Got Mr. Vegas himself, TC in the guest host seat this week, and it’s been awhile since he was last on Shirt Show, so naturally we had some catching up to do. After that we got into it with Greg from Press Press Merch. They’ve really got their sights set on being the 360 one stop shop for their clients, and it turns out they’ve been going through very similar growth spurts as TC. Needless to say we found ourselves in a flow and we birthed a beautiful conversation for you. Topics of discussion inc...
Nov 20, 2023•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 180
Christina is stepping up to the plate while Andy is home recovering from surgery, Dylan is beardless, and Rodney & Elisa from DLH Screen Print are here to recap the great time we all had at Print Hustlers Conf. Topics of discussion include: Difference between print hustlers and other trade shows, apps, DTF Moms, Murder Bots, package deals, and Nigel Barker.
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 179
Stefan has worked at many print shops, even with some of our previous guests. But life led him up the coast and down the path of opening a shop of his own, and he's been crushing it as a one man band ever since. Topics of discussion include: Print United, go karts, ice pads, being a one man print shop, moving from Florida to Boston, buying new vs used, transitioning from production to owner, battling burnout, warm calling, pimp my ride, and trick or treating.
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 178
Jeff Lavin got caught up in one of the first iterations of hybrid printing back in the early 2000s. He was a young finance major who was just helping a friend out at a trade show, and while the tech may have been too ahead of it's time to catch on, Jeff got hooked on the print industry. Now with a list of world renowned clients under his belt, and a frickin robot in his print team, Jeff's peers aren't too worried anymore about his decision to ditch a promising future in finance for t-shirts. Top...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 177
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Chili season has officially started, and yet Andy & Dilly still find themselves to be down in the dumps. Nothing that a little printer therapy can't fix, and our conversation with Andrew from Blackout Screen Printing did just that. Get happy with us. Topics of discussion include: Dealing with current events, being your own repair man, Auntie Anne’s, losing and gaining clients, providing value, Dylan & Andy’s bidding war, terms, account...
Oct 23, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 176
Troy traded in a successful career when he decided to get into screen printing. But the rubber truly hit the road once he followed a dream that would then explode into a nationwide mobile printing fleet. So glad to say that our chat with the man behind The Silk Screen Machine was just as good as we'd expected it to be. You're going to want to open up some space in your brain boxes for this one. Topics of conversation include: Tax refunds, pocket vitamins, luck, website importance, following your...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 175
They say 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade'. In Australia, the saying goes something along the lines of 'When life gets you ran over by heavy machinery while working on a farm, just bail and start screen printing instead'. And like the good Aussie Josh Paterson is, he did just that. Topics of discussion include: Routine, Vegemite’s shelf life, new shop space falling through, first trip to America and shop visits, embroidery taking priority, fate, handling misprints, plans for October, h...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 174
What better way to spend Dilly’s birthday than blowing off his family and recording an episode of Shirt Show!? We've got the power couple behind ACE Screen Graphics, Mike & Marissa. Currently on the path of restructuring their business and their goals, our conversation with Mike & Marissa sparked a little evaluation of ourselves as well. Topics of discussion include: Dilly's birthday laser, working from home, downsizing, hiring the right team, trial periods, why sell a profitable busines...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 173
What do you call a side hustle that's more than a side hustle? In Jose's case, he calls it Heavy Ink Printing, though the rest of us might call it a 2nd full time job. He's operating a full sized auto in his garage with a smile on his face, and has no intention on leaving his day job that he also enjoys. So glad we got to find out how he does it all, and have an overall great conversation with him. Topics of discussion include: Tradeshows, garage shops, asking businesses who prints their shirts,...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 172
It's about that time where some of us are just too damn busy, but the show goes on! We got right into it with Amber from Tshirt For Hope, who is currently having trouble saying no to orders, and dealing with the frustrations they bring. But for Amber, it's all in the name of spreading hope and making a difference. Topics of discussion include: Jersey Mike's, inversion tables, proper sitting, UPS Scheduling, murder, helping those in need, learning on the fly, being your own bottleneck, sponsoring...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 171
Nothing like the annual struggle of navigating the back to school rush combined with a shortened holiday work week. Thankfully we had a great conversation with Eric & Brittany of Inked Up Graphics to navigate us through our post Labor Day blues. Topics of discussion include: Holiday Pains, Northern California Life, getting into screen printing and sticking with it, wanting to quit, client care packages, problem solving, the return of the shop hack, dealing with garment defects, and bartendin...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 170
After joining M&R on their 'Day of Ideation', we sat down with Danny & Maggie to give you all a peek behind the curtain at the home of The Blue Crew. Topics of discussion include: Day of Ideation, onsite training, SWOT, new equipment, the emergence of M&R Global products, expanding technician support, touchless sinks, and ketchup on hot dogs.
Sep 04, 2023•43 min•Ep. 169
Tony Diaz, AKA Tony Industry, AKA The Ted Lasso of Youth Sports, is a genuine hype man in the print industry. After pursuing punk rock led him to touring the world and slinging merch, he decided settle down in Austin, TX, and focus his energy into creating the Industry Print Shop we all know and love today. Topics of discussion include: Doom scrolling, coaching, punk rock, touring, settling down, day 1 customers that stick, partnering with clients, building a team, posters, single point light so...
Aug 28, 2023•2 hr 13 min•Ep. 168
Thank you all for being so gentle with us, and making our first time an experience worth remembering. It was so rad that we all got to come together, broaden our horizons together, spread joy, and grow together. Here’s a recording of our Q&A section of the Summer Camp, and make sure to pull the trigger fast on our next event, because these puppies sold out fast. Love you all. Topics of discussion include: Printing a better white, hot dogs, Shirt Kong’s white ink journey, minimums, hot head, ...
Aug 21, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 167
CREAM Design and Print is a Tucson staple, flexing their creativity to empower their community, and keeping things fun and weird with every new design they crank out. With a story as typical as it gets, Patrick got the shop off the ground thanks to investing in bitcoin in search of illegal substances on the internet, and CREAM has been on one hell of a trip ever since. Topics of discussion include: Simulation theory, hydroponics, Tucson summer fun club, break ins, security systems, your first pr...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 166
What Brian started in his college dorm 20 years ago, is now a Southern California staple, with a nationwide clientele. Duds By Dudes has become a one stop shop you can count on. Topics of discussion include: Standing desks, douchebag roommates, contracting out your printing, acquiring businesses, growing strong not fast, auto reclaim, heat applied products, and cauliflower crust.
Aug 07, 2023•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 165
Nicole has had a hell of a journey through this industry, and played a wide variety of roles all the way from a reclaimer to a shop owner. Now she's helping others on their own print journeys by removing the stigma around buying and selling used equipment, and making these transactions simple and trustworthy. Topics of discussion include: Carbs, the ins and outs of buying and selling through embellishr, insurance claims, moving from LA to Reno, vitamins, the perfect day, the importance of shop v...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 164
Raw Paw are more than printers, they’re a creative team bent on bringing their community together for the sake of art. With their Punk ethos, and DIY spirit, Chris & Kyle are looking to make a Texas sized impact in their city of Austin. Topics of discussion include: No call no shows, training new hires, UPS strike, punk ethos in business, wrestling, increasing payroll, design contests, waiting on DTG, fulfillment, micromanaging, posters, and leaving poly white in the dust.
Jul 24, 2023•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 163
Yes, there's more to Montana than Yellowstone and Cowboying, it's also home to Allen Benedikt and 12ozCollective. A shop that is hyper-focused and specializes in what they care about most, the details. Topics of discussion include: R&D, switching from offset printing to screen printing, ROQ Hybrid, raising the bar, sharecropping, gaming, production managers, the importance of community, and... turmeric.
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 162
After a successful career in logistics, Dan decided to dive headfirst into an industry he knew absolutely nothing about, and purchased Silver Screen Printing & Embroidery. No joke, his fresh perspective has worked wonders for his shop, and we hope our conversation with Dan will provide some valuable insight that we could all use. Topics of discussion include: Swamp coolers, logistics, meritocracy, purchasing a business, customer service, clients who leave, rewarding your team, credit card re...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 161
Hailing from the little big town of Bremerton, Derek & Sam have been making their tight knit community better looking with every custom, retail, and live print they crank out. After inspiring Dylan to step up his live printing game, we just had to talk with these two. Topics of discussion include: Tiny houses, buying out partners, design automation, mall printing, switching manufacturers, the do's and don'ts of live printing, and frozen grapes.
Jul 03, 2023•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 160
After years of print conversations through DMs, we finally are meeting the fellas behind Subucoola in Germany. Holger & Sebastian are truly passionate about their craft, and the goals they've set for themselves are truly refreshing to hear. Topics of discussion include: Shirt Show Summer Camp, brioche, running your own retail brand, ads, learning printing through school, SOPs, shifting away from custom work, aiming to make a difference rather than a larger profit, production sheets, and read...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 159
If you're like us, you've seen the beautiful videos this power printing couple have been posting at their shop, Up All Night Ink. Find out how an animator and a cinematographer found themselves in the print industry. Topics of discussion include: Swimming with sharks in Barbados, staying small, diving in head first, separating themselves from competition with high quality in-house artwork, fuckups, vinyl, working with your partner, garage printing stigma, pushing social media, putting a face to ...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 158
Back again after narrowly escaping death, Ryan Kasparian is here and ready to tell us all about the new developments with Covered In Ink, and how we need to get out of our own way. Topics of discussion include: Tooth infection, management course, correcting mistakes, variable compatibilities, downshifting on consulting, app development, Shirt Show Summer Camp, and Cashmere.
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 157
Dave Gardner needs no introduction, unless you’re new to the print game (Still shouldn’t need an intro though…). He’s got one hell of a portfolio and he was kind enough to share his past work with us and the stories behind them. Topics of discussion include: floppy disks, the origin of “Underbase”, what drives you, reductionist mentality, adhesion vs cohesion, industry secrets, New Buffalo, working with Gildan, and tuna casserole. Hey, cheers to three years of Shirt Show!
Jun 05, 2023•3 hr 11 min•Ep. 156
Well, we have ourselves a new fighter here to weigh in on our great digital print debate. Charlie Figari is with Wallflower Merch, and they have themselves a fancy new Polaris. Topics of discussion include: The parameters for choosing dtf over screen print, digital printing, on demand printing, why they chose a Polaris, improving work culture, rewarding your team, and the difference between a croc and a gator.
May 29, 2023•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 155
If you have a drawer full of band tees, there’s a very high chance that John is the guy behind some of those shirts. Cold Cuts is a shop in Philly that is nearly synonymous with punk and hardcore band merch, and there’s a damn good reason for it. Coming from the music world himself, Cold Cuts understands, relates, and goes to bat for their clients, no matter how far fetched the turnaround may be. Topics of discussion include: Oversized prints, getting started in other peoples houses, the toxicit...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 154
Currently a full time graphic designer for a not to be named big boy company, Josh is still doubling down within the industry through all the side gigs his heart desires to start up. Topics of discussion include: Equipment repairs, Disney, comics, enamel pins, production approvals, too many variables, Etsy probs, grounding, disconnecting, the tick, and dry tongues.
May 15, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 153
Jeff Meilander is not a person we’d bother asking our classic ‘2 presses or 10 presses’ question to. Very far from his modest beginnings as a manual printing basement operation, Jeff has turned Redwall into the contract printing powerhouse we all know today. Topics of discussion include: Sample tags, sidewalk sales, DIY, skunks, entering the world of contract work, buying buildings, calculated risk, reducing print strokes and rotations, print engineers, relative stress, DTG/print on demand, to e...
May 08, 2023•2 hr 15 min•Ep. 152
With the first quarter of 2023 under our belts, we're checking in with our buds Eric & Tony and seeing how everything is going in our respective markets, and where we see the rest of the year going. Topics of discussion include: Squeegee washers, spiders, Taylor Swift’s merch disaster, hiring, social media, hypotheticals, 401Ks & IRAs, overtime, breaking rules, culture shift, manufacturer selling direct to customer, and we answer questions from the Shirt Show discord.
May 01, 2023•2 hr 37 min•Ep. 151
