This week on Shirt Show, Dylan Gilligan sits down with Bruce Braden of Kong Screen Printing in Austin, Texas. After connecting online for years and finally meeting at ThreadX, they dive into Bruce’s journey from a college side job to running a highly efficient, partnership-driven production shop. Bruce shares how he and his partner, Ryan, have transitioned from working out of a communal co-op to managing a team of 11 with a focus on quality of life and automated systems.
Transitioning from Inbound to Outbound Sales
Bruce and Dylan discuss the shift many long-term shops face when word-of-mouth leads plateau. For Kong Screen Printing, the realization that customer service staff are often order takers led to the exploration of dedicated outbound roles. They explore the effectiveness of various touchpoints, noting that Instagram outreach has recently outperformed traditional cold calls for finding new markets and starting high-value conversations.
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The Impact of Specialized Partnerships
The success of Kong Screen Printing relies heavily on the complementary strengths of its founders. Bruce focuses on production, financials, and back-of-house operations, while Ryan manages front-of-house sales and long-form customer relationships. This division of labor allows the business to maintain fanatical customer support without sacrificing production efficiency. They discuss the importance of trust in a partnership and ensuring every decision serves the health of the business rather than individual egos.
Modernizing Workflows with Technology
A significant portion of the episode covers how Bruce utilizes technology like Seddi for visual mockups and tech packs. By adopting 3D scanning and automated scaling, they have reduced communication bottlenecks between sales and production. Bruce also highlights their reliance on GraphicSource for pre-press and artwork separations, which allows their internal team to focus on customer experience and shop flow rather than manual data entry.
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Defining Success Beyond Scale
Bruce reflects on the intentional decision to stay lean. Rather than chasing infinite expansion or massive employee counts, the goal at Kong is profitability and peace of mind with a manageable team of 10 to 11 people. This mindset shift away from the scale-at-all-costs model allows for better employee retention and a higher standard of living for the owners. They emphasize that a successful shop is one where the systems allow for a full schedule and consistent quality without constant owner intervention.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Separate sales roles. Customer service staff and outbound sales hunters require different mindsets and processes to be effective.
- Leverage visual tech. Using software like Seddi for mockups ensures print sizes are accurate to garment dimensions and reduces production errors.
- Outsource for peace. Maintaining long-term partnerships for embroidery or specialized art allows a shop to remain a master of screen printing.
- Focus on retention. High-quality customer service during misprint resolutions can turn a one-time mistake into a decade-long client relationship.
- Automate for efficiency. Finding ways to remove manual tasks from an employee's day allows them to focus on higher-value work and improves morale.