At age 15, Dunham Tiger Brennan Phillips ‘20 turned his passion for baseball into a business.

After seeing multiple baseball glove postings on Instagram, he decided to start @225_gloves, buying and selling baseball gloves to collectors and players all over the United States and Venezuela. Brennan also serves as a brand ambassador for Round 2/The Athletes Marketplace and Steelo Sports Glove Company.

“Seeing multiple accounts on Instagram posting a bunch of baseball gloves, I thought what they were doing was interesting and it seemed like something I wanted to get into,” said Brennan about the inspiration behind his successful business.

Customers usually find Brennan’s business on explore pages or through friends. He estimates that 50% of his business is selling to collectors with the other 50% going to players who actually use them. Now considered the “glove guru,” Brennan has broken in gloves for his Dunham teammates and offers advice on new glove purchases to local baseball players.

“In 8th grade, I had no intention of playing baseball, but Coach (Sham) Gabehart rekindled my love for baseball. This choice became a pivotal part of my high school experience. Playing baseball gave me an excuse to buy all these gloves and make a business out of it,” he said.

Operating a very successful business for the past four years has taught Brennan important lessons that he never would have learned in a classroom. “I’ve l earned that making connections and being friendly to everyone is key to becoming trust worthy and well liked in the realm of baseball gloves. Also, being nice and understanding allows people to trust you more, and more likely to recommend you to others.”

“Not only has Dunham given Brennan the confidence and skills he needed to start his own business, it also prepared him to talk to and negotiate with people from across the country.” said Amy Phillips, Brennan’s mother. “We are so thankful for all Dunham has done for him.”

Headed to LSU in the fall with plans to major in Entrepreneurship, Brennan doesn’t know if he will continue with his business. “I’m more into collecting at this point, but that may change in the near future,”he said. For now, check out Brennan’s business @225_gloves on Instagram.

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