There are many in the apparel decorating industry that get their start through bands and music. Some find it through their kids’ sports teams. Still others find apparel decorating because they offer other printing services.
And then there are some that find it through extreme sports.
Shawn Sckoropad used to race dirt bikes. To be more specific, he used to race dirt bikes “very intensely.” It’s pretty much all he knew growing up, competing so often that he was home schooled. Then at age 16, he was badly hurt and his dad put a stop to the racing.
But it wasn’t necessarily the accident that led him to apparel. It was a combination of constantly being at the races, seeing the gear, and eventually, the need to do something other than land back in the hospital.
What started as heat printing for dirt bike racers grew into Printeez, a Canadian-based business that’s passionate about creating quality custom T-shirts.
From the Dirt Bike Track to Apparel Decorating
After officially calling it a day on dirt bike racing, he took another cue from his dad — and a woman they saw frequenting the events. “Every time we would go to the races, there was this lady that sold names and numbers on the backs of jerseys — you could go and get them made there [with] heat transfers,” says Sckoropad. “My dad used to always say, she’s a smart one. She’s coming here, not losing money, [and] she’s making something. That stuck in my mind.”
As all of this was happening, Sckoropad took a good look at what the next step for him was. “I was 16, and … all my friends were at the races. I was homeschooled, so I told my dad, I want to start a business.” That business was printing names and numbers on the backs of shirts.
At the time, it was a great way for him to stay connected to his friends and the dirt bike community. Sckoropad notes that like many decorators, they started small with basic heat transfer equipment and transfers that were tough enough to stand up to the dirt bike beating. They experienced success almost immediately. “I spent around $5,000 investing into the equipment, renting the space at the event, because you have to pay to be there. And that first week, we made $22,000 of profit,” he says.
That’s pretty big money to most entrepreneurs, let alone a 16-year-old.
Shortly after his successful entry into the business, Sckoropad moved from Florida to Canada, where he still lives today. While he didn’t immediately jump back into apparel decorating, he eventually found his way back through manual screen printing. And it grew.
It grew into a retail-brand approach and water-based printing.
It grew into fashion retail printing using auto screen presses.
And as it grew, Sckoropad thought to himself, what’s next?
Read this full article on Apparelist, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
