What started as a class project inspired by the amount he was spending on his children’s workout gear has landed Jon Dabney’s (MBA ’14) RocketSports-1 clothing line in one of the world’s largest retailers — Walmart.

Dabney hatched the idea for the RocketSports-1 concept during an entrepreneurship class while an Executive MBA student at the Terry Executive Education Center. Twelve years of developing, building and selling the RocketSports-1 brand online helped the Dabney build a following that landed his brand in Walmart stores this August.

“I love sports and I love fashion, and I’ve always had a passion for both,” said Dabney, who spends his days working as a project and account manager for background check giant First Advantage. “And at the time, both my kids were playing sports. My daughter was playing soccer, and my son was playing basketball. I looked at all the money that I was spending on socks and apparel for them and thought there was opportunity there.”

He started researching what people didn’t like about their sportswear. He discovered women had a lot they wanted to fix about their leggings.

“We started doing a lot of focus groups and surveys with women to find out what they were wearing and what they liked about it. The three consistent issues we heard from women were waistbands rolling down, fabric that could become see-through, and leggings stretching out of proportion and losing their shape.  I worked with our manufacturers to solve those problems.”  

With his small company going up against Adidas and Lululemon, Dabney relied on word of mouth to grow his brand. He said the marketing and management lessons he picked up during his EMBA classes guided that growth.

He also credits the EMBA with the opportunity to build his network and expand his horizons. He kept in touch with classmates but also with executives and business leaders who worked with students.

Maybe the most impactful advice he received was during a domestic residency when Dabney’s class visited Omaha, Nebraska, to have lunch with Warren Buffett.

“During my quick one-on-one with him, I told him my story,” Dabney said. “When I shared my vision for RocketSports-1. He smiled and said, ‘That could become something really big someday. Go for it!’ Those words have stayed with me throughout this 12-year journey.”

It’s been a long road, but Dabney is thrilled to share RocketSports-1 with a larger audience. The line is being trialed at 37 Walmart stores nationwide and is available at Walmart.com.