We were lucky to catch up with James Swanson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi James, thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

Printed and installed a 775lb hockey jersey for Vegas Golden Knights onto the Statue of Liberty in front of the New York New York Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

James, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Punk Rock Kid from Los Angeles/Hollywood. Got into alot of trouble in my youth.

Took a job as a shipping clerk at a printing company in Downtown L.A. in 1987, worked my way up through the shop, and eventually into sales. Started my own graphics business working from home by myself in 2002. Had some success, moved to Vegas in 2005 – I knew two people. Grew my business to have 50 employees in a 20,000 square foot print shop, and sold it in 2022 for muti-million dollars.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My Las Vegas pricing company primarily worked in casinos, events and sports.

In 2020 when Covid hit, the casinos closed, events shut down, and I was about to go out of business.

In April of 2020 I invented clear black table shields/dividers and invited a reporter from the Las Vegas Review Journal (local newspaper) to witness the whole process of building them and getting them approved. He wrote an article the day they were approved by a local casino, and I ended up having my biggest year ever. I used the same equipment I already owned, and materials I already used for printing. I was in 10+ magazines and on the news in 27 states.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2006 I wrangled a meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL team) to bid on the graphics for their stadium before opening day.

My flight out of Vegas got delayed, and I ended up stuck in Detroit at midnight the night before the meeting.

Detroit airport told me they could have me to Pittsburgh the next morning by 11AM; but that was no good, as my meeting was at 9AM.

I lied to the car rental people, rented a car at 1AM, and drove it from Detroit to Pittsburgh, and arrived just in time for my meeting. I hadn’t slept for 24+ hours.

I got the job, and ended up going to to work for 6 NFL teams, and also directly for the NFL.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.superstokedbook.com
• Instagram: screamingjames
• Facebook: James Swanson
• Linkedin: James Swanson
• Twitter: screamingjames
• Youtube: jamesswanny

Image Credits

I own all images