Crooked Monkey was established in 2005. In May, it will celebrate its 4 year anniversary. We've accomplished a lot in our short history--featured in magazines, picked up by department stores and trendy boutiques, and put a smile on over 120,000 happy customers. And now, finally, we can add, "receiving an oversized check (a la Happy Gilmore) to our list of accolades."

Starting in 2006, Kevin Plank (the founder and CEO of Under Armour) has hosted an annual business competition for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, called the Cupid's Cup. In its first year, Crooked Monkey was nominated for the award and finished as a runner up in the competition. This year, Crooked Monkey could not compete for the award because our annual sales volume exceeded the upper limit.

Luckily BB&T launched the BB&T invitational--which features companies connected with the University of Maryland. It allows us to showcase our businesses, and invites students, alumn and other entrepreneurs to get a taste for each company. The attendees then vote for their favorite company and the winner is announced at the Cupid's Cup, in front of the entire Under Armour Executive team. There was stiff competition from a list of other strong, thriving entrepreneurs. But in the end our Funny t-shirts were a fan favorite and we took home the prize money and an oversized check!

Than you to: Kevin Plank, Asher Espstein (from the Dingman Center) and BB&T.

Labels: Accolades, Awards, BBT, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, Entrepeneurs, Free Money, History, Kevin Plank, Micha, Oversized check, Press, Recipient, UMD, University of Maryland

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to get to the office early, so I left my apartment at 9 AM. I was rewarded with a lot of traffic and an extra 25 minutes to my early morning commute. I learned my lesson. Today I'm still working from my apartment.

Early bird gets the worm? More like, early bird gets stuck in traffic.

Labels: Entrepeneurs, Life stories, Office Space, Office Stories, self-employed, traffic

Labels: Entrepeneurs, illustrations, Life stories, magazines, Miami