Homecoming Event Highlights Alumni Businesses

Eric Aaberg BS’23 and a small group of UT Dallas students greet passersby at their booth while handing out marketing materials at the University’s 2023 Homecoming in October. Aaberg’s stand is the first in a line of booths showcasing UTD alumni-owned businesses at the campus event.

“It is so much fun to see all these other creative alumni-owned businesses represented here,” said Aaberg, who attended several UTD Homecomings as a student dressed in the outfit of the University’s mascot. “This is my first Homecoming where I’m not dressed as Temoc, and now I can see a lot more not wearing the suit.”

Aaberg graduated in May with a bachelor’s in marketing and immediately went to work setting up two businesses, both represented at the Homecoming vendor fair organized by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. He launched a marketing agency called TGR Creative and started a photography business, Eric Aaberg Photography. As head of his own marketing agency, Aaberg has hired several UTD students and alumni to work for him part-time.

“I think getting alumni-owned businesses here is a great way to cultivate that alumni community at UTD,” he said. “I love to see UTD’s alumni community grow every year.”

Next to Aaberg’s booth, Christi Luu BS’02, MS’04 and her business partner, Jeanny Whu BA’04, set up their wares representing their business, H Press. The longtime friends met as UT Dallas students nearly 20 years ago. Earlier this year, the two decided to pair their skills to start the business to help school groups and nonprofits who need affordable T-shirts and spirit wear.

“I’ve been in the software development industry for a while and I said to Jeanny we should do something together,” said Luu, who graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science. “We always made crafts and T-shirts together as a hobby, and I said we could incorporate my technical strength with her strength in crafts to start a business.”

Whu, who graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology, is a private instructor of school orchestras for the Wylie and Frisco school districts and realized that school groups often need spirit wear and, just as important, they need help designing T-shirt art.

“School groups need to dress alike and need T-shirts but schools don’t have designers. So I have a connection with teachers, and Christi is a designer and has connections to vendors to provide printing,” Whu said. “So, we provide affordable spirit wear and offer the design for free to save them money.”

Luu said that she has maintained connections to UTD for years and now has family members who attend the University. She said for both her and Whu coming back to campus for Homecoming has been nostalgic.

“This is where I met Jeanny and several of my very best friends and where I met my husband,” Luu said. “I have so many fond memories, and this is where I learned so much. UTD shaped the person that I am, and I am very grateful.”

Amber Brown BA’15, MPA’17 has fond memories of her time at UT Dallas, too. Brown played basketball for the Comets from 2011 until 2015, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in public affairs. She is now director of operations at For Oak Cliff, a nonprofit organization that works to bring development and youth services to the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas.

Though she has a rewarding career, Brown said she has always wanted to start a business on the side. As a former athlete, she said she has always been interested in personal care products and decided to start a business making natural skin care products called Brown Sugar Shea.

“I wanted a natural way to care for my skin. Products made from shea butter have a really deep moisturizing power,” Brown said. “So, I started making my own fragrance shea butter moisturizers.”

In business for less than a year, Brown has done something that most small startups do. They begin selling their products to friends and family to get the word out and by attending events, like the business fair.

“People I’ve shared my products with love the way it smells and feels and that’s really important to me,” she said.

Mary Duplantier BS’21 is also interested in self-care products and started her business, Eve Luxe Co., to market artisan soaps and candles that she makes. Duplantier graduated from UT Dallas with a degree in finance and picked up on the potential for making her own soaps while studying online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I love to buy artisan soaps and so this started as a hobby in 2020,” she said. “I started watching soap-making videos on YouTube and I became obsessed.”

Duplantier works in financial planning but hopes to one day make her business a full-time venture. She found out about the alumni-owned business fair from a friend at UTD and decided it was a great way to meet people and introduce her products. Duplantier makes her products in her home kitchen using different oils like coconut, palm, sweet almond and castor.

“I like to call them usable art,” Duplantier said. “It makes you feel good and gives you a little extra lift for the day when you use them.”

For information about activities and ways alumni can get involved at UTD, email alumni@utdallas.edu.

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