Reformed School

we sat down with Peter Gaona, founder & owner of ReformedSchool to learn more about his journey as a creative & entrepreneur growing his business in his hometown of chicago.

while in an entrepreneurship course at Columbia College in 2013, Peter launched ReformedSchool by selling bowties made out of repurposed material online. seven years later, ReformedSchool has grown into a sustainable interior shop that combines art, fashion, and eco-friendly materials together to create unique items you can wear and adorn your home.

the name for ReformedSchool comes from the fact that all products are made out of reused material (reformed), in addition to being used to educate (school) through imagery on the actual product or through the actual repurposed materials used to create the products. while scrolling ReformedSchool, you will see unique products representing HBCUs, historical Black & Brown figures, and so much more.

we asked Peter for one piece of advice for folks looking to step into entrepreneurship and he kept it real: don’t doubt yourself [and/or] talk yourself out of doing what you want to do.

you can shop ReformedSchool at https://reformed-school.com/ (our faves are the enamel pin collection 🤩). make sure to also follow @reformedschool on instagram to stay updated and catch them at different pop-up markets across chicago!

📸photography by anna zajac