About us
The story of Dormitory 101 goes beyond blankets. It is a journey about rediscovering and challenging yourself to do the things you never thought you could. A traditional stay-at-home mom with no prior business experience, created a solution to her own problem. Through a combination of luck and determination, I was able to start Dormitory 101 and is still fully dedicated to it ever since.
How It All Began
Before my son left for college, I feverishly searched for a high-quality bedding solution for him. I came up with nothing. Everything I found was either cheaply made, made for girls, or difficult to wash. It was then I discovered an important niche in the market that I could fill. Though I have a technical business background, it has nothing to do with the consumer industry. At the beginning, no one in the textile industry would speak to me about my ideas. I even considered going back to school for an MBA, so I could be taken more seriously. Ultimately, I decided to skip all that and go all in. It is what I now call my real-life MBA. Then a chance encounter happened that changed everything.
Chance Encounters
The weekend I dropped my son off at college, I stopped into a textile showroom to search for fabrics. I went to entertain the options I would need to create this company. With reluctance, the sales director finally showed me one of the softest and most durable fabrics I had ever felt in a blanket texture. She was skeptical that anyone would pay for this kind of material in a college blanket, but I knew better. I would have happily paid for it, if I had access to it. In the end, she sensed my dedication and introduced me to her mentor - a mother herself - who knew the ins-and-outs of the fabrics industry. I took this as a sign and the encouragement I needed to see this project to fruition.
Invention and Reinvention
Dormitory 101 started off as a passion project and has now grown to provide families with the comfort and support they deserve as they start new and exciting chapters in their lives. We offer premium quality blankets that are multi-functional, easy-to-care-for and attractive to the collegiate market our children now belong to.
It is important that we also support the colleges which are so formative in our children’s journey into young adulthood. For each blanket sold, a portion of the profits go back to the college that the blanket represents. Together, we can give back and provide our kids with a quality keepsake they will cherish long after they graduate.
Happy to bring a little joy into people's lives!
LTT