It almost seems like screen printing was something I was born to do.

After learning the principles behind screen printing in that class, I was hooked.

I pioneered a program to begin printing apparel for fellow schools, essentially running my own print shop at 15. One day, biking around town, I decided to walk into a local print shop on a whim to see if I could earn some cash doing something a little more exciting than flipping burgers…the owner asked me, “Can you start now?"“

And from there, it was history.

I had learned different screen printing techniques in my graphic design class & from my time working at other print shops, but there was a depth to the craft I had yet to uncover…which was what kept things interesting.

I came across a youtube channel where Ryan Moor, from Ryonet, was one of the only screen printing professionals sharing knowledge freely…and then all the pieces I had gathered from books, online forums, and my other teachers really began piecing themselves together.

Like many printers, I was in a rock band - and what do bands always need? Merch.

Myspace was my marketing avenue in the 2010s, & quickly my client base began to grow beyond the local area thanks to word of mouth. Every single penny I earned, I invested back into the business. I knew this was the life for me, and with exposure to the commercial world of screen printing through Ryonet, I knew that working my way up to better equipment was essential.

Years passed, and I never quit printing, learning, and re-investing back into my dream. Spending money on other things was absolutely tempting! But I had a goal of remaining debt free as long as possible.

As I re-invested into the business, I upgraded my equipment, and slowly but surely…I found myself with a pretty legit operation.

A few lucky breaks contributed to growing the business - namely two top clients (that we still work with today) who were impressed with the quality of gear I put out, and took a chance on a kid with long hair who seemed like he knew what he was doing.

I found a great space in town that gave me the opportunity to print somewhere besides a garage, and DLH continued on - from after high school, throughout my 10 years of management at Best Buy, while I attended university full time, and throughout the pandemic - Don’t Lose Hope has been the most constant thing in my life.

When I was just about done with my stint in university, I was given an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. With the promise that I would be free to continue building DLH, I accepted a position as production manager in a large, local screen printing shop with a crew I could trust. It was a great gig. This is where I became familiar with automatic presses, and got to see what running a successful, larger print shop looked and felt like.

Without getting into the details, after about a year there - I found myself jobless, and back at square one.

So began another period of working a full time job, and clocking in to screen print after my full day’s work was done. Thankfully this job helped keep DLH debt free - although it was surprisingly busy during the pandemic. But like so many others, once the pandemic was “over” - I was ready to make the leap and go ALL IN on this thing I had been building for almost 15 years.

It was time to trust that what I had built was ready.