When people walk into our Front Street HQ, or run into us at a gift show, holiday market, or beer fest, there is one thing they will always see; smiling faces. But sometimes, that happy demeanor makes people assume we are smiling because our job is easy. "It's only t-shirts after all, not like you are building nuclear bombs!"
This is true, we are making something that is perceived as fun, and even superfluous to an extent. How many t-shirts does one person need, really? But what we do to bring you that t-shirt is so much harder than you could ever imagine, and the stakes at risk are my three kids, and the fourth baby, who arrives in January! No pressure, right?
What you see above is the end result of ONE SINGLE order. Imagine, if you will, what a week with 6-7 orders looks like. Next, imagine what a week with a dozen orders looks like. Crazy, right? This is the final step of what we call "big show*" Leading up to this designing, meeting with clients, revising said design(repeat this step 2-3 more times on average), deciding on apparel colors, cuts, and brands, overseeing the printing of every article of clothing, finishing each shirt(tagging, folding, checking for cuts, stains, etc), and finally, boxing up and shipping out. All in all, that t-shirt you fall in love with at your local gift shop, winery, or bar took weeks, maybe even months to produce.
But this blog is not about me complaining. Trust me, the 7 days a week, 10-12 hour days(longer when doing trade shows), and the countless miles on the road to and from street fairs and festivals, it is all 100,000% worth it! I am living the dream! I get to work with the most beautiful, smartest person on the planet(my wife, Jennifer), I get to take days off any time I want to stay home and play with my kids, and I get to do what I have loved doing since I was a kid, making t-shirts! That is why we smile, even though you may be catching us at hour 9 of a 13 hour trade show, or bruised and bandaged from a marathon session of tagging, folding, and boxing up shirts(the paper cuts are the stuff of legend...). Every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears we extract, go into this tiny little t-shirt company, and seeing you all smiling back at us when you tell us how your Tee See Tee is your favorite t-shirt ever, makes it ALL worth it!
Thank you for supporting us, and allowing the Warren family to bust our butts to deliver you "just a t-shirt."
Sincerely,
Beau Warren
President, Tee See Tee