A small Boston business tried out for the Olympics, and made it

The effort to safe the deal was years within the making, Pardy mentioned. In 2018, she had an opportunity encounter with a high-ranking member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties workforce who had walked into STIK’s pop-up retailer in New York Metropolis. That was when she started to shoot her shot.

After accumulating a enterprise card from the customer, Pardy created samples, despatched them off to him, and adopted up each few months with new pictures or concepts. Step by step, she mentioned, STIK appeared to develop on USOPP regardless of — or maybe due to — her persistence.

“It was a really new firm that positively didn’t have any enterprise pitching this chance, however I figured I’d keep on it because it was 4 years away,” she mentioned. “They favored the model loads, favored how a lot we wished it, and so they gave us an opportunity. It’s been enormous for us as a small model.”

Peter Zeytoonjian, USOPP’s senior vp of client merchandise, mentioned a number of of Staff USA’s winter athletes have been already followers of STIK when the licensing settlement was nonetheless within the works. When USOPP members noticed the merchandise in particular person, he mentioned, they have been impressed by the standard.

“We labored with the model to create an genuine assortment for followers that’s already Staff USA athlete-approved. We’re terribly proud to work with everybody on the STIK workforce,” Zeytoonjian wrote in an e-mail, “together with Christina, a feminine founder with a compelling American success story who carved out her personal area of interest within the winter attire market.”

The collection consists of purple, white, and blue beanies displaying the letters “USA,” together with matching “TEAM” mittens — all with the official Staff USA emblem sewn in. Followers preferring a extra delicate look can go for a basic white beanie and a set of white mittens, which additionally bear the emblem. The hats might be topped with interchangeable fake fur or yarn poms.

Pardy mentioned she went for a daring retro look on the gathering, aiming to create basic items that received’t fall out of fashion. The USOPP had taken a liking to a striped purple, white, and blue beanie STIK was already promoting, so all it took was including the customized stitching to high it off.

Olympic snowboard champion Hannah Teeter, who calls herself a long-time fan of STIK, mentioned the model has been a “game-changer” since she found its beanies years in the past.

“I all the time put on my STIK snowboarding,” Teeter wrote in an e-mail. “Everybody is aware of it’s me on the mountain as a result of they acknowledge the pom pom beanie.”

STIK, which started outsourcing the creation of its merchandise to a bunch of girls in Peru after the enterprise took off throughout its first 12 months, has had a string of successes since its inception. The firm’s attire is bought in shops throughout the nation and on the web sites of nationwide retailers. Because the enterprise has grown, STIK has additionally labored to seed its merchandise with celebrities and athletes.

“However getting a nod from the USOPP and having the prospect to be an official licensee is simply one thing larger than I ever might have imagined,” Pardy mentioned. “I’m form of speechless. I want I had a greater phrase for a way thrilling it’s for us.”

Angela Yang might be reached at angela.yang@globe.com.