Meet founder and CEO of Cajun Lures, Zach Dubois, '14

Written byAmanda Burleigh

小蝌蚪APP淚n the process of developing yourself as a designer, you learn various skills and knowledge of manufacturing that can lead you anywhere you want to go, and that小蝌蚪APP檚 what I enjoyed about the industrial design program at UL Lafayette.小蝌蚪APP

Zach Dubois
Graduation Year
Class of 2014
Major
Industrial Design
Hometown
Kaplan, La.

Where I'm From

I小蝌蚪APP檓 a lifelong fisherman from Kaplan, La.

Where I Am

I小蝌蚪APP檓 the founder and CEO of my own company, Cajun Lures.

Where I'm Going

I小蝌蚪APP檓 going to continue to grow my company with the knowledge and skills I learned from UL Lafayette.

Zach Dubois paired his passion for fishing with his degree in industrial design to become the founder and CEO of , a fishing lure company he started in his family小蝌蚪APP檚 garage.

Cajun Lures can now be found in 50 stores throughout Louisiana and Texas and sells online nationwide.

UL Lafayette industrial design graduate Zach Dubois designed this Zydeco Shade lure through his company Cajun Lures
Cajun Lures handmade Zydeco Shade lure

小蝌蚪APP淥n a daily basis, I manufacture and create my products, market my products and work on sales, keep up with my website, maintain equipment, package the products, deal with any business issues that may arise, ship and fulfill orders, answer emails, messages, and phone calls, and even work on photo and video content for advertisement purposes,小蝌蚪APP Zach explained.  

Zach says industrial design can be simplified as 小蝌蚪APP減roduct design小蝌蚪APP but that it is so much more.

小蝌蚪APP淚t小蝌蚪APP檚 constantly creating something, innovating, and becoming a problem solver,小蝌蚪APP he said. 小蝌蚪APP淵ou learn the process of design and everything in between. In the process of developing yourself as a designer, you learn various skills and knowledge of manufacturing that can lead you anywhere you want to go, and that小蝌蚪APP檚 what I enjoyed about it.小蝌蚪APP

Zach always imagined himself attending UL Lafayette. His parents were both alumni, as were other family members. However, his journey into industrial design was far less predetermined.  

小蝌蚪APP淚 didn小蝌蚪APP檛 exactly choose industrial design 小蝌蚪APP it kinda chose me,小蝌蚪APP Zach said.

After attending , he was still undecided about his major. Zach recalled his mother reading a brief description of the industrial design program. He decided to see what it had to offer.

小蝌蚪APP淲hile starting classes and beginning to learn the fundamentals of design, even though I joined on a whim, I found myself always enjoying the classes and wanting to learn more,小蝌蚪APP he said.

Connecting His Major & His Hobby

Zach小蝌蚪APP檚 passion for the program grew as he connected it to his lifelong passion for fishing.

小蝌蚪APP淚 designed my own bass boat from start to finish,小蝌蚪APP Zach said of one of his favorite projects.

小蝌蚪APP淚 wanted to create a bass boat that was designed strictly for tournament competition anglers and as efficient as possible for that need. Considering bass fishing was my passion at the time, being able to work with a big-name company in the industry 小蝌蚪APP Skeeter Boats 小蝌蚪APP felt surreal.小蝌蚪APP

Zach小蝌蚪APP檚 industrial design experience has been invaluable to the development of his business.  

小蝌蚪APP淐onsidering I operate my business all on my own and when getting started, not having the capital to pay to outsource various services, I relied on my design knowledge to get things I needed done on my own and ultimately it小蝌蚪APP檚 saved me a lot of money while operating my business,小蝌蚪APP he said.

小蝌蚪APP淓verything from graphic design to prototyping to manufacturing products, I am constantly reflecting back to my design skills I learned.小蝌蚪APP

In addition to building his business, Zach小蝌蚪APP檚 experience at UL Lafayette has shaped his personal life as well.

小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檝e met some of my really good friends to this day at UL Lafayette, met students from all kinds of other backgrounds and cultures, enjoyed all the sporting events, represented my school doing something I loved, fishing, and even met the love of my life there,小蝌蚪APP Zach reminisced. 小蝌蚪APP淚 even proposed to my now-wife, Kayla Dubois, on Cajun Field at one of the football games!小蝌蚪APP

Zach says he will always cherish the time he spent at UL Lafayette.

小蝌蚪APP淲hen your parents say, 小蝌蚪APP楾his is the best time of your life so enjoy it,小蝌蚪APP they are 100% correct,小蝌蚪APP Zach said. 小蝌蚪APP淪ure, it seems like such a grind, always studying late nights, running late, getting to class, last-minute projects, working, etc., but if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, you小蝌蚪APP檒l appreciate what you are working on.小蝌蚪APP

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