Mulholland, one of our awesome artists, was actually the one who decided she wanted to flip the tables on you and ask you some questions. Unfortunately, well, not unfortunately, she's out on vacation, but so I'm going to ask it for her. She wanted to know; Marshall, every superhero has an origin story. So, what's yours? How did you get started in our beloved industry? Marshall Atkinson Thank you for that question, Sarah. I really appreciate it. Too bad you're on vacation. But maybe you're having fun at the beach and I'm happy that you are. And I really appreciate your inspiration of asking this because that's how this whole podcast episode started was your idea. So, thank you so much. And thank you to Monica, for asking the question for her. So, my origin story is all about me coming out of a divorce. That's right, a divorce. In 1989, I had done some shirts and stuff, you know, back when I was in college. But I wanted to get my master's degree in architecture. And so, I started graduate school. And I started a T-shirt business with a friend of mine, and we were going after the fraternity and sorority market at Florida State. This was a business that was all about managing and selling to the Greek community. And this was so long ago it was before computers. So, I did everything by hand that's right, by hand. And so I created the artwork and had a company print the shirts for me. And so, while I was in school, I had somebody sell the shirts for me, and I would just do the artwork and get everything printed. And then there's this thing that came along, called the personal computer. And the guy that was running the shop there printing the shirts for me suggested, "Hey, you might want to look into this". So over Christmas break, I taught myself how to use a very early version of Photoshop. I taught myself how to use Freehand, which is kind of a precursor to Illustrator. And I just recreated designs that have already been printed and then I never went back to school. So, I never got my graduate degree. But I became an Art Director in 1993, I started with this company and was their art director for 14 years. And that company grew to be one of the top 3 t-shirt printers in the United States. And then I, we did all of the work for some major contract players, we did work for Nike, we did stuff for Coca Cola, did stuff for Chick-Fil-A, I was the Art Director for them, I design shirts for those companies, and many, many more. And then I was always the guy that said, hey, there's a better way of doing this. There's a better way of handling whatever, right? So, I got promoted to Vice President of Operations. So, I was in charge of the whole production. So, from that, that's why I started my whole journey down Lean Six Sigma, around sustainability, and all those things. I left that company, months shy of 18 years, I was a casualty of the recession. And I left them in 2010. I started my consulting business the day after, and then I moved to Milwaukee to work for Visual Impressions as their Chief Operating Officer. Much larger shop, but I was able to take everything I learned in that first business, and help them transform into a really super-efficient contract decorating shop. I had a five- year contract, and I left them in 2016 on my contract was up. Eventually made my way down here to Arizona where I worked now, start I've been consulting since 2010. Just as kind of a side hustle 2018, I did it full time. And so now here I am, full-time consulting with shops all over the world, really, I've international clients. I have most of you here in the United States. But I have lots of fun doing and working with shops, both as a consultant and also with my Shirt Lab business. And so there you go. So, thank you so much for that great question. Sarah, and Monica, appreciate you guys. Marshall Atkinson Brett Bowden is not only one of the nicest guys in the industry, but he just may well be the most fun. His laid-back and quirky personality always means that unique conversation, loaded with laughter, but with good insight as well. So, Brett was a guest on episode 9, which was focused on company culture. Let's hear what he has in store for me. Brett Bowden Hey there, my name is Brett Bowden from Fort Worth, TX. And a company called Printed Threads. And here today I'm going to ask Marshall a few questions. So, my
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