Army Veteran lives his values of mentorship, work ethic in Junction City screenprinting shop and beyond
Honor Screenprinting and Embroidery owner and Army Veteran, Shawn Robison, of Junction City, sits down with fellow screenprint business owners, Heather Miller, of Poppy Tees, to talk shop.
During #NationalVeteransMonth, we feature stories and interviews with Veteran entrepreneurs from across the Greater Manhattan and Flint Hills region. In this interview feature, get to know Shawn Robison, Army Veteran and owner of Honor Screenprinting and Embroidery, located in Junction City. Shawn’s commitment to business excellence extends to investing in his community through education and mentorship, not only in Junction City but throughout the Flint Hills. As Vice Chair of the newly-formed Flint Hills Vetrepreneur Foundation, Shawn hopes to increase his impact in supporting Veteran-owned businesses through the foundation’s values: advocacy, community and training.
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Shawn, tell us your entrepreneur backstory – how did you get into your current business or what motivated you to start your business?
I was getting ready to retire from the Army during a rotation in Europe, and as I was sitting in a dining facility, I saw the reenlistment NCO, the Soldiers that try to keep people in the military. They usually they give out swag - hats, hoodies, or whatever. When he sat down with me, and he was like, “Hey, look at these awful things.” Some were from the US and some were from local companies in Europe but none of them met his standards. He was like, “Hey, you should do this when you retire.”
“My immediate reaction was ‘No’. Of course, the next day, we had another conversation. I got on YouTube and started looking at what screen printing is. Six months later, when we came back, I went to St. Louis and took a course, and I found out I was kind of a natural at it. The instructor did not believe I’d never done it before.
Shawn reviewing a product with his customer at his first Junction City location.
I bought some beginner stuff from a shop that was going out of business during Covid and started in my basement at my house. I got my business license in June 2020 and was in a brick-and-mortar grand opening in February 2021 at 1027 W. 6th Street in Junction City. It was a little tiny shell, only 800 square feet.
When starting, I knew there were other similar businesses, so I did some market research. I talked to the competitors that were existing at the time and found that both businesses wanted to retire. So, I was thought, “You know what? Maybe there is an opportunity here.”
At first, I thought I’d be just a third secret shop that would take time to grow and kind of figure itself out. However, the community was excited about having another option, and we haven’t stopped growing. We’ve had three expansions in less than three years. We are now built to last. Our sales would have to be over two to three million to force me to have more space or more equipment. It’s just processes and people management to make it happen.
Tell us about the products and services does your business provides and what is unique about your business compared to others who provide a similar service?
Shawn attends a community event with his General Manager and cousin, Brett Robison, with whom he also served in the Army.
Screen printing is basically using a mesh design that we push ink through an exposed design. It’s a complex process, but ultimately, we create a piece of art. [Through the process], there is a lot of art and engineering that goes into it, because if I print a design, I have to have certain considerations, and I have to understand all the characteristics of different inks, different brands, different shifts, and different materials. Which makes this process a lot more complex than most people think.
What makes us stand out from competition is our customer service. It has nothing to do with the product. A team has to be kind, respectful, receptive, and patient. We have a lot of customers that come in that have a vision, but they don’t know how to articulate it. So, we have to figure out ways to communicate in a respectful way.
How has your Army experience prepared you for your entrepreneurial journey?
I would say the biggest thing is understanding work ethics. In the military, there’s times where you have 20-hour days, especially if you’re deployed. And there have been days here that I’ve pulled 36-hour shifts. Knowing how to function when exhausted has been a huge thing.
Also, adaptive thinking - if I run into a challenge, just giving up isn’t an option. You have deadlines, you have processes. So, learning how to reach out and research critical thinking.
When it comes to the people aspect, I was a leadership instructor and a small group instructor, and I learned how to identify group dynamics and how to make all the different personalities mesh, succeed and excel.
So, I hire people not based off skill - I hire them based off character. I can teach anybody a skill, but I can’t teach somebody character. I can influence character, but I can’t create the core character. I hired a few people that had skills, and the two that I hired that had experience, I fired them within 30 days.
How can your community, region and state better support Veteran entrepreneurs like you?
Shawn facilitates a Veteran entrepreneur panel at the 2023 Flint Hills Veteran Owned Business Summit in November 2023.
The community and state can support Veteran business owners by being aware of what Veterans have to offer, supporting their business and giving them a chance. Most Veterans have a deep-seated desire to do the best they can and provide the highest quality with the most discipline.
If a Veteran, says, “Hey, we will be there Tuesday at 8:00 AM,” their team will be there on Tuesday at 8:00 AM, or earlier, because they generally have more discipline, and they’re a lot stricter with themselves than most people, and they don’t quit. If they make a mistake, they will make it right.
I think the biggest thing as far as support in the Flint Hills area is the fact that there’s a lot of Veteran-owned businesses people don’t know. If you look outside my building, I don’t have anything that says “Veteran-owned” on it because I want to build the base without that need. And I think there’s a lot of us that do that because there is a perception that Veterans have everything given to them, and it’s not accurate. That’s what a lot of people don’t understand.
When it comes to local municipalities or even states, one area of support is contracting or bidding opportunities. The federal government allocates, they just wrote, that 3% of all federal contracts are to be guaranteed to a Veteran or disabled Veteran-owned business, if one bids on it and is reasonable. So, we’re trying to get the state to consider that to where some of their state contracts and bidding opportunities and have a committed allocation because small businesses usually lose out to major corporations because they can just outbid or underbid you. Sometimes paying a little bit more support to a small business is more meaningful.
Follow Honor Screenprinting and Embroidery on Facebook, place an order online, or visit them at their Junction City location at 719-1 W. 6th Street.
All photos courtesy of Shawn Robison.