Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cait Beckert. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cait, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you ever had an amazing boss? What did you learn from them? Maybe you can share a story that illustrates the kind of boss they were or maybe you can share your thoughts on what you think made them an awesome person to work for?
I have had 2 bosses who would win this title.
One boss would be a man named Brad. He was the restaurant owner of one of the first restaurants I worked at right out of high school. Brad was strict, was a stickler for being on time, didn’t want us getting distracted on our cell phones and he expected the best. He hired me at 19 to be a hostess and through out the years I worked my way up to a waitress, a bartender and eventually a manager. I definitely didn’t think I would spend the next 13 years of my life working for him. Brad and I would have our fair share of disagreements over the years but as time went on and I grew up, the way I looked at Brad changed. He went from being my overly annoying boss to becoming my friend. Someone I could go to for advice and someone I didn’t want to disappoint. He had a different out look on life that sometimes made me think and accept things that I may have had trouble accepting. He instilled in me, to always take a day or two before reacting to a negative situation and try not to make any rash decisions in the heat of the moment. I can’t tell you how many times that lesson has come up in my life.
Charlie entered the picture when I chose to take a risk and change my path in life. I started working in a warehouse, working with car parts. For a short time, I worked at the restaurant and the warehouse before moving to the warehouse full time. Brad was supportive with the change. I started pouring in everything I had to my job in the warehouse and really enjoyed myself. Charlie was based out of Kansas but would visit the Pennsylvania warehouse occasionally. I started to work closely with him and really started to see warehousing as something I could develop into a career. He had a lot of experience and eventually I found my self packing up my life in PA and moving 1300 miles away to Kansas City. Charlie was charismatic and funny but also a really hard worker. It was clear rather quickly that he cared about the people that worked for him. He had a whole lot of people that have worked with him at other warehouses or other jobs that were now working for him again. That spoke to me a lot. I worked hard and eventually was able to work my way up to a lead role, an Area Manager and now am working as an Operations Manager. Like Brad, Charlie and I have not always seen eye to eye but I can say that he has my back. He has never failed to follow through on something that he said he would do. He isn’t afraid of conflict and isn’t afraid to tell me about what I can do to be better but doesn’t lack in the compliment area either. Charlie has become a good friend who is sincere and just wants to work hard and get the job done.
I am lucky to have worked for both of these men, and they have surely helped, each in their own way to get me to where I am today.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hello! My name is Cait, but a lot of my friends call me Chile. I am originally from Santiago, Chile but moved to the states when I was very young. I spent most of my life in a town just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but have spent the last 3 years out in Kansas City. I started ChileTeez about two years in to living here, but the first year I was here was right in the middle of the pandemic so I didn’t get the best view of the city or what it had to offer. I found myself being alone a lot with the exception of the friends I got to meet at work. Once I made the decision to start the company, I threw everything I had at it. I loved the feeling of owning something for myself! My main goal is to be a positive force in the business. My life has been interesting but there is nothing I regret, or wish I didn’t go through. I, myself struggle with severe anxiety. Learning to cope with it and figuring out a way to work through it is something I still struggle with every day. That’s the reason my shirts will usually have funny or inspirational sayings on them with splashes of color throughout the line. I want my brand to be a safe place. I like to concentrate on happiness, friendship, kindness and mental health as well as women empowerment. If I can help just one person that has a similar struggle to mine, than I will consider myself a success. I like to go through life with a positive attitude and always attempting to make it a better place, I want my business to resemble the same thing!
I am so proud of ChileTeez and hope that everyone reading this will find something they like in the collection. We carry short sleeve t-shirts, Crop Tops, sweatshirts, crewnecks, glass cups, pens, and keychains as well as fun little things like koozie’s and coasters.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
I was joking around with a bunch of co-workers one day about starting our own companies and what we would sell and what our names would be. This was all a light hearted conversation but shortly after, I started doing some research and seeing how much it would cost to start printing my own shirts. It wasn’t outrageous to purchase a commercial heat press and a few blank shirts and go to town so I did! I started out with one heat press, a few tee shirts and some screen prints from a company called TeesMe Boutique, another small business. I just used my imagination and used different colors and different screen prints and printed about ten shirts. I posted them on my personal Instagram before creating a business page and sold them at my job. My company is a little over a year old and is still small so I have not reached out to a manufacture yet, I am strictly still pressing shirts from my home. I actually just sent a hoodie to the owner of TeesMe Boutique because I wanted to thank her for being part of kicking off my company. Some days are slower than others and sometimes, it seems like you’re at a stand still but I love the creative part of me that comes out when I am thinking of color combinations and things like that. Once I have a little more revenue, I may reach out to a vendor to do embroidery because I love the look of that but we’ll see, I still take it day by day and truly am thankful for every shirt I package up.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Social Media has truly changed the world. It has given people a chance to be seen. It is truly crazy how much you can grow yourself and your business. I continue to post pictures of my products, as well as real people wearing the items. I am slowing growing my business over time but I intend to keep working hard at it. 
Contact Info:
- Website: shopchileteez.com
- Instagram: ChileTeez
- Facebook: ChileTeez