Check Out Matt Overholt’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Overholt.

Hi Matt, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Back in my Junior and Senior years of high school I went to a vocational school for printing and graphics where I learned, among other things, how to screen print. Cut to 12 years later and I am in between jobs, I bought a little start up screen printing kit to keep me busy and initially just print some shirts for my friends and I. One of those shirts got the attention of a store owner at the Tuttle Mall who contacted about selling it in her store. That lead to more shirts in that store and eventually more stores across the state of Ohio as well as Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Slowly in the meantime I started setting up at craft shows selling my merch as well as (even at one point buying and converting an old USPS truck into a full on mobile print shop where I can print on demand at an event) taking contract work for local businesses and before I knew it I was able to quit my day job and do this full time. That was 8 years ago and I am happier and busier than ever!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
God no, the first handful of years I had a full time day job and then would come home to work on this “project” every night. Then doing shows on the weekends, it was exhausting for sure. Thankfully that was only 4 or 5 years of doing that before I left my day job to go full time.
Also, in the beginning there weren’t very many shirt vendors at these shows I was doing and slowly there were more and more and just like that it felt like half the vendors were selling shirts too and it forced me to step up my game and not take customers for granted so it turned into a good thing but it was definitely rough at first!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Since the beginning I have printed mostly Ohio themed stuff out of pride of my home State. That then got pretty saturated and harder and harder to stand out as more and more people started doing that as well. I started concentrating more on my love of the outdoors with what I called the “Ohio Adventure Club” where I printed some fun outdoorsy stuff. That has been super fun and people responded real well to it.
Now, my new project (my brain is constantly on the move) is horror movie themed shirts. I just love creating and printing horror movie stuff and that has been my jam lately. That stuff is under the “SKULL PUKE” moniker. If you can’t tell I like to keep it fresh and new!

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think in order to work from home you definitely need to be of a certain mindset. It is SUPER easy to put work off for another day when the couch and TV are calling your name! There is a level of self discipline that I contribute to my success. As well as keeping your mind open to new stuff and always be aware of trends and what people want. The key is to work within the trends and find your niche inside of them if that makes sense.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.7thirty8apparel.com
• Instagram: @7thirty8apparel
• Facebook: @7thirty8apparel