Juniors Shane Lane and Harrison Koenig are the founders of Mountain Goat Company and the creators of their product. Mountain Goat Co. is a small business created by CHS students aspiring to be eco-friendly and stylish.

The small enterprise transforms old rock climbing rope into belts, lanyards and other accessories. Mountain Goat Co. has only been in business for a small amount of time and Lane explains how to get in contact with the business.

“We have had the business for probably seven months now,” Lane said. “We make and sell belts, lanyards and general accessories, and the best way to get in contact with us is through our Instagram @mountaingoatco.”

Mountain Goat Co. was created to be universal to all different waist sizes as well as being environmentally friendly through recycling old materials. Koenig summarizes why they started the business together and where the inspiration came from. 

“We always had a problem with our belts being the wrong size, not being able to fit them,” Koenig said. “We also wanted to create something eco-friendly and found out that we could get this climbing rope and that was the best option.”

When creating their product, both founders considered what material would be the most durable and inclusive and how they were going to get the word out about their small business. Lane talks about what they had to decide when creating their enterprise.

“A major problem and learning curve has been tackling how to get our product out to people,” Lane said. “A lot of people have different preferences between buying in person or online.”

Owning and creating a small business comes with its challenges. When creating a business, owners have to consider what the buyers want, as well. Harrison explains what it takes to own a small business and what he enjoys about it.

“Yeah, there’s been a lot of challenges, trying to figure out what colors people like and trying to get that rope,” Harrison said. “It’s really nice owning a business and being able to work on your own time and control the things you want to control.”

Although starting and owning a business can be difficult, there are many rewards that come with the experience. Lane talks about how owning a small company has positively influenced him.

“The nicest thing about owning a business is solving others’ problems,” Lane said. “I love it when someone sees our belts and says something like, ‘I’ve been looking for something like this forever.’”