We were lucky to catch up with Joel Clark recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joel, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
The way I came up with my business idea was actually from a sermon I preached during June of 2020. It was during the pandemic & in the sermon I had the phrase “I Live In Expectation.” As I thought on it over the weeks, I thought it would actually be an extension of ministry at the church that I pastor, but later on I felt led to put the phrase on a T-Shirt. So I got connected with a screen printing business and had shirts printed up. Before I sold any I went through the proper channels in North Carolina to become a business. Then my wife came up with this bright idea for me to do it myself. At first I was reluctant because I didn’t want to deal with the crafty stuff…lol.. Meaning print the shirts and so forth. So I thought about it & I told her I’ll do it. So for Christmas of 2020 she purchased me a Cricut machine & I bought a heat press and began doing it myself. Later on I started coming up with other designs to put on t-shirts. By the way I have a vivid imagination but didn’t have design skills (so I thought). I researched different types of design software, took some design courses online and began to practice. I actually became pretty good. So I created a website and sold my shirts. Later on people began to contact me about doing shirts for them. So I took on the task & my business began to blossom. Since July of 2020 I have designed for companies, High Point University, hospitals, and people who wanted t-shirts, hoodies, ball caps, & other apparel. I really enjoy seeing peoples visions come into a reality through my business. I also took a course through Davidson Community College for Entrepreneurs. That was a tremendous help in running the day to day activities and responsibilities of having your own business. I’m still learning and will always learn in order to scale my business as well as my personal abilities. I am glad I started my own business and I look forward to it growing hopefully to hire people in the future or at least teach others what I know to begin their journey & be creative. I believe everyone has a gift, a vision and the ability to dream big and never put limits on yourself. Dream Big & then do what you must to bring that dream into manifestation!!
Joel, 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?
For starters my name is Joel Clark. I am a husband, father, brother, pastor, and friend to anybody. I got into the printing apparel business because of my wife who had the idea to print my shirts myself and cut out the middle man. So I consented to her idea and became a LLC and the journey began. I love thinking outside of the box and putting my ideas on t-shirts and other apparel. I believe every t-shirt I design has a message for somebody. What sets me apart from others in the business I do. for example and no disrespect to anyone who has a screen printing business but the majority of screen printing businesses won’t do just one shirt. You usually have to have a minimum of 10 or 12. With me I will do 1-100 or more shirts. I am here to provide a service for anyone. I also ship to all 50 states. If local the customer can pickup at my home, meet at a predetermined location, or I deliver to my local customers. I also give each customer a wristband with my logo and business name/phrase on it for FREE. “I Live In Expectation” I am most proud of becoming a business owner especially after working all my life for someone else (manufacturing) & after being in the military. It feels great to set my own hours. Schedule my own vacation time whenever I choose. I love all my customers and seeing them excited to receive their merchandise. My brand is for everyone to know they should LIVE IN EXPECTATION regardless of what life throws at us. We have the ability to be GREAT with no limits. I share with people the limit is in your mind. So think without limiting yourself!! You can do it!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I but my online presence by creating separate social media pages form my personal social media pages. However when I started I used to used my personal page & requested those who I was already friends with on my personal page to LIKE & FOLLOW my business page. I also asked my customers to post their pics in the t-shirts & tag me in them & I posted them to my business page. I try to post something at least weekly to build my presence on social media and I also FOLLOW & LIKE other businesses pages who are in the same field I am or even those aren’t because they may want t-shirts made for their business. I also share other businesses pages to my page at times to support them. I think it creates a healthy business environment for small businesses.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
The way I put together the initial capital to fund my business was from our personal savings account. It wasn’t a lot of capital needed because I didn’t need to rent a space because it is a home based business.
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