The Dorm Dudes name becoming more and more recognized beyond AU
There’s “Richie D,” Richie Delaney and “The Kernal,” Ryan Kern, as well as “Sugar Shane,” Shane Rue.
There is also “Bubba,” Grayson Hay and, of course, “Bossman,” Zach Balo.
And their girlfriends go by “The Mrs. Dorm Dudes.”
Even the official name of their live-selling sports memorabilia business, Dorm Dudes, sounds like a fun nickname.
With most of the “Dorm Dudes” graduating this spring from Ashland University, is a new business name needed?
“I think we can continue with that name,” said Balo, who started the business from his AU dorm room about two years ago. “Also, it’s a brand that’s recognizable.
“I would hate to change it,” added the senior accounting and finance double major. “I think people know, especially our regulars, that it started in college.”
This AU student-run business, which, in its first year, was streaming 18 to 20 hours a day to about 25,000 people daily, shipping about 500 packages a day and had sales of more than $3 million, keeps growing by leaps and bounds, now up to 40,000 viewers a day between all its accounts, shipping twice as many packages a day (around 1,000) and had sales of $10 million in the past year.
Dorm Dudes brand keeps growing
Not only did the Dorm Dudes add a larger building on campus over the summer across the street from the one they were streaming in (the former Buffalo Wild Wings building), they also bought a van to travel to special streaming events they do in Nashville, Tennessee, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where several celebrities have helped them with their live selling online (TikTok, Instagram, WhatNot and Fanatics Live).
Just this month, they moved to a bigger building in downtown Ashland.
While they have done several live-selling events in Nashville with nationally syndicated radio show host Bobby Bones, who became a big fan of their streaming, they have just recently added ones with sports celebrities in Florida at the warehouse of The Real Autograph, the company that supplies the Dorm Dudes with most of their merchandise and booked the sports celebrities.
“It’s actually gotten to the point where people recognize us for being on screen and being with celebrities,” Balo said. “It’s been a little scary, but also cool at the same time. We were at a gas station in Georgia and a family asked if they could get a picture with us. We had another guy follow us on the interstate for about 30 minutes until we stopped at a gas station so he could meet us. It’s been an experience that’s for sure.”
“Shaq,” “Cheetah” “Ochocinco” have worked with Dorm Dudes
Of course, most of the celebrities they have worked with are better known by nicknames.
They include “Shaq,” former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal; “Cheetah,” Miami Dolphins speedy receiver Tyrek Hill; and “Ochocinco,” retired receiver Chad Johnson, who wore uniform No. 85 when he played in the NFL, mostly for the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Shaq,” “Cheetah” and “Ochocinco” helped the Dorm Dudes with a cyber truck Christmas giveaway in December that included “Shaq” signing the truck.
“Ochocinco” has streamed with them several other times.
“ ‘Ochocinco’ fits in really well with us,” Balo said. “He likes to jump around with Kern and the other guys.”
“OBJ,” O’Dell Beckham Jr., another NFL receiver, has done streams with them, too, as well as two other former NFL players, Michael Vick and Frank Gore, who unfortunately for this story, aren’t better known by nicknames.
That’s kind of the same with some of the “Dorm Dudes.”
Stories of the nicknames of the behind-the-scenes Dorm Dudes
While many of the “Dorm Dudes” are known by their nicknames for being on screen, several others are more behind the scenes and aren’t as well known by the nicknames beyond the “Dorm Dudes.”
Ty Mast, who is rarely on screen, goes by “Ty the Creator,” because he does most of the social media content creation.
Like Mast, Ellison Morel, a 2022 AU graduate who recently moved back to Ashland to join the Dorm Dudes in person, prefers to stay off screen, mostly managing accounts and handling customer service. He got to know the other “Dorm Dudes” because lived in a fraternity house with several of them when he was at AU.
When Morel sold for the Dorm Dudes in his hometown in Virginia after he graduated and then when he moved to South Carolina, he kind of had one for a short time.
“He did dye his hair one time and people were calling him ‘Slim Shady’,” Balo said about Morel, who said during on one of his streams that he would dye his hair if a certain number of items sold, which happened.
He kind of had another nickname when selling slowed down.
“If something isn’t selling for a moment, you have to say something, so I used to say the phrase, ‘Let me know’ all of the time, ‘if you want this spot, let me know, if you have any questions, let me know,’ so people called me ‘Mr. Let Me Know’ for a while,” Morel said. “That was the only nickname I got. It’s not quite as good as ‘The Kernel.’ ”
Or “Chicken Joe,” Joe Beck, who got his nickname from combining his first name with a main character in a 2007 mockumentary animated film, “Surf’s Up.” Since he is in charge of shipping all the products they sell to the buyers, maybe he should change it to “Shippin’ Joe.”
Employees and products keep expanding
The newest “Dorm Dude” is Caleb Kepler whose nickname, “Kep,” is tied to his last name, was hired about a month ago, mostly to sell on screen.
Balo said he would like to hire other AU students in the future for jobs and internships.
The one “Dorm Dude” who didn’t attend AU, Kaden Poorman, a high school friend of Balo’s who moved to Ashland recently, has a nickname, “DJ KP,” that just shortens his name and describes one of his jobs as a disc jockey.
Like Morel used to do, the Dorm Dudes have contract workers beyond Ashland who live and sell from New York and Los Angeles; Arizona and Georgia; as well as Cleveland, Canton and Bluffton in Ohio, to make the total workforce about 20.
They also are starting to sell other products besides sports memorabilia, such as golf equipment (they used to stream for that in the old BW3 building AU owns across the street from where they streamed the sports memorabilia, another AU building that used to be a yoga studio). Outdoor items and tools are likely to follow, Balo said.
From Balo’s dorm room in a fraternity house, to a pair of previously unused AU buildings to a much larger empty AU facility downtown, the Dorm Dudes keep moving to bigger and better locations.
What’s next?
“Bossman” hopes to keep the “Dorm Dudes” together beyond AU
“Some people may laugh at this, but our ending goal is to buy a big piece of land and section it off, and everyone builds on it,” Balo said with a big smile.
Wherever they end up next, Balo said he hopes it’s still in the Ashland area with the same core “Dorm Dudes” – nicknames and all.
“It’s not about the money, which is great; it’s more about keeping us all together,” Balo said. “The main reason I started this is my least favorite thing when I graduated high school was most of my friends went their separate ways. I don’t want that to happen to our group here.”
