Meredith Waguespack’s hard work has paid off in soft T-shirts.
The 38-year-old mother of three started Southern Football T-shirts six years ago when she stayed home with her toddler son, reports 225 in a feature in the August issue. She designed T-shirts injected with Louisiana cultural flair—a fleur-de-lis or a tiger paw in the center of the word “Football”—and sold them from the trunk of her car.
Her business grew steadily, and now Waguespack has a thriving online store in addition to the showroom on Sherwood Boulevard.
Last summer, the business boomed when Waguespack and her business partner Sarah Gibbens, a graphic designer, created a Cajun Navy T-shirt following the August floods.
The T-shirt featured the words “Cajun Navy” with two paddles crisscrossed on the front. A fleur-de-lis, anchor, boot and the state of Louisiana were printed in each of the four quadrants created by the paddles.
The shirts sold for $25 and together the two women raised nearly $50,000 for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, which had flooded and lost much of its inventory.
Now a year after the flood, Waguespack’s business continues to grow. Last September, she began a monthly subscription box service called the “Lagniappe Box.” Each box contains one of Waguespack’s shirts and a few other local items.
The May patriotic-themed box included blue sparkly earrings designed by a Lake Charles business, Louisiana Fish Fry Peach cobbler mix, a blue cotton-scented candle from a Central company and body butter from Prairieville-based Phresh Soap Company.
“It is important to support local,” she says. “I’m a small business, and people are helping support my livelihood by supporting me. It’s important to be able to empower others and create a really close Baton Rouge community.”
