Today we’d like to introduce you to Jocelyn Tate.
Hi Jocelyn, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
K2C started as a hobby pressing prints on shirts for fun on the side while I was a cosmetologist during the day. I had 2 kids and I was trying to find my passion outside of being a mom. I started this hobby on my kitchen table and then quickly moved to my garage. After about a year in the garage I moved the workshop to a space in the town I was a cosmetologist in about 30 miles away from my home. I would work 8-5 at my day job and then work in the workshop until 9-10pm. That continued for about a year until I was able to go part time in cosmetology and move the workshop to a shed at my home. After a year of working both jobs part time, it was time to fully commit to K2C. It was a huge scary step being my own only source of income but I knew that God had his plan laid out perfectly for me, all i needed to do was follow his lead. Looking back, those three years trying to build the business was HARD. Working long hours sacrificing time with my husband and kids wasn’t easy but I just kept griding and I knew eventually it would get easier. In February of this year a building came available for me to move my business downtown in our small town. I was getting ready to have another baby and I thought I was crazy but I knew this was the time and the next step for K2C’s growth, so we moved and expanded. Since then we have had our biggest year to date, I have hired my first full time employee, and we have expanded our business to many local schools, organizations, businesses. and nearby towns. This October we celebrate 6 years of business!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Owning a business is never a smooth road. Actually anything worth doing in life is never easy. When you start a business from scratch with small children at home juggling the time spent in either place is the most difficult aspect. Building a business takes a lot of time and effort. When you’re a mom, that also takes the same if not more amount of time and effort and we don’t get to add any more time in our days! A lot of those years I was waking up at 2am just to get things done while my family was sleeping. One thing I repeatedly tell myself is, when things get hard that means you’re about to elevate. If we didn’t have hard days we wouldn’t realize how blessed we are to have good ones.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At K2C we specialize in business and team merch. We are able to produce embroidery, screen printing, and DTF printing all in house which is something not many print shops are able to offer. My passion is creativity. I love being able to clothe a business in pieces that they are excited about wearing to work or a school spirit section that is packed with fans wearing creative fun team gear. Our school stores are a huge hit. We are able to run online team store fundraisers for schools that gives the teachers, students and parents a chance to have access to fun spirit wear while a portion of the profits go back to the organization. While we mainly run online stores for schools we are also able to set them up for organizations and groups too. I think the biggest thing that sets us apart from others is the creativity and quality that we bring to the table. Every order that leaves our shop is inspected and made sure that it is up to my expectations, something you don’t always get with larger companies. I also try to find fun unique pieces of apparel to decorate and I continue my education any time I can. I think its super important in any career to get out of the workplace and into the field to expand your knowledge.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Something I pride myself in is working well with my competitors. I truly believe that there is room at the table for all of us. When you leave the competitive aspect behind and work with your competitors everyone wins. In that process you are able to learn from others, lean on, and be there for each other in times of need. If you remain teachable and willing to learn from those more experienced than you, you are able to accomplish more in your field.
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