We recently connected with Josh Kice and have shared our conversation below.
Josh, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?
I land in the realm of the upstart mentioned in the question… but I do agree with you that business owners are(and must) always innovate to survive and thrive! I would like to highlight the experience it has been to create a business, and more specifically, a business that no one else was doing yet!
Market research and direct comparisons were not a thing. Taking what someone else did to make it better was not a thing. Analyzing and refining was not a thing, at least not until I got started and was steering blind as we went along! I created my business, Ink & Drink, in a realm of consumerism that is flying high and has many companies competing for attention and business. We are a DIY screen printing bar where patrons have a chance to print their own apparel while hanging out with friends in a bar setting. That probably sounds generically familiar as it is modeled loosely after the paint and sip locations that took experiential consumerism to a new level 10-15 years ago. We aim to bring a new twist to the industry with the introduction of screen printing made accessible to the everyday person!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have screen printed in the traditional manner for almost 10 years. Like most young men, I too wanted to start my own brand of clothing and print graphic tees. I set myself apart though as I developed my idea of what it meant to own a print shop and have a brand by creating the opportunity for all of my customers to curate their own wardrobes with items they print for themselves, combining the brand of “YOU” with the brand of “ME” or “Ink & Drink.” I find it so rewarding to be able to share my passion for clothing, art, creation, and handmade while providing a chance for others to learn something new and have the self expression and art, we all lack in our lives, presented on a garment that was thought through, printed, and worn by the maker, who is also in our case, the consumer.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I knew that getting a liquor license, especially in Denver, was going to be a struggle. I was prepared for this to not be an overnight battle. I setup in my business plan for the good, the bad, and the ugly potentials that this would create… and then we got started! And then we restarted! And then we had to wait! And then we had to restart again… until we finally got the liquor license cleared and in hand. This arduous process took us two years to complete, during which, we were paying retail lease rates on our storefront/bar in the heart of Denver. This was so demoralizing and dragging to the point that we asked the last few members of family and friends, who were kind enough to keep asking how things were progressing, to stop asking and we will just let everyone know when it finally happens. After two years of that battle, I can state that it has been so worth it and rewarding to have kept pushing and doing what we needed to do to continue on this journey and I urge everyone to consider the hardship I lightly detail out before starting and to also consider the reward I elude to while you are in the middle of the journey as well!!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Our audience isn’t the widest reaching audience ever but it is growing and becoming more active and engaged each day! Our presence, like our business, has been developing over the last two years. One element in that time has remained constant, which I think is so important to our brand; our personality on our social media pages is our personality in real life. We were guided by a good friend, Kenny with V Digital Services, to match our page personality to our own personality so that when people interact with us on social media, getting to know our brand, they are met with the same energy and charisma when they meet us in person! We have never tried to be bigger than our britches or show off for the sake of being “cool.” We try to share the real-life glimpses into our business and our lives. It makes it authentic and that has been received so well by our customers and followers! I also would love to shout out @theamandabittner if I am allowed to. Amanda is a Colorado travel and date night personality on social media who influenced a video of us and our store on TikTok and Instagram which has over 1M views between the two platforms in just two weeks…. The power of an influencer is real and they do amazing things for businesses like mine! I cannot say thank you enough, Amanda!
Contact Info:
- Website: InkAndDrinkDenver.com
- Instagram: @InkAndDrinkDenver
- Facebook: InkAndDrinkDenver