TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa-based company Action Holdings began in a dorm room six years ago at the University of Tampa by then student Andrew Gilliland, who has since grown it into a $6 million business and was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list earlier this month.

What You Need To Know

  • Andrew Gilliland, 27, made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for e-commerce

  • Gilliand is the CEO and President of Action Holdings  

  • Action Holdings is an e-commerce business which focuses on marketing, operations and the supply chain 

  • Gilliland started the business in 2018 selling iSpy Pens from his University of Tampa dorm room

“For me, this is more of a reflection, honestly, of the team that I've built and the people who have supported us over the years,” he said. “It's a momentum builder.” 

Action Holdings is an e-commerce business which focuses on marketing, operations and the supply chain, according to Gilliland. It has a portfolio of brands which include iSpy Pens, BBQ-AID, Knapp Kitchen and Embark Pets. The startup is valued at $4.3 million, according to Forbes.

“We're looking to build the bottom line out and use that to buy new businesses and launch new products,” said Gilliland, 27. “We have direct factories in China. I was just over there last month.”  

Spectrum News first reported on Gilliland in January 2018, when he began selling his innovative iSpy Pens and was using his dorm room as a warehouse. It turned out to be a University of Tampa violation to operate a business from a dorm room and he was forced to move it off campus. Gilliland said it was the starting point for Action Holdings.

“They had us leave campus with our business… We kind of just elevated all of our operations at that time,” he said. “iSpy Pens was really just the inception of a much bigger vision that I had to build a portfolio of brands that could serve millions of people.” 

Gilliland said Action Holdings did $6 million in sales this year but doesn’t have a permanent office. Instead, the CEO works remotely at the Embarc Collective in downtown Tampa.

“I would say it's kind of the new way of doing business, at least for an e-commerce holding company like ours,” he said. “We have team members that are based across the United States. We also have a Philippines based team.”

Gilliland said he’s always looking to buy businesses and launch new products. He currently has nearly a dozen employees.

“At the end of the day, we love what we do. We love the people that we do it for, and we're proud of the products that we create,” he said. “So it's just a start to a much bigger future for us.”