Cathedral Prep is full of many talented, smart, and outgoing students. Senior Mohamed Rahama, is definitely one of them. Mohamed has his own business, making phone cases. He runs his business, Exotic Cases, online; anyone can also purchase a case at the Hagerty Family Events Center.

The cases Mohamed makes are New TPU sublimation soft cell 2D flexible cases for iPhone.

“I’ve done my own research on these cases,” Mohamed said. “I made sure they were durable and could take a drop, but I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from a few of my customers, and I’ve gotten a lot of good comments.”

He uses an Epson Ecotank 270 printer that he did research on.

“It was one of the best printers to convert to a sublimation printer,” Mohamed said.

He also uses ink and a heat press to make the phone cases.

“So when I get on my online website it shows me what custom cases have been ordered, so I start off by printing those,” he said. “I make sure I mirror the images. Then I get my heat press ready. The cases come in two pieces: the actual case [and] then a back piece, which is aluminum. Then I go in by taping those together. Then heat press for about one minute and 15 seconds. Then the case comes with glue, and I put those two pieces together, and you have your case.”

Mohamed uses the app Shopify to ship out his cases. It calculates the shipping rates for him. He also offers local delivery.

“I calculated that myself,” he said. “I set it on my Shopify store if you live in a 25-mile radius from me, and my website calculates your gas price for me driving. I also offer local pick up. If you were to do that it takes 24 hours for me to drop it off, so if you order a cases at 4:30 p.m. your case will be available the next day at 4:30 p.m.”

Mohamed started making his cases his freshman year.

“I just wanted a custom cases of a quote I always go by, but then I quickly realized that I could easily make cases myself,” he said. “[I went on] YouTube and watched a few videos and started to pick up on it and I did a lot of research on how much everything was to get started.”

He did not have a job or any money to start the business, so he presented the idea to his parents, and they gave him some money to get started. He then purchased some of the products he would need.

He has been making phone cases for about three years now. He has taken breaks to produce more ideas to impress customers. In 2022, a lot of people started to come across his business, allowing him to sell more phone cases.

Mohamed does not plan to sell phone cases as a future career, but he does want to work for a large advertising company and have a business of some kind on the side.

Mohamed had a lot of difficulties trying to get his cases out to the public in the beginning, but as he figured out more resources, business got better.

“When you have a business your quality in your product is going to get you far, so I always make sure my customers are always happy with what they got,” he said. “Then that turns into [them] telling their friends, family, and them coming back for more, so I never put out anything that isn’t something I would buy.”

He makes his cases all on his own and does not plan to get any help unless he receives a crazy number of orders.

Mohamed has progressed a lot and only plans to progress more. He offers cases, comes up with or even customized cases, and is generous to his customers. A high school student having his own business is very impressive. Check out his website to see the cases he has available.