For International Women’s Day, we caught up with Stephanie Lisenby, a 29 year old stay-at-home mom from Northern California.
Stephanie began her screen printing venture in 2019 but her entrepreneur mind shift began 3 years ago when she first became a momma. She would do makeup as a service or sell just about anything she could create. (Get it girl we love the hustle.)
In 2019 she started making t-shirts with vinyl designs using her Cricut. From researching techniques to use with the Cricut she came across screen printing. Although she wasn't quite sure how to start she decided to buy screens, a squeegee, and some ink to give it a shot.
She received her first order for 70 shirts! (That's a lot for a noob) She was not sure how to take on a job that was so large at the time. Luckily, it was a close acquaintance that hired her for this print job and Stephanie was able to use this first big job as a learning experience without too much pressure.
By this point, she understood that vinyl wasn’t going to be an easy task to take on 70+ shirts and had gained a better understanding of the screen printing process. So she made a stencil out of vinyl and got to work. After completing this job... she knew it was the way. She was hooked and wanted more. She wanted to know why this worked better and the ins and outs of the trade.
She started following Instagram accounts, interacting with printers, asking questions, watching YouTube videos, and spending hours taking notes on how to do certain techniques. By this time, she had stumbled across Screen Print Direct® and ordered some more goodies for printing, which she had found from her research. She also had a "mentor" to help guide her. @selfmadedesigns on Instagram was giving her all the insider tips, he helped answer all her questions and is still someone she really looks up to in the screen-printing industry.
Stephanie has always been the type of person that loves to learn new things and go all in at something. After all her thorough research she started SL Custom. The income, in the beginning, was enough to get her started and even upgrade some of her equipment at home.
Stephanie believes this is just the humble beginnings of SL Custom and only foresees something bigger in the future as she develops her skills. And we couldn't agree more! She has the hunger, drive, and a thirst for knowledge; exactly what it takes to make it in this industry.
Her favorite part of the printing process is creating! She likes to see the creative from inside her come to life as well as customer creatives. Stephanie says "What I love most is the feeling I get when I put a design on something and the product is proudly worn." Here at Screen Print Direct®, we couldn't agree more with this feeling, it keeps motivation alive and thriving.
Stephanie leaves you with one of her favorite quotes from Serena Williams - “Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We are stronger when we cheer each other on."
Stephanie your success and drive is an inspiration to other women out there and we are proud to share your beginnings, we know there is a lot more left to write in this story :)
If you want to see more of Stephanie and what she has going on check her out on social media @_slcustom
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