Calvin Thedinger’s career path seemed clear after graduating with a B.S. in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University in 2019. But everything changed when his brother, Coleman, passed away a few months later.
In the wake of his brother’s death, Calvin found himself in a garage filled with the remnants of Coleman’s car audio company, CT Sounds. Calvin planned to liquidate the products and dissolve the financially depleted business. However, in just five short years, he transformed the company into a multi-million-dollar success, was twice named to the Aggie 100, and earned a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
The Early Years
Calvin was raised in The Woodlands where his entrepreneurial spirit began with lemonade stands and neighborhood landscaping jobs. When choosing his major at Texas A&M, he wanted to combine his passions for business and engineering and discovered industrial distribution to be the perfect blend of the two.
While working on his degree, Calvin began day trading, an interest sparked in high school by his fascination with the stock market. The $100,000 he earned in his college years through this side interest would later play a pivotal role in his yet unforeseen journey.
A New Path Forward
Just months after graduation, as Calvin mourned Coleman’s passing, he delayed beginning his career to shutter his brother’s business. Through that process, he discovered the car audio industry was a $2 billion market in the U.S. He realized if he could capture just 5% of that, he could be running a $100 million venture. So, knowing nothing about the world of car audio parts, Calvin took a leap of faith and re-founded the company with only his day-trading profits.
“When I decided to relaunch CT Sounds, I made a commitment that I would give a full year to grow the business,” Calvin says. “If, at the end of that year, I could look in the mirror and say I had done everything possible yet failed, then I could walk away. But if I couldn’t say that, then I owed it to myself to go another year. That mindset kept me from getting distracted and helped me push forward through the challenges.”
Overcoming Obstacles
As a 22-year-old rookie business owner, Calvin faced a steep learning curve and many challenges. He had to quickly establish manufacturing relationships, design new products, transition CT Sounds to a direct-to-consumer model and lease a small warehouse.
He encountered setbacks such as one of his first shipping containers arriving full of water, customs inspection delays, cash flow management issues due to a four-month supply chain cycle and container shipping costs rising from $3,000 to $22,000 in one year.
Calvin remembers, “There were so many delays and unexpected costs that were completely out of my control.”
Success
Despite the early hurdles, CT Sounds experienced rapid growth and in 2023 was honored in the Aggie 100 which recognizes the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in the world. Calvin’s company was ranked #22 on the Aggie 100 list in 2023, with a growth rate of 90.21%. The honor was repeated in 2024. In both years, Calvin was proud to be the youngest class represented.
Calvin has not sold any equity to fund CT Sounds. He reinvests all profits and did not take a salary until late 2024 after surpassing $1million per month in sales. Today, the company occupies a 10,000-square-foot warehouse and is set to move to a space over three times that size in June.
Calvin attributes his success to focusing on details others overlook. “I’ve spent over 100 hours refining a single product manual because I want it to be perfect,” he says. “Continuous improvement is a core part of our approach. We analyze customer reviews, take feedback seriously, and use it to refine our products. Our goal has always been to deliver the best ‘bang for the buck.’ We test our prototypes against competitors, gather real customer feedback, and refine our designs until we’re confident we offer the best value in the market. I won’t release a product unless I truly believe it outperforms anything else at its price point.”
Looking Ahead and Looking Back
In 2025, Calvin was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list after being nominated by the Texas A&M Industrial Distribution program. He became part of an esteemed group of young trailblazers representing retail and e-commerce.
Calvin credits his success to his late brother’s passion for car audio, his father’s influence of a never-quit attitude and his Uncle Joe’s advice to focus on three things: God, family, and the company.
He is thankful for his education at Texas A&M, saying, “The Industrial Distribution program provided a strong foundation, and the network of people I met along the way has been invaluable.”
Calvin’s journey from tragedy to triumph is a testament to resilience, adaptability, and the power of seizing opportunities against the odds.