We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Liam Vella. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Liam below.
Hi Liam , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Tthe idea for Support the T came to me at the end of 2015 and officially launched on January 1, 2016. I had spent the previous 2 years focusing on my gender transition with all the milestones- and expenses, that come with transitioning. While connecting with other trans people around the world for support I saw countless people struggling to save money to reach their transition goals, and with that a myriad of different fundraising efforts in order to afford transition related care. At the time it was extremely rare for any insurance to cover transition expenses and almost a universal experience that trans folks were stuck struggling to afford that care. I had also recently graduated college with a degree in Print Design and was working in a screen printing shop and I fell in love with the process of creating apparel- and wanted to experiment with the art form on my own. Feeling fulfilled with where I was at in my own transition, longing for a way to help out the community around me, and wanting to explore my creative expression through screen printing I had the idea to start printing t-shirts as a way to help fundraise for others transition expenses.
I initially launched Support the T as a temporary project- not knowing if anything would sell or if this idea would take off. As a creative entrepreneur this wasn’t my first “great idea!” so while I knew where I wanted it to go, I was hesitant. I started by partnering with individual people to create a design unique to them that we would both promote and the profit would be split to cover printing costs and any extra went directly to their surgery funds. Once I had a few fundraising partners involved I started making designs solely to fund the brand so that more of the profit could go directly into our fundraising efforts. After only a year I was able to make Support the T and screen printing my full time venture. When 2020 hit I did pivot as most businesses did and no longer partner with individuals for fundraising, but our mission has stayed the same and we still make donations directly back into the trans community for various needs. We’ve helped fund surgeries, hormones, transportation, and even housing emergencies for trans folks in need.
Now 8 years later I still am in disbelief that the products I design and create are able to empower my community through pride merch. I make the merch that I want to see in the world as a trans person and the community really responds to that because it speaks to their personal style in a way that corporate made pride merch can’t.
Liam , 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?
I am Liam Vella a trans & non-binary artist from Ypsilanti Michigan. I have always loved many forms of art, I enjoy playing with paint, and drawing for fun. Throughout high school I studied photography. When it came time to go to college I knew something creative was the path for me so I chose to go into graphic design with no exact path in mind, Eventually I tried starting my career in art by selling spray painted paintings for a short while while working other jobs. While I had gotten my degree in Print Design I had no idea screen printing existed until I was looking for a job and a friend of mine who worked in a screen printing shop was looking to hire an assistant and helped me apply for the job. I started working there with zero clue what screen printing was but quickly fell in love with the craft of being able to print designs onto apparel and with my artistic background, I knew I wanted to learn and pursue screen printing but in a more artistic way. While working at the shop gave me a glimpse into what screen printing was, my position didn’t have any part in the majority of the process, that position didn’t last long and when I left that shop I jumped into learning the entire craft on my own- mainly self taught from Youtube and plenty of trial and error.
With a passion to create and a strong tie to my trans identity and community, I wanted to intersect those two parts of myself and therefore Support the T was born as a way to create my own designs, empower trans & queer identities, and explore this new exciting art form.
I love that I am able to use my expression as a trans person and artist to create merch that truly connects to the community because my artwork comes from my lived experience and the messages I want to see spread in the world. While many of my designs are geared specifically towards trans people, Support the T’s designs range from blatantly queer to more subtle and ally inclusive designs.
We also pride ourselves on being sensory friendly & size inclusive (carrying from XS-6XL) and able to do custom order in order to fit everyone’s needs.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Building a reputation within my market has honestly been a dream, as a queer person building a brand for my own community I’ve been able to really express myself through this brand and by being visible I inspire and relate to a lot of my audience. One of my favorite ways to connect with the community has been through vending at Pride events, I am able to meet SO many people who are directly in my target audience and we are able to celebrate pride, share stories, really connect on a more personal level than selling online. I started attending queer specific vendor events early on into starting Support the T and now I am at around 15-20 Pride events and markets each year. In my personal life I have always been a very shy and reserved person but when vending at events I truly come alive and absolutely love getting to connect with so many people surrounding my art and our shared experiences and identity. Showing up to the same events year after year has really helped me gain a reputation- I love the excitement when people come back to see me year after year and tell me about the products they own. I get to hear in person reviews about how much they love how soft the shirts are, the conversations my designs have sparked while wearing the shirt, and even how their identity has shifted since last year and now they’re back to buy a new set of pronoun pins!
When I’m not attending vendor events I stay connected with the community online. My artistic background has really supported me through the ever changing landscape of online connection over the years of selling online. With a strong background in photography, design, and writing I’m able to have a strong online presence that builds trust and connection in my brand. I take great pride in my brand aesthetic and being able to create content to share that with the world.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
As with any business there have been many small pivots over the years, but of course 2020 brought the biggest shift. When the pandemic hit I very suddenly lost the place I was living, and as a home based business that meant having to pack up the business and put it into storage for several months while I temporarily lived out of state. At one point I packed what I could into my car and ended up doing some makeshift screen printing on my partner’s front porch and taking over their shared living room just to ship open orders out. That year also meant that all our in person events were cancelled and revenue took a big hit.
A lot had to change with how I ran the business that year, being unable to work for several months and missing out on all our in person events was a huge blow, but I was able to weather the storm. I am no stranger to finding solutions and making it through hard times from my personal experiences as a queer person which include being kicked out of my parents house and expelled from my ultra conservative Christian school as a teen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://supportthet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supportthet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supportthet
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@support.the.t