HOW GRINDSTONE PRINTCO STARTED

Like most of my favorite print shops, Grindstone started making band tshirts on a single color press right in a rehearsal space. Like a lot of bands we couldn't afford the cheapest run at the local print shop so we learning the process reading old books and watching videos. After a while of practice, I started feeling comfortable doing work for other bands and projects. Investing all my profits back into some makeshift upgrades i felt like i found what i wanted to do.

Printing was something I always did on the side of music along with photography, skating, and a lot of digital art. I remember I was working at a pizza shop and young enough to put a lot of money and time into developing these skills. I applied at all kinds of creative workshops but got turned down all the time. I worked right next door to the local print shop and would always go in and see if I could get a tour or if they needed someone for work trade. I always received the same response that they just didn't need me. One day I had enough, I was fed up of working at the pizza place and went back in almost begging for a tour or to come in some days and just show them I could pull some prints. Instead of turning me down again they offered me a full time job and a raise to leave the pizza place. I still remember the bitter sweet feeling of telling my co workers that I was quitting to do my dream job.

Moving that 6 station / 6 head manual press to my house was so much harder than leaving that job behind. I only had enough space for my press or my bed which was a quick choice at the time. My bedroom became a real printshop in the next few months. As jobs kept coming I kept up making upgrades and started experimenting with all the processes that I never got a chance to learn at the old shop. As covid was at its peak printing was the main thing keeping me occupied and fed. I started doing fulfillment for other artist that needed support as well as making my own designs. That entire year I spent relearning how I could run my business. In the start of 2021 I was starting to see what my big picture looked like and was ready to make some larger steps towards success. Being young and uncertain about the future was the only concern I had but I was confident in my ability to adapt.

The first few weeks of working at the print shop were some of the best days of my life . I was working full time but the days felt so much shorter doing something I love. I was also still able to attending collage classes for my design certificate. I was going through a really ruff patch before this and it completely changed my life. Over the year and a half I worked there I learned everything they had to offer me and started experimenting into new territories. During the summer I would come in 2 hours early so shop was fully running by the time everyone else showed up and t beat the heat. I often worked thru my break which gave me 3 hours at the end of the day to experiment and print my own jobs. I truly think that the people at the print shop didn't love and respect like I did. Being new business owners they made a lot of upgrades to the shop which I was always first to unwrap and set up. I went from a manual printer to an Automated press engineer, Screen tech, & Shop manager within that year. After some time I decided that I needed to start my own business . My old boss was trying to get rid of some equipment so I ended up taking it off my hands and starting my own shop in my parents garage.

In June I found the location that was exactly what I needed. The space was much larger but needed to be completely redone. I spent the entire next 6 months building the walls, installing the lights, Redoing the electric and plumbing, painting and making the space exactly what I need. At this point its mostly put together and I'm just trying to make it the manual shop of my dreams. The space is also big enough to start getting back into some other creative realms that haven't been forgotten. In the next year ill have the recording / jam studio and photography studio fully set up, as well as everything needed to start having monthly / seasonal events at the shop. Grindstone Printco isn't a typical print shop its the name of the years of developing the ideas of what type of work I want to do as well as the people I want to work with.