Business spotlight - Full Circle Outfitters - By Michelle Libby

Philanthropy is the mission of a new company called Full Circle created by three business management students at the University of Maine at Orono, who all happen to be Windham High School graduates.

College sophomores Gabe Purves, Brad Carpentier and Nick Sundquist are the three original creators of Full Circle, a company that gives back to those in need with the purchase of a T-shirt. They started the business in their dorm room and now have an office in the Student and Innovation Center on campus.  

The fourth original partner, Josiah Purves, designed the logo this summer. He attends the Maine College of Art. Sundquist and Purves have pulled back from the company some due to other commitments. 

“Together we wanted to come up with something more than an average T-shirt brand. We wanted more of a positive movement,” said Carpentier. “There’s no greater feeling than giving back. We want to motivate people to do small kindness throughout the day.” 

After a summer of working regular jobs, the men decided they want to do something to make them their own bosses, create something they could be passionate about, Purves said. 

Not quite two months ago, Full Circle put in their first T-shirt order. 

Full Circle sells T-shirts with the Full Circle logo on them. They have a few shirt styles to choose from and will have long-sleeved shirts by the end of November. Once the shirt is purchased, the buyer’s name goes into a drawing. At the end of the month, one name is drawn. That person gets to choose who they know that needs a little extra money at that time. The person they choose receives 15 percent of the sales from that month. It could be $100 or it could be $1,000 depending on the sales that month. 

“We all know someone going through a hard time,” said Purves. Through simple acts of kindness Full Circle customers can help one another out.  

Full Circle has been selling shirts at UMaine door to door for a month and its first step into business was at the Windham Boosters Craft Fair at WHS. 

“It was a lot more successful than we intended it to be. It was extremely successful. It didn’t feel like we were working, we were just having fun,” said Carpentier. They plan on attending more events like the Old Port Winter Carnival. 

 “A lot of kids our age don’t take a big step at this age to start something great,” Carpentier said. 

Purves and Carpentier set no boundaries on their company. “We really want to be big,” said Purves. “I’d love to give out $500 or more, but the minimum would be $100.” 

The Carpentier and Purves families are supporting the business. They give advice like buy women’s shirts. 

“We want to be successful for ourselves and to relieve stress off our parents who helped us to become the young men we are,” said Carpentier. 

For now the company is sticking with clothing, but changing up the Full Circle logo with a more vintage style to choose from that way people are not wearing the same design every day, Purves said. The shirts are printed at 320ink in Gorham and sold in person and online at www.livefullcircle.co. Full Circle is also on Facebook. To commemorate their first newspaper article, they are offering free shipping to anyone who puts the word WINDHAM in their order. 

“We know we’re growing when we put ourselves out there. We know only good things can come from that,” Purves said.