Watch SHIRT KONG at PrintHustlers Conf 2020
PrintHustlers Conf 2020 was a huge success.
More than 800 print shops from across the globe joined us for a two-day online conference!
Watch SHIRT KONG‘s live print shop tour above. A fascinating shop just outside St. Louis, SHIRT KONG has put forward one of the industry’s strongest brands – an impressive feat for their “small” shop.
Take a peek inside and get the scoop on how SHIRT KONG started, why they’ve expanded repeatedly, and how owner Andy Rudman met his wife.
Read on to learn more about SHIRT KONG.
SHIRT KONG’s Andy Rudman runs one of screen printing’s most interesting shops. We invited him to PrintHustlers Conf 2020, and now he’s giving us a virtual shop tour on July 23rd. “I have this idea of a live shop tour,” he told us. “I was really excited about being in person at PrintHustlers Conference. I know from being there last year it was so cool, and the energy that’s there.”
Andy discussed the ups-and-downs of running a screen printing business during a turbulent period of change. When he started Shirt Kong, he’d place an ad in something called a “phone book.”
Soon, he’d have to adjust to new technology: “Marketing shifted to Google, and we spent time trying to educate ourselves on this new thing called SEO.” But marketing is not Shirt Kong’s biggest asset: it’s their unique Instagram and ability to tell a fascinating story.
“We’ve grown with word of mouth, referrals and SEO. You have these customers and it starts to snowball,” Andy said. “I started sharing our shop’s day-to-day story. I thought that was real. If anyone was looking through Instagram, they’d see…this is a real shop. And they’d identify with it. It worked.”
“This has changed how I think about life”
Andy posts pictures and videos to the Shirt Kong Instagram that pull the curtain back on their busy operation.
Just as Shirt Kong was hitting their stride and expanding into a 12,000 square foot facility, coronavirus hit. “We expanded at the perfect time,” Andy joked. But it’s been an opportunity to take stock of what really matters.
“I’ve spent so much time here at the shop. I love this place,” Andy said, “but family and friends are where it’s at. I probably need to spend a little more time away from here, as soon as we’re out of this mess.”
Want more PrintHustlers Conf? Drop in and learn from the best:
- Wear Your Spirit Wearhouse’s Ali Banholzer, sharing her incredible methods for perseverance through challenging times.
- Graphic Elephant’s Lon Winters, shares how to take your screen printing workflow to the next level.
- Dr. Sherry Walling, on how to stay mentally healthy even during your busiest times at the print shop.
Thanks to our sponsors
A huge thanks to our sponsors for this year’s PrintHustlers Conf:
Without them, this conference would not have been possible.
These are companies that support the PrintHustlers Conf mission: to elevate the entire screen printing industry and connect you to the best resources available.
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