At USC, a late-night craving for ice cream, a forgotten blue book for an exam or a need for energy drinks during finals week can all lead students to the same solution. 

Duffl, the campus-focused delivery service, has made its brand a go-to choice for many students who need a quick delivery of snacks or other on-demand convenience items.

What is less visible, however, is the network of students working at Duffl’s USC location that makes those deliveries happen. 

Since its return in Fall 2024, after a change in ownership, Duffl has operated with a new business model: Its USC location is run entirely by students.

Duffl’s USC location now employs about 40 to 50 people, all of whom are USC students who take on roles including “racers” — Duffl’s name for its delivery riders — and managerial positions such as “captains.” Kia Khazani said the company overwhelmingly prioritizes hiring USC students.

“When we hire, it is very deliberate,” Kia Khazani said. “If someone is not a USC student, they won’t be hired.” 

Jack Hanson, a senior majoring in economics who began working as a racer for Duffl last fall, said Duffl’s management is very accommodating to students’ schedules. As a racer, Hanson typically worked three to four shifts per week, delivering orders across campus and the surrounding neighborhood. 

Hanson said evenings and late nights are usually the busiest time for Duffl’s racers. He said the number of orders often begins rising at around 5 p.m. and continues throughout the night, with Duffl usually operating until 1 a.m. and occasionally extending hours to 2 a.m. during days of high demand.

Nima Khazani, Duffl’s other co-chief executive officer, said this student-run operational model is beneficial to those working at the company due to the work environment Duffl offers and the company’s competitive wages.

“You have students earning up to $28 an hour, and they are doing that not [by] sitting at a desk doing a robot position where they’re pushing the same button for an hour,” Nima Khazani said. “They are having to critically think, having to make decisions under pressure and getting real experience that [they] would get in a professional job.”

According to Kia Khazani, Duffl’s management builds work schedules every other week around students’ classes and social obligations. He said the challenging part of their operation is to make sure they are not understaffed when there are sudden shift changes or unexpected schedule conflicts.

Hanson, now an incoming captain at Duffl, said the fast-paced nature of the job can be demanding during busy evenings, but it also creates opportunities to interact with friends and fellow students. 

“Whenever my roommates order to our house, it’s always fun just to go if you’re working on [a] shift,” Hanson said. “You deliver to your own house and say ‘what’s up’ to your friends, to your roommates, and just hang out with them for a little bit.”

The social aspect of this work is also important for Zavier Jacques, a racer at Duffl and a sophomore majoring in business administration. 

Jacques said working at Duffl presents him with opportunities to meet new people. Before delivering an order, Jacques would write a short note on each bag, tailored to the items inside or the occasion for the purchase, to make the package stand out.

“I really feel more connected with the customer base and people ordering, and then I hope that they feel the same,” Jacques said. “If there’s certain orders where I have to hand it in person and they wait for them, I get to meet new people, talk to them, socialize a little bit — working the Trojan network, essentially.”

Jacques said the student-run environment makes the workplace feel more personal than other jobs he has held. As a racer who has also been tasked with advertising duties, Jacques said he appreciates having opportunities to contribute ideas beyond his assigned role. 

“I really feel more connected. I feel more involved in decision-making, especially with the owners who help us out,” Jacques said. “They leave a lot of decisions and things up to us to really run and organize everything, especially like social media.”

Nima Khazani said Duffl’s marketing strategy focuses less on conventional advertising and more on positioning itself as part of the student community. He said the pillar of their marketing is to “strive to be as culturally significant within the community as possible” by providing real, demanded value in their service.

“People are drawn to communities and things that they can relate to, and I think when [a] student sees another student doing a job like this, they can relate to it a lot better than some random driver from a different delivery service,” Nima Khazani said.

In the past, Duffl has found marketing success through word-of-mouth promotion, especially within close-knit Greek life communities. Looking ahead, Kia Khazani said they hope to expand their reach beyond those networks and introduce both their service and the work opportunities they provide to more students across campus. 

Jacques said Duffl has fostered a strong sense of community among its employees. He said employees frequently use Duffl’s services themselves and support each other through generous tips. As a customer, he said the relatively affordable price of items and the convenience of Duffl’s service are factors that compelled him to order at Duffl.

“I order Duffl a lot no matter where I am,” Jacques said. “We’re not just out here working and telling people to do it because we get paid to, but it’s because we genuinely mean what we say, and we support the overall image of what and who we work for.”