What Made Me Start XL-Ant Life

In Spring 2020, I was studying abroad that semester in Barcelona having the time of my life. I knew abroad was a fun experience, but I didn't think it was going to be that much fun. Then, all of a sudden COVID happened and cut my abroad time short. While everyone was upset and frustrated about not getting a full semester abroad, I was thankful I had the opportunity to be abroad for the couple weeks we were there.

Looking back, I believe my perception on life is the reason why I started XL-Ant Life. I’ve always been a positive, happy, smiley person who strives to appreciate the little things and enjoy the small moments in life.

After coming back from Barcelona, I was a little flustered and unmotivated. I felt like there was so much more for me to do in Barcelona, as if the trip felt unfinished. For about the first 3 weeks, I didn't do much but play videos and think about what I would be doing if COVID never happened. As days passed by, which then turned into weeks, I had a pit in my stomach, a feeling of dissatisfaction and confusion.

I decided to make a commitment to learning and making the most of life. This then lead me to start my business, XL-Ant Life, with the mission to spread happiness and positivity by living life to its fullest.

XL-Ant Life is a play on words of “Excellent Life” and like Life is Good, I try to convey happiness and positivity through a caricature doing fun activities. The main caricature is Eddie the Ant. He resembles everything about XL-Ant Life; happy, positivity, always smiling, enjoying life, and having fun. 

When I started XL-Ant Life, I did want it to become a huge business and make lots of money off of it. I think anyone that has ever started a business thinks about in the beginning. Now, my happiness, pride, satisfaction, however you want to call it, doesn't come from the monetary value of XL-Ant Life at all. XL-Ant Life hasn't taken off like I expected, yet it still makes me smile every time I see my shirts because it's allowed me to grow more as a businessman, student, and most important as a human being than I ever could imagine.

A smile is one of the most contagious things someone can do. A person that naturally smiles in pictures can live up to 8 more years than someone who doesn’t. Also, one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as 2,000 chocolate bars. Kids smile up to 400 times a day, while only ⅓ of adults smile more than 20 times a day. When I created XL-Ant Life, I wanted to create an apparel brand that would spread positivity and happiness to anyone through a smile. Nigh on impossible to feel anything other than happy when wearing our high-quality feel-good funny tee-shirts. 

XL-Ant Life’s mission is to Make the World Smile! I want to achieve this through playfulness and light-hearted humor. Looking back, I think I wanted to start XL-Ant Life because I was looking for an adventure, a journey to go on and take other people with me.

A journey to smile and live life to the fullest!