Being a student athlete is difficult. Being a student athlete with your own business is almost unheard of. University of Wisconsin-Platteville senior defensive back Tommy Magna has not only found success in the classroom and the football field, he has also managed to start a successful t-shirt company.
The idea started when Magna was a redshirt football player at Truman State University. He and a few of his redshirt teammates would run the scout team during practice against the starters.
“For most of the practice, they would beat us up pretty good,” Magna said. “But when the coaches yelled out it was time to ‘go live,’ it got all of us pumped up. It was a five-minute period that we got to play full speed and hit back. It was an adrenaline rush. It was our period to show what we could do.”
The phrase ‘Go Live’ then turned into a rallying call of going all out or to the maximum.
“We applied ‘Go Live’ to every aspect of life,” Magna’s business partner and teammate at TSU Michael Elliott said. “‘Go Live’ is more than a clothing company; it is a lifestyle. It originally was just a saying on the football field, and then it began to spread. By ‘going live’ we found that your are inspiring others to live their life to the fullest.”
Starting to sell the t-shirts was an opportunity given to Magna through his aunt and uncle, who owned a printing company. The first order was just something for Magna and his teammates to wear along with their team gear, but after others showed interest in the shirts, Magna started selling them to anyone who wanted one. The expansion of the ‘Go Live’ name really took off when Magna transferred to UW-Platteville as a sophomore.
Once the shirts started to sell at UW-Platteville, Magna realized he was on to something.
“We just started networking,” Magna said. “Calling friends from various schools and convincing them to be ambassadors for the ‘Go Live’ name. Now, ‘Go Live’ can be found in universities, colleges and high schools in 10 different states.”
Magna has also involved former Pioneer football players in the ‘Go Live’ company.
“I first got involved in ‘Go Live’ after Tommy introduced it to UW-Platteville,” Magna’s business partner and ‘Go Live’ accountant Jake Wiederholt said. Wiederholt played with Magna on the Pioneer football team for two years.
“I knew the ‘Go Live’ brand was something I wanted to get involved with and I was intrigued by the lifestyle ‘Go Live’ represents. I spoke with Tommy and Mike about getting involved on the business side of ‘Go Live,’ and they expressed the need for someone that was familiar with accounting and finance. Being a mathematics major, I knew I excelled at these areas, and since then, we’ve been working in concert to help build our business,” Widerholt said.
For the time being, Magna is focused on his graduation in December. However, he does hope to continue with the ‘Go Live’ brand once he is done with school. T-shirts may only have been the beginning for Magna and the ‘Go Live’ name. According to Magna, the ultimate plan is to make “Go Live’ into a brand name with a whole line of products and possibly the opportunity to hold or sponsor athletic events.
“I want to take it as far as I can. I believe in the message and what it stands for. I believe this is something that can be applied to any sport or any activity in life. The idea of being an extra motivator or energy in someone’s life is not a bad thing either,” Magna said.
“We want to spread the movement and have more people join the ‘Go Live’ nation,” Elliott said. “With this, we believe we will be able to spread good energy throughout the world inspiring others to live. ‘Go Live’ can have different meanings to people; we encourage everyone to find out what ‘Go Live’ means to them and then apply it to their life.”
Magna and company are launching a new website, www.golivenation.net, on Nov. 9.
The website will feature the full ‘Go Live’ product line as well as upcoming ‘Go Live’ events. For updates on the ‘Go Live’ website and ‘Go Live’ nation, follow their Twitter account @golivenation or email Tommy Magna directly at [email protected].
