When Andrew Roffe attended his little cousin’s Bar Mitzvah a few years ago, he said he got a huge kick out of seeing all the kids on the dance floor.
“Every Jewish kid wanted to be a hip-hop star right then, and they all sort of transformed into these gangsters,” said Roffe, 30, a New Trier graduate who is now a Los Angeles-based writer, actor and comedian.
The experience sparked his idea for a t-shirt that reads, “Mazel Tough,” which is a play on words for the Hebrew saying, “Mazel Tov,” meaning congratulations. The shirt then became the launch product for Roffe’s new lifestyle brand company, Chosen Brand Apparel.
“I didn’t invent the saying, but I had been saying it a lot,” said Roffe, who holds a degree in television writing from Columbia College, and who since moving to Los Angeles in 2009 has appeared in several TV shows and feature films. “The message behind the company is self-acceptance and loving who you are, mixed with goofy and silly stuff.”
The Mazel Tough T-shirt is Chosen Brand’s first and only slogan, so far. It is available on light blue or gray t-shirts shirts or tanks for both adults and kids. Roffe said the company will start carrying onesies and hats in the near future.
“Someone who wears the shirt is expressing a lot about their personality,” he said. “They are silly and open-minded.”
Wearing the shirt almost every day, Roffe said he gets stopped frequently by both Jewish and non-Jewish men and women who inquire about it and ask where he got it.
Roffe, who is also a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program, said he started Chosen Brand for more than just financial gain.
“I was tired of the daily grind of auditioning and I wanted to do something that was creatively and spiritually fulfilling,” said Roffe, who had supporting roles in the 2009 film “Year One,” as well as 2011’s “Think Like a Man.” “When you’re an actor, you have 2 percent or less control of your life. With your own business, you get to steer the ship again. I can control my destiny much more.”
According to Roffe, being in show business has given him the tools that will help make his company successful.
“It’s made me tough. I don’t care about rejection, I move on. If someone doesn’t want to wear the shirt, that’s ok,” he said. “Acting teaches you to roll with the punches and not take things personally.”
Michael Niederman is the chair of the Television Department at Columbia College and Roffe’s former teacher, who said his student reached out to him regarding the new company.
“It made me smile,” said Niederman. “He’s a very smart, funny kid and I think he struck a note and that’s what it takes in this culture to get noticed.”
When asked if he thought the company would be a success, Niederman said this.
“I immediately thought of my 17-year-old son and Hanukkah, so is there a market for it? Sure.”
Mazel Tough t-shirts are available on the company website, www.bemazeltough.com, and Roffe is currently donating a portion of the proceeds of every shirt to Tikva House, a Jewish orphanage located in Ukraine.
“I am treating this business the same way I treat the entertainment business,” Roffe said. “I have made it my life from the minute I wake up until I go to bed.”