Bowie State Student Recognized as AT&T Rising Future Maker

Jaivien Kendricks Hopes to Inspire With More Life Clothing Brand

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Saxon, jsaxon@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-3607

(BOWIE, Md.) – Jaivien Kendricks isn’t just another college student with a clothing line. The junior business administration major with a concentration in marketing was recently selected to be part of this year’s AT&T Rising Future Makers cohort, which recognizes 25 HBCU students who are making an impact in their communities while still in school. Students who are selected receive $5,000, networking opportunities with industry leaders and an AT&T phone with a year of service.

Kendricks was recognized for his clothing brand, More Life, which aims to connect with his customers through clothing that bears messages such as, “Don’t Let Your Dreams Be Dreams” and “Defy the Odds.” It’s his way of sharing the values of the brand in hopes that it can spark a larger social change.  

“This is something I want to turn into a corporation,” said Kendricks, who cites a statistic saying that three percent of the top executives for Fortune 500 companies are Black. “There’s not enough Black CEOs in America. More Life is more than just a clothing brand, it’s an empire.”

Kendricks has always felt he was meant to make an impact, but he struggled initially to figure out what that would look like. Then came 2020, which brought mass protests against racial injustice and police brutality set against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Kendricks saw how much public morale was falling across the nation and identified a need he wanted to address.

“There was a hole in America, especially amongst young people,” said Kendricks. “A lot of young people were lost and there was no hope. I felt like there was something needed to inspire young people and tell young Black people they can do anything they put their mind to.”

So, Kendricks launched his clothing company in 2020, with the name Awoken before he changed it to More Life in 2022. Clothing from the line is available in the Bowie State University Bookstore and online.  Kendricks is working to get More Life onto Howard University’s campus and eventually have a presence at every HBCU in the country along with selling his wares in more mainstream clothing stores to inspire more people to take actions in their communities .

“Our values we want people to stand for are vitality, growth, collaboration, creativity and gratitude,” said Kendricks. “We’re about changing the culture in our community. We want to not only wake people up and help them understand what we’re doing wrong as a community, but also how we can do better and move forward.”

Further down the line, Kendricks hopes he can use his business to push changes that outlast him, such as creating more equitable access to education and healthcare.

“We also want to get into building universities, doing things with medicine-less hospitals and focusing on mental health,” said Kendricks. “It’s a whole thing we want to build that will promote the message and grant people that opportunity of more life.”

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.