CROSSROADS

To be at a crossroads means facing a pivotal decision. For Nathanial 'Nate' Mills, it was more than just a metaphor — it’s the name of his vintage clothing business and the defining moment when he realized his time playing the sport he loved had come to an end.

From the Field to the Unknown

A standout lacrosse player at East Chapel Hill High School, Mills accepted an offer to play at the Division III level at Oberlin College, a small school located in northeast Ohio. However, Mills would never record a stat for the Yeomen.

Across his collegiate and high school careers, Mills would battle through multiple concussions. By the end of his freshman season at Oberlin, he had to make a decision.

“It’s definitely difficult,” Mills said. “It was really hard for me because it wasn’t my choice to stop playing. There was a point where it’s not safe for me to play anymore.”

“[Lacrosse] is a violent sport,” Mills added. “Even as you go up in skill level, everyone is bigger, stronger, and faster.”

Stepping away from the game wasn’t just about losing lacrosse – it meant changing his daily life.

“That was difficult because it also meant adjusting my life,” Mills said. “I don’t play contact sports. I don’t play on the intramural basketball team. I probably shouldn’t have played on the intramural flag football team. There’s a point where it’s not letting it control your life, but also realizing you can’t do certain things because of it.”

After he departed from Oberlin in the spring of 2021, Mills returned to his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He took the following year to figure out his next steps, all of which he believed were leading him to a school down the road from his childhood home.

“When I was transferring out of Oberlin, I did not have the greatest grades because I had been concussed for basically my whole time there,” Mills said. “I was trying to transfer to UNC Chapel Hill in my hometown, they had a lot of bureaucracy about what my GPA needed to be, how much time I needed to do at a community college to get my GPA back up where it needed to be. That was all without a guaranteed acceptance.”

Mills’ attention turned to Elon University, a school that gave Mills the opportunity he was searching for.

“I knew about Elon when I was younger, but I kind of put it in the same place as Campbell, High Point, small schools in North Carolina that I was never going to,” Mills said. “But I told [Elon] my story, and they understood it. They weren’t going to let it define me as a student.”

A Vintage Passion

Following his first year at Elon, Mills completed an internship in St. Louis, Missouri. In the ‘Mound City’, Mills found a new passion – vintage clothing. What started as a way to declutter his closet soon evolved into a budding business.

“I just had too much in my closet originally,” Mills said. “I sold them on an app called Depop. Then, I realized there might be a viable business here. Then I started buying in bulk and really curating what I do.”

Vintage clothing isn’t just a trend – it’s an industry that has gained significant momentum in recent years.

“It’s one of the fastest-growing markets,” Mills added. “People my age tend to care more about the environment, and they’re trying to find ways to be sustainable while also trying to buy things you like.”

For over a year and a half, Mills has spent weekends transporting upwards of 500 pieces of clothing from his storage unit on East Haggard Avenue to pop-up markets. Along with his inventory, he brings a tent, metal racks, fold-up tables, and his signature teal camping chair.

“I’ll never sell my unit,” Mills joked.

Beyond selling, he enjoys the stories in between the threads.

“Being able to find a shirt from that first concert my parents went to,” Mills said. “It’s always a cool experience.”

Ironically, Mills never intended for his business name, Crossroads Vintage, to reflect his personal journey from athlete to entrepreneur.

“I was trying to come up with an original name that wasn’t taken on Instagram,” Mills said. “Crossroads is the middle point between something, so it's the middle point between modern fashion and old fashion.”

However, the lessons Mills learned at Oberlin remain at the forefront of Crossroads Vintage, including the calling card of any athlete – grit and competitiveness.

“Playing sports at any level is competitive,” Mills said. “Especially at a level where you’re not getting paid, you’re not making money. You’re doing it for a true love of the game, so it’s your will to win that matters the most.”

“Being your biggest advocate,” Mills noted as another vital skill. “While I don’t consider myself much of a salesperson, a lot of what I do is selling. Being able to believe in the product I have, but also being able to give it value from my expertise. Giving something value is similar to DIII sports. You don’t have a lot of supporters. It’s a very small network, so you need to be your biggest advocate in the classroom, on the field.”

Entrepreneurial Roots

Mills’ knack for entrepreneurship isn’t surprising – it runs in the family.

On Feb. 11, 2025, Rousset began her tenure as the Director of Elon’s Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Through her first month, she has begun to instill her passion for entrepreneurship in students, something she’s done as Mills’ mother for 23 years.

“I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs,” Mills said. “My parents met as entrepreneurs in Poland. Entrepreneurship has always been in my family.”

“It’s really interesting having one of my biggest advocates in my corner now, really in my corner now in an administrative role at Elon,” Mills added.

Recently, Mills was awarded as a recipient of Elon’s Student Government Association (SGA)’s Acorn Fund. As the SGA Finances’ website states, “The Acorn Fund is designated to financially support Elon students with an original, innovative, and feasible invention, a for-profit or non-profit company/organization, or other initiatives with the potential for positive impact beyond the classroom.”

“There were eight applicants across a variety of fields, in a variety of different stages with their businesses,” Mills said. “I was lucky enough to be selected to win $5,000. It's helping me propel my business, it's gone towards buying more inventory as well as developing a website and new software.”

Now, Mills travels across his home state to expand Crossroads Vintage.

“North Carolina is a pretty booming place for vintage markets,” Mills said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for me.”

The Balance of Business

Balancing school, social life, and a growing business is no easy task.

“I'm a student here at Elon, trying to figure out that balance between being a student and having a social life and also being a business owner at the same time,” Mills said. “Most of my events are on Saturdays and Sundays. I have classes Monday through Friday, so while I’m getting a lot of work done at night, I'm also a second-semester senior and I want to spend time with my friends.”

“If I have a market, I’m waking up at 6 a.m. and won’t be back until 9 p.m., so I’m off campus for 15 hours and not seeing friends,” Mills added. There’s definitely a hard line of being with people but working to make money.”

While the industry and his passion can be competitive, Mills embraces the challenge.

“Part of vintage clothing, for lack of a better term, is gatekeeping,” Mills said. “People won’t tell you about where they’re buying their clothes because they don’t want to give up their revenue source, which makes a ton of sense. Study, take your time, and connect with other people.”

His competitive nature – the same one that fueled him as an athlete – still drives him in business.

“Running a business is competitive,” Mills said. “I’ve always been a hyper-competitive person. I was playing college sports, I’m the most competitive pickleball player I know, and I hate losing in any way. You’re trying to win. When I walk through someone else’s inventory, I want to be able to say ‘my stuff is better.’”

Remembering the Past

Though he misses playing lacrosse, Mills has embraced his new path. With his playing days behind him, concussions are less frequent but remain a concern. Each incident lowers the threshold for what can trigger another, and multiple concussions increase the risk of long-term issues.

“Right now, my old school just had their first scrimmage,” Mills said. “Those are times where I wish I could be out on the field, but that’s just not an opportunity for me anymore.”

“Playing past concussion three or concussion four, there was severe risk,” Mills added. “Mitigating is the most important thing.”

What began as a forced departure from sports has since evolved into an entrepreneurial journey where Mills controls his own future. He envisions expanding his business, including bringing a market to Elon’s campus and eventually opening a physical retail location.

No longer defined by his setbacks, Mills is creating his own path, one vintage piece at a time.