Transferring from a school across the country during the middle of your college career can’t be easy for anyone. Ben Meldrum, a transfer student from San Diego State University, has embraced the transition, however, and has even produced his own clothing line along the way called [NIĀ](http://nia.bigcartel.com/) (pronounced “ny-yay”).
“My experience transferring has been amazing,” Meldrum says. “It’s truly shown me that it’s okay to drop everything you know and run to somewhere new. Mizzou is hardly what I expected it to be. It’s so much more alive and robust than what I had previously thought.”
Like many MU students, Meldrum has chosen to major in journalism with a focus in strategic communication. But he stands out from the ordinary student in many ways as a young entrepreneur.
“I started my clothing line back in August,” Meldrum says. “Some of it had to do with the fact that I was the only one at my house in CoMo, because my other roommates were back home or working. And being new in town, I didn’t really have anywhere to go. So instead of watching TV all day, I decided to get creative.”
Meldrum’s interest in fashion actually stemmed from his high school hobby of skateboarding and following street fashion. Along with famous streetwear brands such as Supreme, The Hundreds, Diamond Supply Co., Active and HUF, Meldrum finds inspiration in Rob Dyrdek.
“Seeing his shows on MTV really blew my mind, because to have such a level of freedom as (he does) is truly a dream of mine,” he says. “This guy has a multi-million-dollar net worth for doing what he loves.”
This year, Meldrum has finally taken all that inspiration and put it all into NIĀ. The name stems from the last three letters of Meldrum’s home state of California.
“California is used a lot in clothing and in cheesy graphics for T-shirts so that no-name companies can make a quick buck, but I wanted to turn it into something elegant and unrecognizable,” Meldrum says. “Not a single person has been able to guess what the name means, or for that matter how to pronounce it. And that’s a curse and a blessing at the same time.”
Meldrum says that his clothing line is a combination of design and expression. It can sometimes be edgy and other times simply thought-provoking.
“Everyone kind of smiles and nods their head when I tell them that I’ve started my own brand, but I rarely ever get the sense that they believe it’s something I can make happen,” Meldrum says. “Being so young is something that I think is a blessing and a curse because figuring out what’s possible when you’re young leaves a billion more possibilities for you when you’re older, but people also rarely take you seriously.”
Although Meldrum is very interested in seeing how far he can take his clothing line, his real dream job lies in [photography](http://benmeldrum.tumblr.com/).
“If I ended up making this my career that would be magnificent, but it wasn’t what I pictured my life turning into until recently,” Meldrum says. “Now if I could be a professional photographer and run a decently successful clothing line, I could die a happy man.”