Playing on the Eagles, Brent Celek is used to doing things differently. “I give Coach Kelly all the credit in the world,” Celek says. “He’ll try something, and if it’s not working, he’ll just say, ‘Men, my bad. Let’s try something different.’” The Eagles have found success with Chip Kelly, their open minded coach, and it’s that same approach that Celek has taken in founding his new luxury goods company, Revisit.
With Revisit, Celek and his colleagues are partnering with local designers and artisans around the country to make quality modern luxury products including leather bags, iPhone cases and jewelry. For each product sold, 25% of the revenue is used to help preserve US national parks.
“Honestly, I was just trying to make a difference,” Celek says about creating the company. Today, Celek has taken the train up from Philadelphia to visit AQ and to talk about his second greatest passion after football. “When you hear about national parks closing, you think it can’t possibly happen. When it actually started to happen, we realized that we needed to do something to help.”
Celek was raised with four younger brothers and sisters in a rural area twenty minutes outside of Cincinnati. “Growing up,” he says, “mom never allowed us to have the TV on while it was light out, so we were always outside. My brother and my neighbors, we were always playing in the woods.”
The outdoors were a big part of family life for Celek. The family still holds dear a trip they took to the Grand Canyon when Celek was 16. “It was one of my most distinct memories,” he says. “We drove around to all of the national parks out there. It was different from any other vacation we’ve ever had. It was all about nature and scenery, and interacting with each other.
When Celek felt the need to help preserve the parks so other people could enjoy them, he collaborated with his friend Jillian DiIorio, a former senior executive at TOMS to get the company off the ground.
“We started out making products that we wanted,” Celek says. “These leather bags we created are things that we love. So everything we create is something that we would want ourselves. Everything is made here in the United States. Our jewelry is made in New York. Our phone cases are made in Arizona. They are just local people trying to do good things, and we are highlighting them.”
Once the products began to sell, Celek started identifying parks most in need. “The first program we funded was for the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia,” he says. “They needed five bikes for their park rangers. We were actually able to give them ten bikes. We will go to a park and identify its needs. When we do give them money, it goes directly to the project, and not towards administrative costs.”
Being an entrepreneur may be new to Celek, but he feels football has trained him well, especially his time with the Eagles. “The biggest thing I’ve learned from football that I’ve taken into business is to never make the same mistake twice,” he says. “Learn from what you did, move on, and don’t let it happen again.”
Celek shows us the backpack and overnight bag he’s brought up on the train for the visit to our studio. The bags are indeed strikingly classic and feel luxe, something Celek takes great pride in. He takes even greater pride in what Revisit can be. “We’re really passionate about making the best quality products that we can,” he says. “But we also want to inspire people to go out and discover. Creating this company has been a process of discovery. You learn so many new things every day. You’re doing things you’ve never thought you would do. It’s been a great journey already.”
To learn more about Brent Celek's company and how it's helping the national parks, go to revisitproducts.com
