We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ryan Burkhart. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ryan below.

Ryan , appreciate you joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When we started Kong, it was just me and my business partner, Bruce Braden. We worked out of a repurposed WWII-era Quonset hut with no heat, no AC — part of the studio was literally outdoors. Winters were freezing, summers were brutal, and we printed everything by hand. We just put our heads down and worked until the job was done.

In 2013, we printed a joke shirt for a friend: “Welcome to Austin. Please don’t move here. I hear Dallas is great.” It was meant to be funny, not mean — just a light jab at Austin’s rapid growth. We thought we’d sell maybe 20. It went viral and ended up featured in GQ’s SXSW guide. That momentum pushed us to start hiring and fast – we needed to get the people their t-shirts!

Bringing on our first employees was eye-opening. We’d been running on grit and adrenaline, and assumed that was normal. But we quickly learned that not everyone works like a founder — and that’s okay. It became clear that culture, communication, and expectations mattered just as much as skill.

We had great early staff who helped organize our workflow and brought new thinking to the sales and production process. We encouraged input from the team and adopted ideas that made sense. Over time, we learned that hiring for attitude and aptitude beat experience every time. People who were bright, curious, and wanted to be there were the ones who thrived.

These days, we involve staff in hiring decisions. We use structured interviews to better assess professionalism and character. If we’re not fully confident in someone, we wait. We’d rather be understaffed than disrupt our culture with the wrong fit.

We’ve made our share of hiring mistakes. I’ve definitely held on too long at times — I don’t like giving up on people or projects. But I’ve learned that sometimes, letting go is necessary for the team and the business to move forward.

At its core, we’ve built Kong into the kind of place we want to work. The culture is open, constructive, and positive. We learn from mistakes and improve constantly. Is our hiring approach unconventional? Maybe not on the surface — but it’s thoughtful, and it works for us.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started out with an MFA and a background in fine art printing. I ran a collaborative printshop focused on limited edition prints and books while teaching drawing, design, and printmaking. That studio began to generate real revenue, and I realized I had an entrepreneurial streak I wanted to explore. When the opportunity came to move to Texas, I took it — ready to build something of my own.

At the same time, Bruce — who had worked in tech but had experience printing shirts in college — was looking for a way back to working with his hands. His now-wife encouraged him to go for it while he still had the flexibility to take a risk. I was printing out of my garage at the time, and both of us had joined the Austin Screenprinting Co-op to get access to better equipment. That’s where we met and started helping each other out.

Today, Kong Screenprinting offers screenprinting, embroidery, and a curated selection of promotional goods. We specialize in a concierge-style service that’s approachable, efficient, and highly personalized. Our motto is “creative, friendly, helpful,” and we mean it. We don’t expect our clients to speak “print.” Instead, we ask questions, listen carefully, and work hard to make sure people feel confident in their choices.

We take time to understand the brands we work with and try to show that custom apparel is more than just a logo on a shirt — it’s a way to tell a story, build culture, and create lasting impressions.

What I’m most proud of is that even as we’ve grown, we’ve stayed true to our craft and to simply being nice and helpful to people. That’s what makes Kong what it is.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being Honest. Admitting when we make errors and then fixing them.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The hardest day in Kong’s history — and the moment that tested our resilience more than anything — was the day we had to shut down and lay off our entire team at the start of the pandemic.

Like so many small businesses, we were suddenly deemed “non-essential.” The silence in the shop, the conversations with staff, the weight of not knowing what would come next — it was devastating.

We had just confirmed a large order for Topo Chico’s 125th anniversary the week before. That one job ended up saving us. Suddenly it was just Bruce and me again — back to the early days — starting to print about 15,000 shirts in an empty studio.

After six weeks, we were able to reopen and offer every employee their job back. About half returned, and we all adjusted to a new normal — navigating supply chain chaos, touchless pickups, constant pivots. I worried daily that we might lose Kong.

Roughly 30% of our customers didn’t make it. So many small businesses we’d worked with — people who had poured everything into building something — were suddenly gone. That was one of the hardest parts.

Ultimately, Kong made it because we stayed committed to taking care of our customers. If they needed something, we figured it out. Our staff was patient, adaptable, and deeply committed. We kept things moving, and we never lost our sense of humor — even when things felt impossibly heavy.

That’s what resilience looked like for us: showing up, working together, and caring deeply — even when nothing felt certain.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kongscreenprinting.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kongscreenprinting
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/kongscreenprinting

Image Credits

Kong Screenprinting