Jessica Tillery’s path to founding All Quality Graphics wasn’t linear — it was a wildly unexpected detour that turned into a calling. She spent a decade in sports medicine and corporate wellness, most recently as a wellness director at a major pharmaceutical company, before a move to Sacramento and a chance encounter with the screen print industry changed everything. Watching a vendor miss deadlines while she was ordering thousands of branded shirts sparked a thought: I could do this. Thirteen years later, she runs a full-service custom merch shop with screen printing, embroidery, DTG, DTF, and graphic design all under one roof — and a team that’s been with her for most of that journey.
What makes AQG stand out isn’t just the capabilities. It’s the culture. Jessica runs a four-day, 40-hour workweek — Mondays off, always — and she’s built a shop where the phrase “work hard, play hard” isn’t a poster on the wall, it’s how they actually operate. In this conversation, she gets candid about what the print industry looked like for women when she started (spoiler: not great), how that’s shifted dramatically in the last decade, and the role mentorship — from ROQ’s Ryan Moore to local high school interns — has played in her growth. Her advice for women entering the industry? Stop waiting until you feel qualified. Raise your hand. Show up. And get out of your own way.
Listen to the full interview on Printing Impressions, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
