One Colorado State University graduate will not be job hunting this spring. Ryan Marzec graduated Saturday, Dec. 16 with a degree in marketing from the College of Business, and he already has a job. He is majority owner and store manager of Revolution Donuts, a new donut shop that opened Nov. 30 at 1720 W. Mulberry, Suite 2A in Fort Collins.

Marzec and his business partner, Michael Woodward, went to high school together in Memphis, Tenn. When they both moved to Fort Collins, they talked about how there were no donut shops like those in Memphis.

So, Marzec had the idea to open one.

“I saw this opportunity as a way to develop both personally and professionally,” Marzec said.

However, this donut shop is not your usual grab-and-go donut store. Marzec is hoping that his store will become a new place for people to sit and enjoy a donut and a cup of coffee.

“Revolution Donuts is more of a people-oriented store,” Marzec said. “We want people to come in and hang out in a bright and comfortable environment.”

To cater to their target market of students, Marzec and Woodward decided to stay open late-night hours. Marzec said he would like the shop to become a place for studying and socializing.

Marzec also caters to college students by keeping the prices low.

“You can fill up on a couple of bucks here,” Marzec said.

The store will be open 6 a.m.-noon Sunday through Saturday. They’ll reopen at 8 p.m. and stay open until 1 a.m. During the school year, the hours change slightly: Sunday through Wednesday, they’ll reopen at 8 p.m. and stay open until 2 a.m.; Thursday through Saturday, they’ll reopen at 8 p.m. and stay open until 4 a.m.
Revolution Donuts not only offers unusual hours but a different management style. Part of Marzec’s management style comes from his experience with Boy Scouts. Marzec was very involved in the Boy Scout program in high school and became an Eagle Scout in 1998. He says that his attitude to give back to the community comes from that experience.

“I learned how to create your own opportunities and pass them on,” Marzec said.

He wants to create those opportunities for employees. The hourly employees will have guaranteed working hours, but their schedules are flexible. Employees can trade shifts whenever they need to. Marzec is hoping that this type of scheduling will help promote more involvement in the community and the university.

“I am very involved in extracurricular activities at Colorado State, and I want to encourage the employees to do the same,” he said.

Marzec says his experience and involvement at Colorado State made this all possible. He is a member of Delta Sigma Pi – a co-ed business fraternity – and Alpha Kappa Lambda at Colorado State. He also took the College of Business’ Entrepreneurship Certificate program last summer. That program helped him pull together his final business plan.

“The program offered inspiration and helped me look at my plan from all different angles,” Marzec said.

He said his professors were very supportive and confident in him as well.

Vickie Bajtelsmit, faculty advisor for Delta Sigma Pi, has known Marzec since he was a freshman.

“He impressed me from the first as having a little more maturity than the average college student, so it's no surprise to me that he's putting his education to work in such an immediate and venturous way,” Bajtelsmit said.

Marzec also had help from his family. His mother and father helped with the initial funding of starting the shop, and Woodward brought in some finances. Then, with loans from the bank, Marzec and Woodward were able to open the store.

“My dad said it was either spend money for me to live at home while I looked for a job or spend money to help me create one,” Marzec said.

His family was very supportive of his goals, especially his business goals, because of a strong background in business. His father has an MBA and his sister has a master’s degree in accounting.

“My mom told me to do something constructive,” Marzec said. “I wanted to do something that I could see a tangible result.”

Marzec and Woodward are hoping to expand their business. Potentially, they would like to have a shop in Fort Collins’ Old Town and near Harmony Road. But for now, Revolution Donuts is guaranteed one customer this year.

“To help him along, I'll be buying donuts for all of my classes at the end of the semester,” Bajtelsmit said.

By Emily Kohli
Senior journalism student
Intern, Office of Public Relations