Once upon a time, a poor college kid had a dream...and a strong hankering for a beer.
It was 2006. Josh was done with his midterms. It was his senior year. Or let's say it was a Tuesday. Obviously he needed beer money.
With the clarity of his sober mind and piles of laundry in view, Josh realized something: he'd need to steal more toilet paper from the science building before they locked it for the weekend. And he should sell t-shirts.
Josh's social life lent nicely to his idea: as a senior member of Sigma Nu Fraternity, he knew a lot of people in Greek Life. And fraternities and sororities order t-shirts for every holiday, birthday, and Thursday. Needless to say, the demand was high, and Josh was quickly overwhelmed with t-shirt orders. Luckily, a few of the younger guys in his fraternity also needed beer money and offered to help Josh sell custom tees. After graduating that spring, Josh passed the rep torch on and focused on making the small operation a successful company.
Two years later, after many sleepless nights of planning, and many long days in his cubicle at another local start-up company, Josh had CreateMyTee up and running—and his team to thank for it. Josh's friends and acquaintances trusted him with their hearts, minds, and weekends when they joined the small start-up team, but each of them will tell you how great the journey has been so far. It's been a long road, paved with blood, sweat, and beers, so we'll spare you the gory details. But if you're interested, we made you a timeline.
In Albion, MI, Josh Fales starts selling custom t-shirts. Wedding Crashers comes out. Girls across the nation decide Owen Wilson's crooked nose is sort of sexy. My mom decorates our basement like a 1950s diner.
Josh brings his fraternity brothers on board. With Josh's brains and his brothers' looks, they form the ultimate team (read: sorority girls order t-shirts from them).
Josh resigns himself to a cubicle at a local start-up company while still harboring unfulfilled dreams of t-shirts. My mom starts collecting antique toasters.
Josh meets the power pair of graphic artists, Don and Julie DuChateau, and starts talking to them about joining the CreateMyTee team. Josh's friends at the start-up company teach him a lot about management and sales, and he absorbs their sage advice like a sponge. The Great Recession of Josh's hairline begins.
Dreams of t-shirts call Josh away from said start-up company, and he begins working for them part-time. Josh is introduced, through mutual friends, to John Burnside, who happens to be a web developer.
Don and Julie officially join the CreateMyTee Crew, and together with John, they get the first version of the site up by December 1st. Don redesigns our logo no less than twelve times. Josh starts watching "Celebrity Apprentice" so he can take lessons from Donald Trump's toupee.
The Campus Rep Network grows at a rapid rate. In other words, more college kids need beer money and earn it by selling custom t-shirts.
The site has been up and running for a year. The team grows, sales grow, the office grows. Everyone looks forward to a breakthrough 2010.
The Crew is forced to move the office due to The Great Flood (read: we lost four t-shirts and a ream of paper). We can no longer walk to Happy Hour.
The Crew hires a Shirt Specialist/Director of Operations, Steve Hall. Steve almost went to medical school, but decided to do CreateMyTee Operations instead (they're less messy/the stakes aren't as high).
The Crew brings on a full time Sales Rep named Joe. Joe starts building relationships with customers all across this great country. Josh stops buying shampoo.
The site keeps gaining momentum. Josh buys a futon for the group room and people start having more meetings. Best year yet, looking forward to a strong 2012.