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If you could have any job in any field, what would it be?

“Honestly, no other job would ever be so fitting. I wouldn’t be satisfied doing anything else. This has been what we’ve been saying we wanted to for the past nine years. Nothing is more fitting or tailor-made for us. We’re literally addicted to what we do. Maybe work with Nike to collaborate on a dope. sneaker. That would be a dream come true.”—Williams

Courtney Howell and Brandon Williams started talking design while sitting in world geography class at Baton Rouge High School. Howell was tired of all the T-shirts she’d seen in stores, so she took matters into her own hands.

“I just started making custom T-shirts,” she says. “And I’d always show them to Brandon. He’s always been my creative advisory board.” So when the two traveled to New York their senior year to check out the city’s streetwear scene, they made a plan: continue designing shirts and expand into a flagship boutique to sell custom shirts, hats and sneakers.

Williams says the two selected majors at LSU that would help them run the business. Howell majored in Textiles, Apparel and Merchandising, and Williams studied Business Administration. “In college, it just started being more consistent,” Howell says.

The two officially launched dope. [yes, it’s lower case and followed by a period] in January 2008. Since then, they have grown dramatically. The T-shirt line was picked up by two regional stores and launched an online boutique. And in February, Howell and Williams purchased their own T-shirt press.

Williams and Howell aren’t just designing and printing shirts. They are creating an entire culture around dope., one that embodies everything they care about. “The street wear culture is about sneakerheads, people who wear skinny jeans and skateboarders,” Howell says. They use dope. to communicate a brand rich with music, art and fashion. The two hosted a mixer in January for dope. It was packed. Art and T-shirts hung on the walls. People danced, talked and partied late into the night. But unlike the name of their line, it was completely alcohol- and drug-free.

“We’re not drug dealers or anything,” Howell says. “But our logo [the word dope spelled out in a handgun with trailing bullets] will get your attention,” Williams says. The two say that the company name is satirical, like most of their T-shirts. The designs imply reclaiming some concepts with negative connotations or very heavily marketed concepts. There is a design that says “DOPE: keeping kids fresh”—like the DARE motto—and another with a bloodied pencil, a spin on the famous line, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

“During Gustav,” Howell says, “my grandfather made us watch the Malcolm X movie. And I just thought to put an ‘X’ on the shirt with the words, ‘By any means necessary.’ Because a lot of people can connect to that spirit of achieving a goal” by making something extraordinary happen.

And those messages are a part of the brand and the culture—one that is being strengthened by Howell and Williams’ persistence to develop a stronger brand and business model. “We’re working with the UEP [the Kauffman Foundation’s Urban Entrepreneurship Partnership],” Williams says. “We’re just trying to make the right steps so we can be successful.”

In the meantime, they’re going to keep pushing the brand with their blog on thedopegame.com and with initiatives like their fresh photo contest this summer. But they definitely still plan on opening a boutique to promote the brand and sell sneakers. For now, Williams says, “Get addicted.”

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