Rockland County Resident Named an Under30CEO Rookie of the Year

BY ERIN MAHER

Andrew Arcangel, 23, of New City, Rockland County has been named an 30Under30CEO 2012 Rookie of the Year. Arcangel is founder and CEO of true athelite, a basketball sportswear brand.

“It’s an amazing honor,” says Arcangel of being named an 30Under30CEO Rookie of the year, a recognition bestowed annually to the top 10 most accomplished first time and first year CEOs under 30 years old in the United States. “It’s great to be able to put myself and true athelite away from the pack and separate us from all the other businesses that are starting up.”

And separate he has. Since true athelite’s July 2012 launch, Arcangel and the true athelite brand have continued expanding. In the nine months since it’s official launch, true athelite has sold it’s first $25,000 in product, and began naming true athelites of the month, to recognize up and coming high school basketball players who’s accomplishments span from the basketball court to the classroom, “We want to be able to inspire other high schoolers and student-athletes to excel in what they’re doing by showing that it can be done, and people can juggle a really hectic, athletic schedule, along with a really hectic academic schedule.”

Arcangel is no stranger to a rigorous schedule. As CEO and founder of a fledgling start-up company, Arcangel’s greatest challenge is the balance between the demands of business and his personal life, “Being able to manage my time among the different facets of business but also being able to balance the work and personal life is very challenging. Being able to put my laptop down for a couple of hours and understand I have to put my work down and not think about it.”

Arcangel’s long work hours have been paying off. Since July, true athelite has gained multiple corporate partners that share the sports bond including Sportsideo and Hoops U, “Partnering with these organizations,” says Arcangel, “really allows us to make our presence known in areas that aren’t necessarily in a 50 mile radius of where we are.” true athelite’s reach extends all the way to Ohio, where true athelite has been named as the official outfitter of the Ohio Valley Basketball League.

How has Arcangel made his company’s presence so wide spread in less than a year? Social media, of course, “A lot of schools, organizations, and teams have heard about true athelite through twitter, and from there, a lot of things have come up, whether they be potential corporate sponsors or customers.”

Pre-launch, true athelite’s twitter page, @true_basketball, had over 1700 followers, and post launch has gained approximately another 3000 followers. Arcangel is still the fingers behind typing out the tweets, and understands the importance that social media has on a business, “It’s great to interact with people from all over, the people that relate to true athelite, who see the brand, buy the product, who love wearing the product, and connect with the brand.”

Arcangel has no intentions of slowing down anytime soon, and hopes to make the true athelite names synonymous with a wide range of athletics, not strictly basketball, “A year from now, I want to be able to reinforce our basketball brand even more, and be further along in our development of our football, soccer, and lacrosse apparel – we really want to branch out into different sports.”

Arcangel’s interest may be to expand into other sports, but he still keeps basketball has his first priority. Adidas is currently the NBA’s official outfitter and only company allowed to make their uniforms. In 2017 when Adidas’s contract with the NBA expires, Arcangel hopes to be able to compete for that NBA niche, “Our five year plan is to get to a point where we are super competitive, where we are going to be bidding with those big companies. It’s something that is very ambitious, but you’re not going to get very far if you don’t aim high.”

  30Under30CEO, 30Under30CEO 2012 Rookie of the Year, new city, true athelite