Indianapolis promoter Amp Harris strives to make an impact in community
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Local promoter and athlete consultant Amp Harris with Indianapolis Colts legends Reggie Wayne and Edgerrin James.
Courtesy Of Amp Harris
Indianapolis-based promoter and athlete consultant Amp Harris and former Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller embrace at a Pacers game.
Courtesy Of Amp Harris
Amp Harris is a local athlete consultant and promoter. He has curated events for a long list of athletes and entertainers, including Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Egerrin James, Mike Epps and Martin Lawrence.
Courtesy Of Amp Harris
Local promoter and athlete consultant Amp Harris and his 93-year-old mother Geneva. Amp credits his mom's faith for helping him process his brother's death.
Courtesy Of Amp Harris
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Amp Harris laughs as he walks through security Monday, July 14, 2025, ahead of the Indiana Black Expo to be held at Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Amp Harris answers a phone call Monday, July 14, 2025, as he talks security ahead of the Indiana Black Expo to be held at Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Amp Harris talks security Monday, July 14, 2025, with Claudette Peterson, owner of Circle City Security Co., ahead of the Indiana Black Expo to be held at Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Reggie Miller (left), Jalen Rose, Amp Harris and Reggie Wayne pose for a photo during halftime of Game 6 between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 31.
Trevor Ruszkowski, Imagn Images
Courtesy Of Amp Harris
Grace Hollars/IndyStar
"Saving Our Youth" Celebrity Basketball Game was hosted by Amp Harris and Reggie Wayne featuring T.Y. Hilton, Chester Rogers, Robert Mathis, Jacoby Brissett, Ron Harper and others at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, July 20, 2019. Saving Our Youth Celebrity Basketball Game was hosted by Amp Harris and Reggie Wayne featuring T.Y. Hilton, Chester Rogers, Robert Mathis, Jacoby Brissett, Ron Harper and others at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, July 20, 2019.
Grace Hollars/IndyStar
Entertainment promoter and Indiana Black Expo organizer Amp Harris is photographed at Carroll Stadium, the site of the 2024 Black Expo Outdoor Concert on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, on the IUPUI Campus in Indianapolis.
Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar
Local promoter and athlete consultant Amp Harris and his daughter Rachel at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Courtesy Of Amp Harris
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Amp Harris laughs as he walks through security Monday, July 14, 2025, ahead of the Indiana Black Expo to be held at Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Amp Harris talks about preparation Monday, July 14, 2025, ahead of the Indiana Black Expo to be held at Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
Amp Harris walks through security Monday, July 14, 2025, ahead of the Indiana Black Expo to be held at Indiana University's Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
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CNBC
26 minutes ago
- CNBC
42-year-old CEO: I turned my hobby into a $50 million-a-year business backed by Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Vesler has been obsessed with vintage sports apparel since childhood. His collection started with classic Air Jordan sneakers and Bo Jackson's Nike merchandise. In college, he earned extra cash by scouring local thrift shops for vintage items to sell on eBay. And in 2007, his obsession inspired him to launch Homage, a Columbus, Ohio-based sports and pop culture apparel brand that brought in more than $50 million in 2024 revenue, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Homage's apparel bears retro graphics with a vintage aesthetic, including throwbacks featuring classic sports team logos and legendary athletes from various eras. LeBron James helped popularize the brand by rocking one of its shirts, featuring 80's wrestler The Ultimate Warrior, after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Championship. "LeBron wore our stuff. That was a 'pinch me' moment and a major brand moment at the same time ... because he's very deliberate about what brand he wears," says Vesler, the company's 42-year-old CEO, who launched Homage from his parents' Ohio basement with a combination of eBay earnings and a few maxed-out credit the past almost-two decades, Homage has slowly worked to ink licensing deals with large organizations like the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, Walt Disney Company, WWE and trading card company Topps. The company's investors include celebrities and athletes like Ryan Reynolds, Jason Kelce and Kevin Durant. This year, Homage expects revenue to increase by a double-digit percentage, according to the company. Here's how Vesler turned his personal thrift shop habit into a growing business with eight-figure annual revenue. At age 13, Vesler combed through racks of clothing at thrift shops in Columbus, looking for the thrill of unearthing a cool, vintage sports jersey or T-shirt. Finding the perfect throwback item, like an old-school Houston Astros rainbow-colored jersey, meant "knowing it was unique, that nobody else had it [and] you couldn't go to the mall and there were, like, 1,000 of them," he says. While studying Spanish language and literature at Ohio University, Vesler ran a side hustle selling piles of vintage sportswear and pop-culture collectibles on eBay. His roommates were "always annoyed ... because [of the] boxes of stuff piling up," he says. Vesler made enough money from the venture — eventually bringing in up to nearly $20,000 annually, he says — to support himself after graduating in 2005, leading him to try his hand at making his own products. He launched Homage from his parents' basement in 2007, using more than $10,000 from his eBay earnings to buy blank American Apparel T-shirts and adorn them with self-designed sports graphics, he says. He wanted his designs be fun, creative and able to evoke the same joy he felt unearthing a unique thrift store find, he says. He took the shirts to local college bookstores. The biggest one in his area — The Ohio State University, with a massive fan base that Vesler likens to that of an NFL team — quickly rejected him. So over the next year, he says, he built a client list of smaller local schools, like his alma mater, to establish Homage's reputation as a high-quality brand. The products sold well enough at smaller schools that Vesler felt emboldened approaching local football icons to partner with Homage. He landed an in-person meeting with Archie Griffin, a two-time Heisman Trophy-winner at Ohio State, and inked a partnership with Griffin to license a series of shirts bearing the former running back's likeness. The shirts helped Homage land its licensing deal with Ohio State in 2008, says Vesler. A lifelong Ohio State fan, he was "catatonic on the floor" in happiness, he says. "I'd say that's the best IP in the world," says Vesler. "I knew that if you could prove yourself at Ohio State, you could go anywhere [in the U.S.]." The Ohio State deal brought an immediate surge of demand, which Homage's handful of employees could barely handle at first, Vesler says: "We never had enough inventory, we didn't have enough staff [and] stores would never send us their purchase orders in a timely fashion." With the revenue from those orders, Vesler increased the number of blank shirts in Homage's inventory at any given time, and hired more staff to handle the larger workload. The company's annual sales topped $1 million for the first time in 2009, says Vesler. Homage continued to sell mostly through college bookstores and its website until 2015, when it landed a national licensing deal with the NBA — due, Vesler says, to a years-long track record of managing Ohio State's massive fan base. Vesler sent a box of T-shirts to his local team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and insists it was a surprise when James, the NBA star, walked off a team plane wearing his brand in 2016. As more athletes wore the brand in public, more partners signed on, including the NFL and Disney's "Star Wars" and Marvel franchises. Yet Homage is still a relatively small player in a highly competitive sports apparel market, led by giants like Fanatics and Nike, that's forecasted to top $173 billion in North American retail sales in 2025, according to a McKinsey & Company report. Vesler says he's focused on gaining market share through pure creativity, in terms of Homage's apparel designs. He's also eyeing international expansion, starting with licensed merchandise for Wrexham A.F.C. — a professional soccer team based in the U.K. that's co-owned by Reynolds, the actor who's invested in Homage. Some of Vesler's other strategic ideas are purely wishful thinking for now: His company isn't large enough, and doesn't have large enough "strategic partners" yet, to create sports-themed experiences like Homage-branded bars or hotels, he says. But no idea is too far-fetched to eventually consider, he notes. "What enables this thing is people saying 'yes' to cool ideas," says Vesler. "Without that, there's no Homage."
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rufa Mae Quinto's Husband Trevor Magallanes Passes Away
Rufa Mae Quinto confirmed the death of her husband, Trevor Magallanes, in an emotional post. The 47-year-old actress addressed the ongoing rumors surrounding Magallane's cause of passing and urged everyone to refrain from spreading rumors or false information. Trevor Magallanes has passed away Filipino TV entertainer Rufa Mae Quinto revealed that the cause of her husband Trevor Magallanes' death is still being investigated. In an Instagram post on Thursday, July 30, she detailed that the authorities are still gathering accurate details about his death. In the post, she wrote, 'I'm deeply saddened by this development. Hope you give us time to mourn his loss, especially my daughter.' She added, 'I am flying tomorrow to the US with my daughter, so please wait for the official announcement surrounding his death from me and his family only and not from any other source.' Mae Quinto's Instagram post included a carousel of pictures, which included snaps of the couple's eight-year-old daughter, Athena. The US-based businessman and the actress reportedly got married in 2016. However, the couple were reportedly seeking divorce in 2024. But Mae Quinto had explained during an interaction with Boy Abunda that despite her late husband being more vocal about getting a divorce, the duo did not file any paperwork, as divorce is not legal in the Philippines. (via ABC CBN). She had also stated in an interview earlier this year that Magallanes is the 'last man' she would 'love.' The acclaimed actress had gushed, 'At my age, I am no longer hoping to find someone new. He is the last man I'd love. But if he already made up his mind [about the separation], I need to accept it' (via Inquirer Net). Meanwhile, social media has seen an outpouring of tributes as many mourn Magallanes' passing and the actress' loss. One fan posted on Reddit, 'Let's lift her and her daughter up in prayer. It is still difficult to deal with the loss of someone.' Another talked about the actress' sincerity for her late husband, as she had expressed her wish to reconcile her marriage just a few months back. The user wrote, 'OMG. In her interview a few months back, she wanted to fix their marriage. It seems Rufa really loves Trev. I feel for Rufa. It's so sad!' Originally reported by Arpita Adhya on ComingSoon. The post Rufa Mae Quinto's Husband Trevor Magallanes Passes Away appeared first on Mandatory. Solve the daily Crossword

Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Netflix just made a key new hire as it doubles down on its global ad ambitions
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