The past two weeks have felt like a whirlwind. For those following our blogs closely, I apologize for the delayed update; though, given the silence in our comment section, I’m hopeful my lapse went undetected. Either way, the last stretch has been a mix of grit, laughter, and milestones that remind us what it really means to build Human-i-Tees from the ground up.
Things seriously kicked things off when Luke and I began our Pennsylvania escapade, where we drove out to visit Contract DTG in Erie County. Prior to the trip, Luke and I had been working hard to expand our catalog with three new designs and Mark Biletnikoff, president at Contract DTG, helped us acquire these tees in a record time. Climate Week in New York City was just around the corner so it was imperative we had something new before our first-ever retail debut at the Founders Market, an event which showcased environmental startups. In order to save time and money, Luke and I decided we would head to Erie and collect them ourselves in order to avoid shipping the shirts to our Ridgefield office. Additionally, we realized this was a great way to meet Mark and his team.
Mark turned out to be everything we expected from our phone calls and more: he was full of life, animated, and deeply passionate about his craft. On top of that Mark was an avid paintball professional and motoracing extraordinaire. Upon arrival, his small local team greeted us with the kind of warmth that makes you instantly feel at home and even saved a few shirts to be printed so we could film the process for our socials! As two young founders, it was refreshing to resonate with a crew equally driven, and equally excited to see something grow from the ground up. Later that night we ended up sleeping in our car at a Penn State satellite campus to save even more money. Shoutout Penn State’s Airbnb! It might not have been so glamorous, but to us, it painted the perfect picture of who we are: a rough-and-tumble startup taking every step to turn this vision from zero to hero.
From there, the energy didn’t slow down and a few days later we appeared at our pop-up shop in the Big Apple. To be honest, we were nervous heading into it. In the 90s, our dads struggled through their first phases of selling in person before eventually finding their stride, and we felt that same uncertainty walking into the large space filled with other flashy tables and eager business owners. Would people care? Would our mission resonate? The room was filled with wealthy city professionals with green thumbs and deep environmental interests. It was intimidating, to say the least. But once the conversations started flowing, we realized that the Human-i-Tees story, the legacy and the revival, really connected. By the end of the event, we had raised $60 for the Rainforest Trust, doing about $600 in sales in just under 3 hours. While a decent “bag” was secured, I think we left with something more valuable: confidence that our shirts and our mission belong in this space.
Not to mention the last week came with several other highlights: On September 11th, a day spent remembering tragedy and mourning the death that occurred in the infamous New York City terrorist attack, Luke and I were silently jumping for joy. That afternoon Justin Bieber posted himself seven times on Instagram singing in one of our shirts, and we had also learned that Jennifer Lawrence was spotted by paparazzi wearing Human-i-Tees on the streets of NYC. For a brand that started in old boxes and heritage stories, to see icons wearing our designs was surreal.
But while we celebrate for the time being we’re not stopping here. Next up, we head to UConn, where we’ll host another pop-up shop this weekend and keep growing our community in-person. We’re eager to test the same tapestry table setup in a different setting— one filled with students, not city executives— to see if the traction carries over. At the same time, we’re preparing to revamp our website so that it shines a bigger spotlight on our heritage story and Luke marches along building a fundraising campaign that may just have Human-i-Tees selling in your local school district. Loads of development in the work, but, as always, it’s one shirt at a time.
~Landon