Success Stories Ep 104 - "Embellishing New Ways with the Embellishr"

On today's Success Stories podcast, you are in for a fantastic treat. Nicole Pape with Embellishr is going to join the show. Ang guess what -- she's the real deal folks!

With a background in operations and running a shop, she knows what works and what doesn't. That led to an opportunity in equipment sales with ROQ US which also led to her branching off into her own company.

If you haven't met Nicole yet, get ready to have your doors blown off. If you've known Nicole, you already know what I'm talking about!

Transcript

Marshall Atkinson 
On today's Success Stories podcast, you are in for a fantastic treat. Nicole Pape, with Embellishr is going to join the show. And guess what? She's the real deal folks, with a background in operations and running a shop. She knows what works and what doesn't. That led to an opportunity in equipment sales with ROQ, which also led to her branching off into her own company. If you haven't met Nicole yet, get ready to have your doors blown off. If you know Nicole, you already know what I'm talking about. So Nicole, welcome to the Success Stories podcast.

Nicole Pape 
Oh, thank you so much for having me today, Marshall. I really appreciate being on here.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, and let me tell you, you know, I first met you just recently, and then you were at the DTF Expo, and you gave this whole thing about operations and making money and scheduling and all that. And I'm sitting there nodding my head, agreeing with everything you said and and I'm like, Hey, I got to have her on the show to talk about this stuff and also what she's doing, because I think, you know, more people need to hear from you, and so I'm happy to have you here.

Nicole Pape 
Well, I'm really excited to be here and kind of share our story and my story and how it pertains to any other shop in the nation.

Marshall Atkinson 
Great. So let's begin. And here's our first questions, like, so you've had quite the journey in the industry, you know, because maybe not everybody knows who you are, right? So give us a rundown on your background, and then what led you to start Embellishr and what you're doing with that?

Nicole Pape 
Wow. So I actually kind of fell into the industry when I was 20. I was working Customer Service at Reebok in Chula Vista San Diego, while I was studying for my art history degree at UCSD and and I just found myself, you know, dealing with people that were calling about their uniforms, and it was a great experience for me in the Customer Service realm. But I was always really intrigued by these guys in this warehouse behind the scenes that seem to be printing something or doing something else on clothing. And I know what they're doing, but I want to be involved in that. And so I actually kind of got told that I might not have been that great at customer service at 20, believe it or not, and so, but they really liked me over there. So they were like, You know what? If you want to try it out, if you would like to move into that screenprint department, we'll go ahead and move you, but you got to reclaim at least, you know, 200 screens a day. I had no idea what they were talking about that moment, and I just remember saying, cool, I'm in. Let's do it. And so I threw my headphones in and I got some glue, paste, dehazer, at one point, that was just this pumice dehazer. I had my gloves on, and I just remember sitting there every day, massaging the screens with, you know, the washout booth, and reclaiming and living my little happy life. But then thinking, I really want to print. I want to learn what you know, that machine does. And so as I started just kind of working more deeply in that department, I started learning, and people wanted to start showing me things, so I started standing on a milk carton to screen print on a six color four station, Riley Hopkins. And I remember the very first shirt I ever screen printed it. It said Hawaii dragons on it, and it was a four color shirt.

Marshall Atkinson 
Did you keep one?

Nicole Pape 
I didn't. I always regret that one thing I didn't at the time. I had no idea that I would, you know, just go throughout this whole career, I truly thought I was going to move to New York City and become an art broker, which is super, you know, unrealistic, almost, but it was what was in my head at the time, and and so I fell in love. I fell in love with screen printing. I fell in love with the process, the inks, the people, the urgency of it, the creativity in it, the Mickey Mouse thing, when you need to Mickey Mouse something, I love solution oriented stuff, and I always felt like there was something that we had to solve. And so it just kind of drove me into the next phase of my journey in my 20s, when I moved to Los Angeles and moved into my own little loft in downtown LA and decided to start a silk screen boutique, and so I was, you know, running three manual presses in a loft in downtown Los Angeles, when people didn't want to be in downtown Los Angeles. US in the early 2000s and and so I would buy all of my supplies from a local vendor, either mcLogan's or Ryonet. And Ryonet was in LA at the time, and I just kind of fell into, you know, meeting with all of these people that were like minded, that were printing, that were offering courses and training. And I just remember being like, oh my god, there's other people out there like me and and so my journey just kept going. I ended up becoming a manager at Ryonet for a while. I actually left them and worked for a porn star, believe it or not, for a couple years, managing her entire production facility, which was all screenprint, crazy I know.

Marshall Atkinson 
Hold on, a porn star had like screen printing?

Nicole Pape 
Yes, quite a large operation in LA it was also mixed with a vape. It was like a whole vape fulfillment center mixed with screen printing at the time, and she offered me a ton of money I couldn't refuse in my young 20s to come help her learn all of the screen printing nuances run the operation. She had a really successful brand in Kitson and Nordstrom's, and so I just kind of started heading that up, and found myself kind of all of a sudden bouncing into operational areas with Reebok fanatics Nike, and then up to the Bay Area, where I became a partner in a very large contract embellisher. And that's really where I cut all my teeth. So cutting my teeth in production, that's how that all worked for me. I ended up with two facilities, one in California, one in Reno, Nevada, 150 employees, 14 automatic presses and 108 HUDs embroidery that I was partnered in. And so it was kind of my dream had come true in this entire like, you know, transit of me going from my early 20s to my early 30s at that point, and and then I had an opportunity to actually sell out my shares at a certain time, and I had an infant at home, and it felt right, and I took it. And from there, I got picked up by ROQ U.S. Learned the trade of selling and understanding the manufacturing nuances of the equipment I'd been working with for all these years, equipment that I very much felt deeply connected to, you know, all the equipment I had with M&R or Riley, or, you know, definitely in the same realm, but when I worked at ROQ, it was just such a great feeling, because I was able to really see, like the entire scope of the supply chain for the first time as someone who's always been the consumer. So that was really, really eye opening, and kind of helped me develop into where we are today. With Embellishr, you know, I found where, when I was there, there just seemed to be a real niche in the market where no one was really kind of taking care of clients. That used to be me trying to buy pre owned equipment so we can keep our businesses moving, shaken, keep our cash flow, you know, nice and tight and not have to worry about things. And so when I started seeing this niche kind of come up, I just jumped and decided that I would start my own company and start Embellishr.

Marshall Atkinson 
Okay, that's that's great, and I love all of that. And and that was like, I don't know what four minutes of your whole describing, right? No, it was good. I loved it. And one of the things that, before we get on to the kind of the embellisher thing, is, what I really liked about hearing your story at the DTF Expo is that you are a data nerd like me, right? We need to measure. We need to have KPIs. We need to understand what's going on and, and I came at it from, you know, I'm an artist, right? I'm a I have a degree in art, minor in Art History, by the way, we have something in common. And so it's hard for me to understand what's going on. If I look at a big wall of numbers, it's like, it's like, the like, I don't even understand it. But when I take that and make a pivot table and graph it, then it's, oh, we're doing better, or we're getting worse, or it's the same or whatever. And then that's how I really honed in on how to run shops, was getting those numbers together and really understanding, you know, your cost per imprint, right? And of course, both of the companies that I ran were both in the contract decorator space. And so that's how you compete, is it's it's all pennies, but it's millions of pennies, right?

Nicole Pape 
It's millions and it's measurable, and I think that that's the biggest thing. And I think that, you know, when it comes to shops and it, when it comes to my experience of just starting out as washing screens and reclaiming screens, in no way, shape or form. Did I have the intuitive nature at that time of what it takes to run a very large scale commercial operation in this realm. And I had no concept of even Reebok's like commercialism and their you know, status of their operation. But as I grew in my experience and as I got pulled into the partnership, I did my entire world was payroll cogs. Was managing those numbers so tight, and it's still, you know, still in even in Embellishr, in the company I run today, my cogs are just different than everybody else's cogs, per se, but I still have them, and if I don't manage to them, I mean, you know, you're just losing your own butt, right? So, yeah, that's the biggest thing.

Marshall Atkinson 
That's good. That's good, all right, so let's, let's get into Embellishr, right? So for those that don't know or maybe haven't heard of Embellishr before, right? Talk about your idea, and then also, how are you doing differently than everybody else? Because I know you, you really just drove a stake into the top of the mountain and like, this is me. This is what I'm doing, right? So kind of like, let everybody know what's up.

Nicole Pape 
Well, yeah, I did. I kind of had to drive a stake, I think, in the top of the mountain. I think that this industry, I have a ton of respect for the industry as a whole, but it's a very traditional industry in a lot of ways, too. And so our goal was to kind of, and has been, and will continue to be, is to kind of take that traditionalism and flip it upside down and modernize it. And so when it comes to you know what we do differently? Well, you're not going to see a whole ton of women owned vendors in our industry, at least. I don't know a ton of them, but I know that they exist. So first and foremost, we're out there supporting everyone. Everyone's our ally no matter what. But secondly, you know, when we're looking at breaking the mold in the used equipment game, that means that, you know, we're really taking into accountability everything that matters to the consumer side and to the seller side. It's a very unique kind of situation where you have to be really tactful and tasteful about it as well. You know, working on breaking that mold is, you know, things like, we're warranting equipment. We're warranting other people's equipment. We're running operational inspections and all the equipment that have to hit certain trigger points. And we replace and repair items all the time on presses to bring them back to good working condition. These are things that a lot of you know, a lot of other people are either maybe focused on just buying direct from a seller or buying from maybe an unvetted broker, but our focus truly is a service based focus, where we really have a comprehensive business structure to support a seller, selling their equipment that needs to get out because they're retiring, or, you know what, they've added, DTF, and they are minimizing maybe some of their presses on their entire fleet. We're in there to help the seller, but we're also in there just as much to help our buyers. We're there to run those inspections on the equipment, make sure they understand the electrical, the air, the gas consumption they're going to need on the back end. Make sure that their facility is ready to go. We offer installation, we offer training. So we're really trying to kind of go above and beyond, while also breaking the brand. At you know, we're trying to break that, that territorial brand mentality, and be more brand agnostic. So we're really a resource for people. You know? We're trying to give people an area where they can compare and contrast different brands in the industry and really go for what feels right to them and their business with confidence and purchase with confidence. So that's really kind of what we're looking at. You know, what we've been doing and how we've been redefining the overall marketplace with providing a virtual warehouse with premium, pre owned garment decoration equipment.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, and when you say equipment, it's not just screen printing. It's like Screen Room, it's embroidery. It's DTF, DTG, you know, it's the whole kit and kaboom, right? Folding machines.

Nicole Pape 
Folding, reclaim embroidery. You know, we're looking at lasers right now. We're seeing a lot of uptick on the laser side. So, you know, us supporting. Digital it takes a lot more infrastructure on our part, and we're working on that right now, so we can really hone in on supporting those DTGs, those CTS machines, you know, because this is good equipment that someone used and may need to upgrade to something else for their operations, but that's a stepping stone for somebody else's business, and that's what's important.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, and what are you finding right now, at the time that we're recording this, what's the number one thing that people are looking for?

Nicole Pape 
Well, the number one thing people are probably looking for, I would say, is, you know, financial security in these transactions. We are seeing a lot more equipment influx onto the used marketplace today. There's a huge saturation in it, and just how the economy has been acting. And in those times, you're going to find sellers that maybe are doing things at a desperation where you could find yourself buying something that's under a lien that hasn't been paid off, and so there's a lot of fear factor when it comes to purchasing pre owned that we're trying to extract from the equation. So you truly feel like there's a support behind you. But I would say, you know, between that and overall, just cash flow, you know, I'd like to be able to conserve. I'd like to be able to take that savings and, you know, influx it in our business, in the dark room, automation, because we were able to save 30 grand, maybe I can buy that auto coder now. So we're seeing where these savings are allowing people to maintain structure with their payroll as they go into slower times. You know, it's really a advantageous, you know, savvy business move. If you feel confident, our company is there to support it.

Marshall Atkinson 
Okay. So let's say, you know, somebody listening right now is in the market to either buy something or maybe they want to sell right what should they know and really understand, before they start that process, right, that maybe that they they haven't even thought about.

Nicole Pape 
Well, I mean, here's what I would say, if they're looking to buy something, especially if they're starting out, you know, we we see a lot of people that are just starting out. That's exactly how I started out everyone, I bought a shop pre owned from the ground up. I got the guys inks everything, and was like, Okay, I'm up and running, you know, I got everything in that U-Haul truck and, and so, you know, what they should know is there are unforeseen costs in purchasing any equipment, always. And so just having even more of a consultation with, you know, industry advisors, resources, is a huge leg up for you, because there is electrical potential, electrical build out that your space has potentially you're in a constrained space and you're not seeing that maybe the diameter of that press that you're really dreaming about really doesn't realistically work in the space you're currently in. So there's, you know, a little bit more of homework on the side of starting completely fresh as a startup with screen printing in general. And when it comes to adding automation to your current operation, you know, you've got four autos. You're adding that fifth or six auto. It really at that point, it's about doing your due diligence, making sure that you know that seller, or you know the company that's selling it, and you know you are also getting the services that you need. If you decide to go purchase it yourself, chances are you're going to have to tear it down yourself. You're going to have to transit yourself. So these are things where, you know, do you want to take on all of those headaches, or do you want to focus on your business and search for what you need? And you know, on the selling side of that, it's kind of the same, do you want to answer all the questions all day long, where people are calling and asking, Hey, is this going to work with my, you know, single phase. I got a 200 amp panel. I'm going to have this compressor here, but it only has this CFM. I don't have a drive in or I don't have a dock, high dock. I have a drive in dock. I don't have a forklift. There are so many nuances to actually successfully moving your equipment and retaining a decent amount of money on it, because these are good assets. They hold value, but in order to retain that value and not completely lose your butt and your mind in doing it, I suggest finding resources like Embellishr or like vetted brokers in the industry that will support that for you so you can just go back to running your business and not stress about it on your own.

Marshall Atkinson 
So if somebody has a press, you're buying a press where they have something for sale, right? Like, do you do you provide a evaluation on that press where you've checked it out mechanically, you, like, I've seen presses before that look like they're going to have an epileptic fit before they rotate.

Nicole Pape 
I mean, well, yeah, those are all the old lifted...

Marshall Atkinson 
You know, it's just like, it looks like Kramer. If Kramer was a machine, that would, you know? And so, do you provide that type of stuff so somebody doesn't, you know, either, hey, this is what we need to refurbish the press. It needs a new, you know, Core Center Drive or something, or, or, you know, or you're protecting the buyer, going, Hey, I wouldn't buy that because it's a piece of junk, right? Or, do you offer that stuff?

Nicole Pape 
Yeah, absolutely. So we decline things all the time. Marshall that i we i can't take in everything. I wish I could. Honestly, there's a lot that comes at us, and we would love to help everyone. But, you know, we're in the business of also supporting equipment that is in good working condition, that is usable. So the way that our business functions is, if you're looking to sell your equipment, you know you would fill out our our equipment appraisal for basically, and it's going to go through an actual fair market value appraisal based on a five year tax depreciation schedule for capital equipment. And what that does is it procures back that that great fair market value. But then we do further into that, what we do is look at the industry as a whole, the market, you know, the market climate right now? Is it hot? Is it slow? What does that look like? And we give these sellers our factors back, and so we put everything in a tiered program, on purpose, because we're also providing back really, really competitive prices that are within your fair market value. But we're trying to also give the sellers the idea of, you know, it's not a million dollar home where you can wish that you're gonna exponentially get more money. It does depreciate. You know, there is a, there is an overall price that people will pay for things. And so we really are here to give you that unbiased reality of your equipment and then support you if you want to move forward with our strategic marketing efforts and stuff. We've got over 12,000 buyers that sit on our website monthly right now, and that's great. This is, you know, it's a great visibility feature for people.

Marshall Atkinson 
And you're a good resource if somebody's thinking about making a move or getting to the next level. And you can say, hey, I want to buy my first auto. And then you can say, Okay, well, like, because this, you know, I'm a consultant, right? I've had plenty of these discussions, and my first question isn't about space or anything. It's about sales. Like, do you have the sales necessary to support an auto? Because previously, with your manual, you're churning along at 60 impressions an hour or whatever, and it takes all day to do your stuff. But with an auto, you're printing at 400 an hour. And if you don't have the sales by like, 1030 you're done right. And then we can do the rest of the day right. And then, not to mention, you need more screens, and you need, like, all these things that you need that you didn't even think about, because all you're thinking about is, I want to get to an auto right. And so do you talk about that with people and kind of advise them?

Nicole Pape 
Of course, I mean, that is, I think that that's our job, to be honest with you. We are, we are here to teach and tailor to our clients. Because this is why, this is my sole purpose with Embellishr, actually, if I'm not able to teach and train you on the business of screen printing and overall what you need, based on what you're telling me, your brand is, your clientele is, your volume is, then I'm not doing you any justice and whatever you're trying to purchase from us either. And I'm not doing our seller any justice by not helping this buyer along. On You know what? I know that this package really caught your eye, and you might have real big appetite for this one, but just based on everything that we've talked about, it's probably overkill, or it's maybe not enough, you know. And so these are absolutely daily conversations I have with tons of shops. I'm on the phone all day with shops, and it is really more of where can I help you? What is it that you're struggling with? What do you need? Let's review the kind of automation that would need. This, you know, to be a solution here. Um, we're we're in the business of complexity, right? Everybody has a complex problem, and use equipment is a complex, you know, game as it is, in that way, however, we have complex solutions for these complex problems, so we have to spend the time to talk to people about their business, to understand. Business in the forefront so we can give our best recommendations, so people aren't coming back and feeling a certain way about us. I feel very strongly to support all of our clients, even if you never purchase from us at all.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah. So do you think people have kind of like the shiny object syndrome sometimes, where they're they're reaching for that brass ring, but they're nowhere close to being ready for it. They just want to say they have it.

Nicole Pape 
Yes, I think that there are quite a few different like buyer profiles out there too. You know, I think if you break it down in terms of just buyer behavior, I've seen buyers where they are, you know, we've advised them This is far too much equipment for what you're currently at, what you're doing. I understand you want to grow into it. What's the plan to grow into it? I would say, like a bank approving you for a credit line, or something like, give me your entire business plan so I can help you qualify that this is right. And you know, realistically, what we can do is give our best guidance, but if they choose to still move forward, that is, you know, that is completely on their prerogative. And we're here to support them. We're here to give them, you know, we give people your name all the time as someone else to, you know, communicate with in the industry, same with Tony Palmer, same with Richard Tilly, Miguel. Like we have a group of people that we will recommend to make sure that you still know that there's other people to support you, you know, and your success. Because if you try to do it all on your own, and if you try to bite off more than you can chew, you know, I don't want to have to resell your equipment in a year from now, I want to hear that you want to buy more. Yeah, so yeah.

Marshall Atkinson 
And by the way, if you're listening, happy to take your phone call. I talked to tons of people, and you mentioned business plan. I can tell you when I'm talking with folks, especially if they're their company's a little jacked up, and they're trying to figure out how come they're not making the money you want to make. And one of my first questions is, well, can you send me your business plan? And they don't have, right? They don't know who their ideal customer is. They don't know how to make a profit. Some people I talk to don't even know how to get a P&L written. You know, produce absolutely and so it's like these are the basic things that you really need in order to grow and expand and scale your business and and it a lot of people, they come at it and they're just doing it. They're working out of their basement or the pole barn or the the spare bedroom or whatever. And they've got these great dreams, and we want to support that. But you've, you've you really need to really understand your business and what you're doing with it, and your ideal customers, and how you're going to be doing something different than everybody else, because news flash, putting a logo on a shirt isn't that difficult, right? So how are you going to be more customer centric and and grow your business by understanding your numbers and and, and basically, here's what I want you to think about. How can you be the highest price shop in your state and have people lining up around the block to work for you? Are you building a model like that where you're going to be incredibly profitable, or are you going to be somebody who drops their pants because somebody says, I can get a cheaper somewhere else, and so and so will do it for a nickel cheaper, right?

Nicole Pape 
I mean, that happens all the time, right? I mean, that's, that's the biggest problem in this industry, is you're finding that competition right there. But, you know, I always lean back on a famous quote from the San Francisco Forty Niners legendary coach Bill Walsh said, and I'm a Niners fan, so sorry, but he once said culture is a byproduct of consistent behavior. And I took that quote to heart years ago, and that quote really resonates with me in all aspects of what we do, in our business and beyond it, in my home, in my in my family center, that quote resonates with me because it's habitual. It's what's your organization's habits, right? And so if you're you know, going to just drop your pants and lower your prices. It's a race to the bottom with everyone else. I actually had this exact talk with the shop yesterday in Indiana, and we were talking about, it's actually time to raise your prices and raise your standard of your quality. Your quality is there now raise your standards that your prices are always going to be set here, because you guys are higher quality. And so, you know, without creating that habit, you're not going to actually get the customers you're looking for. You have to create these things, and that will be a culture that comes back to you ten folds. So I love what you said, because it's, it's just rings really true where, you know, it's really challenging when you get into these bargain kind of mentality, modes of, you know, I'm just trying to make money. Well, just trying to make money doesn't always mean it's profitable. And so how do you keep it profitable? So, yeah.

Marshall Atkinson 
Preach it, sister. I love it. Okay, so last question here, right? So I think what's interesting right now is that with new equipment, you know, even basic level presses, we seem to be a bit of a slump. Manual presses in particular, like, I don't even know through making them anymore, right? Because everybody's going to DTF, right? So the this is the reason why the used equipment market, I think is booming because everybody's is the economy, you know, whatever, right? And also, I think we're still in kind of a hangover from COVID, a little bit And then in a lot of companies, a lot of people haven't changed their business, and they're still trying to operate their business like it was 2016 or something, instead of the way everybody buys now, right? So, yeah, like, so what do you think is driving this a little bit right for the used equipment market and and so if somebody's thinking to himself, gosh, I need a new reclaim unit, or I need a new auto. Or I, you know, I could, I, I could do so much more if I just had another tin color, right? What? Or I need. I need another six heads of embroidery, right? Whatever, right. What should people be really thinking about and prove it to themselves that if I go this route, is going to be worth it? Just give them a checklist. Nicole, what should they be thinking about?

Nicole Pape 
Well, okay, listen, you should be thinking about the fact that interest rates have been on the rise. There has been a, you know, let's call it a post COVID inflation. Tighter budgets are leading businesses to rethink their spending strategies. So kind of reframing what you've known, like you said, the ways of 2016 are not the ways of 2024, and beyond right now. And so, you know, reframing that whole idea that you have to purchase brand new direct for you to be successful. You absolutely do not. Um, there are so many avenues available to all of these clients out there today in reinvesting the savings that they have on interest rates. You know, let's talk new equipment. Let's say you're looking at a press and a dryer from one of the main manufacturers, and it's a bigger press configuration. You're probably looking at close to $200,000 in brand new equipment right there. And so, you know, what? If you're looking at putting that on a loan well alone with this interest rate stretch over five to six years, you're looking at a heck of a lot more, you know, expenditure right there, just trying to go brand new, when maybe there's something that is available to you to exactly what you need in that department, in your business, for a fraction of the cost, for half of the cost, for a quarter of the cost. But guess what that quarter saves you, or that half saves you, it saves you that interest delta that's just going to completely continue to be overbearing, but also it really saves you the ability to have cash flow to influx in your business in other areas. So my checklist is to make sure that you are doing your homework. You can get quotes from all the different manufacturers if you want, and you if you're not on some strict timeline, um, and even if you are the youth market is great, because most people that are selling something are also on a timeline trying to get out of something. So it, you know, kind of takes away that whole lead time. Differentiation between new equipment that might be coming from overseas might be four to six months out to used equipment that could be three to four weeks out from being in your shop, making you money being half the cost. And now you have cash flow savings for the winter months or when things are getting busier with embroidery. And you need to, you know, create more space in the warehouse, and you need to break down that wall and. Warehouse number two, and add that space so you can have a better receiving area. I mean the advantages of purchasing from vetted brokers that are giving you warranties that are giving you the same treatment, and, well, actually, I want to say better treatment in a lot of ways, than some of the manufacturers really kind of gives you that one on one experience. And if you're looking for someone that can help guide you through the process, or if you're looking for some product and you don't want anybody to talk to you, either way, you have that ability with a company like Embellishr, we are happy to do consultations with you go over your whole business, or we have a great website platform that we're working on to make it more like a Carvana or CarMax experience, where you just request a quote, you get a quote right back in your inbox and a deposit link, and quite frankly, people are just paying for equipment that way too. So we're seeing, you know, two different sides of different buyers that are still going for the same outcome. The results are, I'm able to save money, I'm able to get what my business needs. I'm able to get going and become more profitable quickly. So my checklist is, do your homework, review what's on the use market. If you want to look at new look at new do your research and come back to the use market and see if something's available, if it's not, stuff comes available all the time. Reach out to any of those vetted brokers or a company like Embellishr, and we'll put you on a wish list. We'll head hunt things for you too. We talk to people all day long. So it's, it's about just becoming more involved in the overall network of the industry, I think, to kind of get that result and success you're looking for.

Marshall Atkinson 
Right. That's the perfect answer. So the the just a quick tip, if you're thinking about adding some equipment, an easy way to find out if you where's it, will it fit? Right? Right? And most presses these days are circular, right? So just go out in your front yard and grab your garden hose, and then, you know, it's going to be 24 feet in diameter, or whatever it is, and then just make a big circle with your garden hose, and then try to work without stepping in the circle for a day or two. Yeah, right? Or or line it, you know, if it's something in the screen or whatever you can, it puts a masking tape on the floor, right? And just pretend that's where the thing is going to be, right? Because all of I'm sure Nicole has the footprint of all her stuff, right? But you can also, Oh, yeah. And this is just an easy way to kind of figure out is this, will this fit in my space? And if the answer is no, then without going even, even any into any of the details, right? You know that you can't get that that brand or model. You're gonna have to get something smaller or whatever, right?

Nicole Pape 
Absolutely, yeah, those diameters are the most important part, right? And, you know, on your point, I would recommend, if you're doing that and you're putting the masking tape down or the hose, give yourself a few wiggle room, wiggle room, you know, because you need a working diameter to get those flashes in and out, your screens in and out. So, you know, if you're looking at those big presses. They come with big diameters. We just moved a 14 color, 16 station rock next to a new purchaser. They love it, but that's a 25 foot diameter press right there, you know? So, you know, sometimes appetites can be big, but we have to look at space, and we have to look at what you're sitting in. So you know you're successful from the jump of your research, of what you're looking at.

Marshall Atkinson 
Right. And also think about installation, right? Because me personally, like, I have a heart beyond, like hanging a picture on a wall, like I'm not mechanical at all, like I bring in the people to fix stuff right? And I would never try to do it on my own, because I'm the guy that's always got the leftover bolt right? And what did this go to? I got the thing assembled, and I've got this thing, you know, that's going to be, I'm going to bring in the person that's going to, like, set it up and make sure it's set up correctly. But here's the other thing that could also train me on the control panel, on how the thing works and whatever. And what I always recommend is, when you get to that point with the installation, is to use your phone and put it up on a tripod or have another person hold it, and as you're getting it explained how to do it, you're recording what that person's telling you. And I think a lot of people just try to scribble down the notes. You know, we all carry a movie studio in our pocket, so let's take advantage of that, and that's really going to help you understand. And how to use whatever you just bought, right? And yeah, that way a week from now, you don't look as dumb. Hey, I can't turn the thing on. Nicole, help me.

Nicole Pape 
Oh, yeah, we get those calls. And you know what I say to all of our buyers that are definitely new, you know, if you if you have a few autos, I hope you know how to turn the dang thing on, but I'll still help you. Don't worry. However, you know, people that are very new to the overall textile world of screen printing or embroidery, this is scary stuff. You know? Sometimes it's just like, oh gosh, what did that, you know? What did that technician say? And I tell everybody, I guarantee you're going to forget. Okay, they're going to be in there. They're going to be in there for two days. They're going to go over all the technical functionality aspects, the features in machine. You're going to run a job with them, etc. But if you're not recording this, you're still going to wake up Monday morning after that tech left and say, How the hell do I turn it on? What did they say? How do I do this? And I just want people to know it's okay. Everybody goes through that moment in time where you feel a little out of control with this brand new stuff you just purchased, because there's a learning curve. There's a learning curve coming from manual to auto, and there's a learning curve going from one different manufacturer to another manufacturer in automation. So you know you have to give yourself that grace and just know that it's going to take some trial and error. There's no perfect startup to everything, but, you know, companies like ours are going to support you through that installation and fully train you on that new equipment so you feel more in control the second that it's on your floor.

Marshall Atkinson 
Do you offer that? Somebody might, you know, I'm a new owner, and I just bought the thing, and I need some training. Will you fly? I can fly somebody out, and you can show me everything.

Nicole Pape 
Yes, we offer that for all of our packages. So you can choose to add, you know, we, we will ship all of our packages to you, no matter what, via dedicated, insured freight. But it's also up to you if you want to add on top of your package installation and training. And so, you know, installation is typically a flat rate fee, but we have our techs come in. They'll fully install everything, as long as you have your power and your air or your gas ready, which we guide you through this process, throughout your time, between you making your deposit and reserving your equipment with us through before it gets on a truck, our team in the background is in contact with you going over. Are you ready? Do you have a forklift on site? You know, we have certain check list points where we have to hit to make sure you're successful on your side, and we're not getting calls on the west coast from the east coast at, you know, two o'clock in the morning, when a truck shows up at 5am and they don't know what they're doing. They're doing. So we try to set you up for success on inbound freight with your receiving all the way into installation. And then we add on training, if you would like, one day, two day or full startup training. And you know, this has all been through trial and error, of us moving used equipment throughout the US, Mexico and Canada. You know, in the last year and a half that I've owned Embellishr, this is stuff that I've had to develop, and we're fine tuning all the time. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But are we trying our best to fully give you a comprehensive support on something that you didn't buy directly from the manufacturer and feel like you did, and feel good about it. Yes, we are doing our due diligence there. So we will train you on the functionality. We'll train you on the technical aspects. We'll train you on printing, how to load a shirt correctly, how to warm up your pallets in the morning, how to you know your pressures, your angles, your squeegees, your blood bars, you know, all the way down to how you coat and burn a screen if we need to. But there's also a lot of infrastructure that we have in place now to provide people. Hey, you're going to need to build out a dark room before our technician arrives on site, and here's what a light safe room looks like. So there's a lot of guidance that goes into us moving packages like we do around that include wash out boost and exposure units and an embroidery machine and a DTG, sometimes with a press, and it includes all these things. So, you know, we're trying our best to give the most comprehensive service that we can.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, how wide is the door?

Nicole Pape 
Oh, gosh, yeah, if it's over 3032, and a half is a pretty standard door.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, but sometimes stuff doesn't fit to the door, right?

Nicole Pape 
No, we've opened a few of them, Marshall, we've chain saw through some buildings. We knocked down some concrete, um, you know, but we are, we're determined. And you know, what's crazy is we're small business owners, like the people what we're selling to or selling for, and we get it. We completely understand. I've had my own warehouses. I've unloaded my own trucks full of equipment. I know that stress like the back of my hand, and I know how to get to the other side to get that. Equipment installed and ready for you to print. So, you know, that's, I think, the biggest support factor that we have there is the relatability.

Marshall Atkinson 
That's great. So any last word, anything anybody needs to know that we haven't talked about?

Nicole Pape 
Regarding embellisher, you know, as we're signing off here, we're set up to do tons of industry trade shows coming up in 2024 2025 and beyond. We're looking at doing industry experiences next year or two that are a little bit more heightened in education, since we are trying our best to be as agnostic as possible and add as many, you know, premium, top tier brands as we can to our Rolodex. You know, it's, it's really kind of our goal to continue to provide a really good platform, a virtual experience for our buyers and our sellers. So in the future, here, you're going to be experiencing your own self appraisals. We have our own proprietary appraisal software. We've been working on non stop, and we've had challenges. We've had tons of challenges with that, you know, and I thought it was going to be launched earlier this year. It's just one of those things. Software is not my forte, but my husband, thankfully, is a software engineer, so we're working really hard on the next level and phase of embellisher to get as closely to that car Max, Carvana, Zillow, atmosphere as we can so everybody feels supported and they have a place to come.

Marshall Atkinson 
That's awesome. So Nicole, thank you so much for sharing your success stories with us today. What's the best way to contact you if someone wants to learn more about what you do or how you can help them with used equipment.

Nicole Pape 
Absolutely. So hello, H, E, L, L, O @embellisher.com, E, M, B, E, L, L, I, S, H, R.com, also going straight to our website. Embellishr.com we're on Instagram. We're on TiKTok, Facebook. You know, reach out to any of us. Our team is always willing to help. I'm always willing to help on a call and can't wait to meet more people that we haven't.

Marshall Atkinson 
Awesome. Hey. Thanks. Nicole, appreciate you.

Nicole Pape
Thanks, Marshall.