Nina).
Think about how many people in the history of the world have lived like I did. Who has experienced time in their young adult lives where they had no responsibility to anyone? Europeans in the Middle Ages? There may have been a few royal sons and daughters that just hung out, but nearly everyone else was hard at work. Young Americans in the 1940s? They went off to war. The only real worry I had was the undeniable fact that this part of my life was labeled with an expiration date: June 6, 2004 – graduation.
I suppose the ultimate goal in this world is to make each stage of your existence into the best time of your life at that specific point. So when you are 18, being a senior in high school should be the greatest thing ever, and when you are 21 being a senior in college should be the greatest thing ever, and maybe when you are 45, working at an office and trying to raise two teenagers into respectable people should be the greatest thing ever.
For me, it broke down like this: from ages 13 to 18, I thought going to college would be the greatest thing ever. From ages 18 to 21, I knew going to college was the greatest thing ever. From ages 21 to 23 I was worried that college was the greatest thing ever, and that it was all downhill from there. Recently, I have made steps to overcome this fear, and it all comes back to being a Phi.
In 2001, I met a pretty cool guy named Steven Schranz who had just accepted his bid. I had pledged in the class before his, which meant I was his Shiny Pin. The more I learned about Steven, the more I respected him.
He graduated from high school the same year I did, but he had postponed college for a year to take care of his younger brother and sister. His father was no longer around and his mother had just lost her battle with cancer. I asked him where his siblings were now, and he told me they were back in Queens, living with his grandparents, one of who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Steven spoke about his family in a casual manner. What many would have seen as an incredible burden, Steven saw as his duty. He was just happy to have the opportunity to go to school, and happy that he could put himself in a place to one-day look after his grandparents and siblings.
Of course this meant that Steven was trying to graduate in a mere three years. I found the very thought of such a thing appalling. Why would anyone shorten his time at Ohio State on purpose? But it was never a choice for Steven. He did what ought to be done, but would not have been done unless he did it (Robert Morrison…anyone?).
Over the next three years, I became close friends with almost everyone who lived in that very special house on Iuka Boulevard, including Steven. I was sad to see him return to Queens when we both graduated in 2004. But like all good friends try to do, we stayed in contact. I watched as he built and launched his own e-commerce website, Lighters Direct (www.lightersdirect.com ). As usual, I was quite impressed with my old buddy Schranz.
In the summer of 2005 I had just finished a freelancing gig at a product design consultancy in Gahanna, Ohio. Industrial Design was my major at OSU and this was my first experience as a designer in the so-called “real world”. Shortly thereafter I sliced open my right hand on some broken glass, and underwent surgery to repair an important nerve. Unfortunately I am right handed, and this meant my sketching abilities were sidelined for a few months. During this recovery period, I began talking with Steven about a possible combination of our two careers.
It all began when I sent him a link to an online article about the Bendant Lamp from a designer named Jaime Salm. With his brother, Jaime had recently co-founded Mio Culture, a company that would produce environmentally friendly and spectacularly appropriate products for the modern design market. Jaime’s goal with the Bendant Lamp was to take a thin sheet of steel and create a modern chandelier while wasting as little material as possible. The lamp would ship flat and it would be up to the user to bend the “petals” of the lamp up, down, or both depending on their own desires. The brilliance of the lamp was threefold: it was easy to ship, it was aesthetically stunning, and it allowed the end user to participate in the design process.
Indeed, the Bendant Lamp represented all the promise of what product design could be. Steven recognized that promise as well, and we quickly decided that these were the type of objects we should proliferate across the country.
With Steven’s business savvy and my discerning eye, we put together an extensive spreadsheet of our favorite designers and the most intriguing products on the market. Some were clever, some were beautiful, some were easy to ship, and some were all three. Those were the products we targeted.
It was nearly a year later, but by March 2006, we launched Follow Function, an online store for modern furniture, lighting, toys and even a few kitchen items. You can check it out at www.followfunction.com.
I feel like our story epitomizes the brotherhood and friendship a new recruit can expect by joining a fraternity like Phi Delta Theta. In addition to the lifelong friends, he can also anticipate meeting important business contacts, and maybe even future business partners. But most importantly, he can learn to enjoy what could be the best years of his life, for an 18 year old at least. As for me, getting married to the girl I love while running a (hopefully) successful business with a friend I trust might just be the greatest thing ever. Ask me again when I’m 45 with a couple of teenagers.
And the next time you need to buy yourself or anyone else an amazing but reasonably priced gift, remember the name Follow Function and support a couple of Phis (because now they have many, many responsibilities and no more financial aid). Thanks!
By Jeff Benzenberg