Shop Talk Speakers
Stan Banks, Owner, T-Shirt Side Hustle
Stan created a YouTube channel January 4th, 2017 in which he teaches viewers how to start a custom print shop, a t-shirt line, and/or apparel brand as well as tips and tricks for running heat press and screen print businesses. His passion is to impact peoples lives and he does that by helping people start and run a successful profitable print business from home or wherever they are.
Dov Charny, Founder, Los Angeles Apparel
Founder of the iconic American Apparel brand which brought fashionable garments and ethical production into the mainstream.
Josh Ellsworth, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, STAHLS’
As Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for GroupeSTAHL North America, Josh is responsible for leading and supporting a nationwide team of experienced team members with a focus on growing the company’s enterprise and dealer sales and marketing efforts. His in-depth understanding of the technical side of garment decorating, combined with a sincere interest in seeing businesses succeed, make him a sought-after and trusted resource for information industry-wide.
Dave Gardner, Gildan
Dave Gardner is widely considered to be one of founding fathers of “simulated process” He developed his artistic foundation at the University of Buffalo from 1979-1982 as an Oil Painting Major. In 1983 he relocated to Ft.Worth Texas, were he joined 3-D Emblem as tshirt artist and separator. Working with the Harley-Davison brand gave Dave the platform needed to push boundaries of printing on black t-shirts. In a short 2 year period he created revolutionary concepts such as the “under base”, “ wet on wet”, and photo-realistic prints on dark garments, which would later come to be know as “simulated process”.
In 1989 Dave founded Gardner Graphics and teamed up with New Buffalo as his printing partner. The duo quickly reached the pinnacle, setting a new standard with their prints in Sports Licensing and Concert tees. New Buffalo and Gardner Graphics merged in 2001 . In 2013 Gildan acquired New Buffalo to service their Global Lifestyle Brand customers who were searching for a vertical solution for printed garments. Dave currently serves as Director of Creative Embellishment at Gildan.
Yoann Giorsetti, Managing Director, Siser
After growing up in Europe and moving to the US, Yoann became a self-taught expert in the decorated apparel industry. Joining Siser when the company had just entered the North American market, Yoann built the company into what it is now thanks to his dedication and passion for excellence. With decades of knowledge and experience, Yoann continues to lead his team into the future.
Tyrone Gregory, The Self-Employed Tax Guy
Tyrone Gregory is an Enrolled Agent with the IRS and the owner of the Self-Employed Tax Company. He helps thousands of minority entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of the U.S. tax code and helps them start sustainable profit-making businesses that help them live the lives of their dreams. Tyrone has started lots of businesses and made lots of money, only to lose it all soon after because of the mistakes that were made in his business. That’s why he is on a mission to help minority entrepreneurs understand the key things needed to start a business adn what is needed to become successfully self-employed.
Matt Gusse, Founder, DTF2U.com
Matt Gusse is the founder of DTF2U.com, a premier provider of direct-to-film solutions and services for the textile, promotional products, printers, sign, and display industries. He is an embellishment master with over 25 years of experience and is an early adopter of DTF. Past employers and partners include Groupe Stahl, Universal Laser Systems, Advanced Color Solutions, and more. You can contact him at mattg@dtf2u.com.
Ed Levy, Director of Software Technologies, Hirsch Solutions
Ed Levy is currently the Director of Software Technologies at Hirsch. He has over 25 years in the decorating business with high level experience with digitizing, embroidery, screen printing and information and workflow systems.
Andy MacDougall, Squeegeeville
Andy MacDougall helped establish Wachiay Studio on Vancouver Island in 2015. He retired from day to day duties in 2021 but continues to work on special projects & educational initiatives, including screentheworld.org. In 2007 he was inducted to the Academy of Screenprinting Technology for ongoing contributions to the industry including producing the books ‘Screenprinting Today – the Basics’, and a ‘History of Screen Printing’, numerous magazine articles & live screenprinting demonstrations from Montreal to Milwaukee to Long Beach. He currently hosts the podcast & column ‘Art, Ad, or Alchemy’ for Screenprinting Magazine in the USA.
Jody Mazade, Director of Sales and Marketing, Howard Custom Transfers
Jody Mazade is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Howard Custom Transfers, an industry leading custom transfer manufacturer. In her current role, she lends a focus to customer acquisition and retention, customer experience and loyalty, company branding, market trends, product knowledge, and content creation. With over 15 years of industry experience, Jody’s motivation is to drive the success of local print shops, high-end apparel brands, and all those in-between by providing innovative transfer solutions and service options in a fast-paced, ever-changing industry landscape.
Michelle Moxley, Innovation Director, M&R
Creative artist and printer, always on the cutting edge in the garment decoration world of technology, ink, and art with stops at Gildan, Virus, and some top production companies.
Jason Murphy, Strategic Account Manager, SanMar
Veteran of all aspects of garment decoration both management and hands-on. Jason has had extensive experience at a high level with top companies in the heat transfer business.
Tony Palmer, Palm Print Consultants
Tony Palmer has been in the garment decoration industry for over 30 years and is now an independent print consultant working closely with print shops to get the most from existing processes and techniques. Tony is passionate about keeping and enhancing production skill levels within the industry. He is the owner of Palmprint Consultants, offering practical help and assistance to garment decorators all over the globe.www.palmprintuk.com
Alex Phelan, Merchadise
Sergio Ramirez, Creative Strategist & Senior Content Creator, Supacolor
With several years of experience in the decorated apparel industry and over a decade of experience in the content creation world, Sergio specializes in creating disruptive digital content for both DTC and B2B.
Under his helm, he helped grow Supacolor’s user base internationally and social media equity tenfold.
In addition to his professional experience, Sergio is also a streetwear designer and artist in his free time to keep his creative eye refreshed. He is widely recognized as an industry expert on taking your social media content to the next level.
He studied with The Art Institute, Universita Bocconi, London Business School, UC Irvine, and UC Davis to cultivate a knowledge base for growing a brand in the decorated apparel industry.
Sergio has already been a guest speaker on Ink Kitchen’s Shop Talk once, this will be his 2nd time, so you won’t want to miss this opportunity to hear from the expert on how to take your brand’s social media content to the next level.
Rick Roth, President, Mirror Image
Rick has been printing t-shirts since dinosaurs ruled the earth. His award winning company has been a leader in creative approaches to printing, technical advances, and ethical production.
Jed Seifert, Co-Founder, Stakes Manufacturing
Jed Seifert is the Co-founder of Stakes Manufacturing, a DTG & DTF print-on-demand apparel company out of Cleveland, OH where they are passionate about inclusion and currently employ a number of individuals with different disabilities. Stakes was recently awarded the APSE 2022 National Employer of the Year recognizing their hard work building an inclusive workforce employing people with disabilities. Jed is on the Board of Directors for SEEC, an organization dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities attain meaningful employment opportunities and independent living in the DC metropolitan area, who supports his brother’s employment. He is a Board Member for the National Fragile X Foundation, an organization dedicated to serving all those living with Fragile X with a focus on community, awareness, and research in the pursuit of treatments and a cure. He is a Board Member of U.N.I.T.E. Together, an organization empowering and reinforcing a collective commitment to embrace inclusion in the print industry. He serves on the CEO Commission for Disability Employment founded by Voya Financial, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), to be a source of research and information, actionable steps, and advocacy opportunities for member companies to recruit and onboard individuals with disabilities into their organizations.
Eric and Val Solomon, Night Owls
Kevin Tsukahara, Amazon
Kevin Tsukahara currently works in management at Amazon’s Direct to Garment facility in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. He has worked at the highest levels of both DTG and screenprint as he is the former Director of Print Technology and Quality at Teespring and before that served as Technical Sales Rep for Rutland inks.