Meet UT`s E-Commerce Wonderkid

By Christian Pascoal on October 4, 2018

Andrew Gilliland, a 21-year old part-time student here at The University of Tampa, is taking the e-commerce world by storm after starting his own company called ISpyPens back in 2016 in his UT dorm room.

ISpyPens is a tech company based in Tampa that sells affordable, high quality surveillance pens equipped with audio and visual recording capabilities. Since the company launched in 2016, ISpyPens has grossed over $250,000 in revenue.

According to Gilliland, the company`s main clientele is people who are harassed at work and are looking to get proof of the harassment. Other frequent buyers include private investigators, lawyers, and people just looking to improve their personal security.

Even before starting his company at UT, Gilliland always had a passion for entrepreneurship and the e-commerce industry.

“I started my first e-commerce website when I was eight years old,” said Gilliland. “Ever since then I`ve tried to teach myself the skills needed to succeed in e-commerce. I taught myself how to code, how to do graphic design, video editing, and website developement,” said Gilliland.

Gilliland moved into the boathouse after moving to UT where his company, ISpyPens, was started.

“I created ISpyPens with my ex-business partner when I was living in the boathouse. UT has provided me with an amazing infrastructure to succeed, more than I could have ever asked for,” said Gilliand.

Gilliland specifically credited Dr. Eric Liguori, a former business professor at UT, for helping him out on his journey to success.

“Andrew was one of the best students I had the pleasure to come in contact with while at UT,” said Liguori. “He has an exceptional mind for business to go along with a great worth ethic,” said Liguori.

After the success of ISpyPens, Gilliland has ventured into other industries where he sees the opportunity to make money.

“Besides ISpyPens, the two biggest companies I am working for right now are Indigo Sleep and Knapp Made Products. Indigo Sleep is a mattress company where I am Director of E-Commerce Development, while Knapp Made Products sells kitchen wear,” said Gilliland.

 “I am the Director of Sales and Marketing at Knapp Made. I was actually responsible for the launch of our As Seen on TV Direct TV Media campaign with Kevin Harrington, you know the guy from Shark Tank,” said Gilliland.

Gilliland is very grateful for all the success he has in his young career but was adamant that he is only at the beginning of his journey. Gilliland almost dropped out of UT entirely to pursue his business career last semester, but decided against it, wanting to finish what he started at UT. He is currently a part-time student and has an office in the Entrepreneurship Center.