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Description
Shirt Show deep dives into all things screen printing and apparel decoration with shop hacks along the way. Hosted by Dylan Gilligan of Upstate Merch.
283 Episodes
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After going viral for pushing ink through a vinyl cut stencil, Jennifer’s custom t-shirt hobby became a business. With Pigskins & Pigtails, Jennifer is bridging the gap between full fledged printers to hobbyists and crafters, and sharing screen printing with the world at an extremely accessible level. Topics of discussion include: Keeping operations simple, fielding brand deals, putting yourself out there on social media, building community, business collabs, best content practices, and finding inspiration in the wild.
It's been 246 weeks since Rik was last on Shirt Show, and a lot has happened. After overcoming a near death experience earlier this year, Rik was kind enough to share his experience with us, as well as his newfound perspective as a small business owner who kept his shop running while he was down. Topics of discussion include: having your kids work at your shop, powering through a medical disability, holding sneezes, preparing for the worst, SOPs, centralized file storage, hiring setbacks, moving, Every time I Die, and questionable family movie nights.
Brought Nick back on the pod again to get a clearer picture of what using Print Profit looks like in the REAL WORLD. Not just a best case scenario sales pitch. 2025 has been such a weird year and 2026 is just around the corner, so our numbers feel more important than ever, and Nick is trying his best to take us all to profit land. Topics of discussion include: understanding your costs, setting goals, common miscalculations, industry trends, easy first steps to take to get your numbers in order, and group think.
Chris got bit by the print bug at 14 and has been printing ever since. After coming up through school, and a trial by fire stint of working production, he went out on his own and has been crushing it ever since with Tonal Range Ink. Topics of discussion include: graphic design degrees, cmyk printing, fads, going out on your own, the pros and cons of being an owner vs an employee, therapy, entrepreneur pains, networking, knowing your numbers, and underdog stories.
After having a death grip on the highly contested screen taping record for the better part of the last decade as production manager at Shirt Kong, Kyle Caldwell (CEO of Garage Dog Brewing) has shifted gears and is now running the training and support program at MADE Lab. Topics of discussion include: The Press Assistant to Production Manager journey, gatekeeping information, what makes a good production manager, what an ideal schedule looks like, production bottlenecks, hiring, testing, and gimmick bands.
Caught up with Matt & Dave from Classy Screens after a late night of printing, and immediately got into Matt’s wild story of how his young California skater self came into printing these large last minute rush orders in New York City. Topics of discussion include: sketchy couriers, working with iconic skate brands like Globe and Baker, falling into printing through the New York art scene, live printing, Santa Claus gigs, a haunted print space, balancing inbound and outbound sales, judging a pizza by it’s logo, seeing your prints in the wild, expanding your offerings, 3I/ATLAS, and sharks.
Brett Bowden and Justin Lawrence are back on the pod to catch us up on the going ons of their respective shops, as well as spread the gospel of Print Hustlers Conference 2025. Prepare for a great conversation with some great dudes. Topics of discussion include: Fulfill engine, pivoting markets, company identity, taking care of your community, business events, bringing buttons back, art disruption, creating live events, equipment upgrades, Facebook groups, and Waterworld.
The times really are giving us all a hell of a time right now, and marketing is on the mind as a result. Elisa crushes it with DLH's socials, so getting her story and discussing content and marketing strategies seemed like a perfect recipe for a great pod. Adding in Angel from Halo Print Co. in the co-host seat for a little extra seasoning, the conversation/workshop/therapy session that followed was chef's kiss. Topics of discussion include: CRM, branding focus in marketing, being true to yourself, marketing to your clients and not your industry, not feeding the algorithm, knowing your value, SEO, google reviews, Discounts, content workflows, and sparking joy.
Travis Calhoun is a stunt biker turned printer. Needing to fulfill his own clothing brand’s needs, he took printing into his own hands and has really hit it off thanks to knowing his customer base and niching down into his own community. Topics of discussion include: Getting started, paying dues, building the right team, social media marketing, SEO, building out a new shop, Facebook marketplace, branding, and 90s kid ish.
A day one listener of Shirt Show, Chris Fahrbach got bit by the print bug back in high school, but came into his own through the world of skateboarding and snowboarding. Now looking back on 22 years of business, it's clear that Mixture really hit it’s stride by following tried and true business practices. Topics of discussion include: Door to door sales, building longterm relationships vs sales funnels, choosing the right shirt for the right job, getting bitter with age, seasonal depression in business, volunteering, satellite locations, bringing buttons back, efficiencies, and a brand new shop hack.
Josh Wells is a longtime printer, though you may recognize him from his educational videos with Ryonet. He’s got decades of print knowledge and experience under his belt, and he’s got a hell of a story to show for it. Mr. Timboslices is in the co-host seat again, a designer who’s still pretty fresh in his print journey. Getting these two together made for some great conversation on getting into this trade, education, and finding our own paths along the way. Topics of discussion include: Screen Printing Reality TV, content creation, early print jobs, starter kits, when and when not to DIY, building trust, cover songs, and Dylan’s top 10 movies of all time.
Angel gave us a peak behind the curtain into the chaos of tour merch. He began his journey by going on the road with Taking Back Sunday, and has since worked his way up to touring with the biggest bands, artists, and public figures like Oprah and Michelle Obama. Topics of discussion include: getting into touring, the different levels of the merch guy role, The Delicate Genius, Gildan acquiring Hanes, sustainability, forecasting, lack of accountability, best shirts, shirt collections, venue merch cuts, wildest merch items, and the best and worst venues.Jared Mendelewicz of AKT in the co-host seat!
It’s been a long time since episode 2 of Shirt Show, and from the outside looking in, Juan seems to have cracked the code on work life balance. Between crushing it with Squeegee Prints, and giving his time to the things he loves outside of the shop, Juan is the perfect role model to any shop owner who is feeling overwhelmed. But through our conversation we learn of the hard changes he had to make in order to reach this point, and it didn’t happen overnight. This was a much needed therapy session, so let’s talk feelings. Topics of discussion include: intentional growth, running a self audit and knowing your numbers, slow season, self discipline, improved printing methods, managing sales, different viewpoints on digital printing, the value of quality, and chickens.
Tidalwave was born out of bringing production in-house for their e-commerce brand. While Bradley & Matt may have underestimated the gravity of this endeavor, they found greater value in the opportunities that came with it, propelling them to becoming the 37th fasting growing business in 2025. Topics of discussion include: grass being greener on the other side, having sales before skills, 3PL & fulfillment, utilizing twitter/X, focusing your customer profile, automations and equipment, print on demand, box robots, managing your PnL, and the value of friendship.
Screen printer turned apparel manufacturer, Josh has been designing his own graphic tees since elementary school. After college and a brief stint in the corporate world, he went back to printing and even ran a shop of his own, but he found the perfect fit for himself once he’d created his own garments. Topics of discussion include: sourcing, finding your lane, shifting from a service business to a product business, saying no, finding good partners, manufacturing in the USA, dye houses, tariffs, longterm goals, the value of good storytelling, and shrinkage.
Zach is a longtime listener, and let’s just say he’s been taking notes over the years. We got his story of starting from the ground up, to eventually buying his local print shop. At about the halfway mark, armed with a long list of questions for your favorite screen printing podcast, the roles are reversed, and Dylan gets in the hot seat. Topics of discussion include: college fraternity and sorority markets, buying a print shop, hiring consultants, work life balance, weaknesses, error rates, shop visits, seminars, and comedies.
Here to provide a reality check on our outbound sales strategies, we brought in the master himself, Kevin Baumgart from Sales Ink. Brad Oliver from Culture Apparel, and Shirt Show’s very own Dylan Gilligan are sharing their experiences and strategies that were born out of personal experience, and developed through consultation with Kevin. Topics of discussion include: The Brat Boys, what’s special about the printing industry, outbound and inbound sales strategies, implementing CRM systems, getting leads, virtual assistants, scripts and prompts, timing, and Wild Hogs.
Brad Czarnowski is back, now with his new shop, Industrious Print Studio. Nick from Forward Printing is in the guest-host spot, and we’re talking fresh starts, and brighter futures. Topics of discussion include: Stepping your game up for dream clients, the clean slate that comes with starting over, transitional stresses, local sales strategies, finding your place in your community, and baseball.
People’s perception of OSHA falls somewhere between a guardian angel and the boogeyman. Gary is here to give it to us straight, and help us in walking the path of OSHA compliance. Topics of discussion include: Sustainability, osha misconceptions, injury procedure, inspections, common violations, make ready, the danger of ‘real quick’, ergonomics, electrical safety, health tests, respirator and face mask requirements, inspection etiquette, what to do if you receive a citation, and a whole lotta missing fingers.
Former litigator turned HR superhero, Adriane is here to school us on everything HR, and what we can do to set our shops up for success. Topics of discussion include: Best practices for implementing HR, culture, disciplinary policy, data and documentation, Printing United Alliance, hiring practices, managing toxic employees, conflict resolution, wage compression, managing expectations, and Terminator.
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