Impressions - April 2014 - 42

Amy Rau at her ofﬁce table weeding
a logo for 35 shirts.

press. I told myself that it wouldn't be a
success until I was able to make back the
money I put into these machines."
Six months later, the 35-year-old, selfproclaimed "small-town girl with big-city
dreams" was making a proﬁt and had more
business than she knew what to do with.
After being approached by the fundraising chair of a local youth softball as-

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Impressions | April/May 2014

sociation, Rau expanded her work into
auto decals. Using a similar vinyl-cutting
process, she offered the organization relatively cheaper options than her big-time
competitors. With another happy client,
Rau was asked back the next season with
an invitation to attend the Capital Area
Youth Softball Association's (CAYSA)
opening-day festivities to sell her products.
"We agreed on a price for each product
I would offer, and CAYSA would get a percentage of everything I sold," she recalls. "So
I loaded up my laptop, cutter, heat press,
vinyl, and apparel and set up for a long
day of softball. It was great; in the end, I
produced over 34 decals, 20 T-shirts, nine
pairs of socks and 35 pairs of mesh softball shorts. I had a blast, made a signiﬁcant
amount of money, and was able to give
CAYSA over $300."
Rau's Designs is still more or less a onewoman operation. Rau, who works for the
Maine Department of Transportation 40
hours a week, uses nights and weekends
to solidify her business venture. For her,
this isn't just a passion for design, but also
a chance to make some extra money and
treat her family to fun activities. Her husband of 19 years and their two daughters
give her a helping hand with work and she
rewards them handsomely for it.
"My business has provided me with the
'fun money' to do things with my family," she says. "They are my world, and the
main reason I do what I do."
Though bittersweet, a large part of
Rau's business has come from the popularity of her "Cancer Sucks" shirts. She
continues to produce shirts for breast cancer awareness events and fund raisers, and
was awarded "Best Shirts" at the 2012 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Portland, Maine.
"I often feel guilty proﬁting off such a
despicable disease but in my own way, it
helps me mourn those that we have lost
and helps me feel as though I am helping
raise awareness," Rau says. "I think of my
uncle, who passed this past August, every
time I do a cancer shirt."
This mobile heat printing business
may just be a side venture for now, but
her proﬁtable hobby continues to expand.
As she attends more events and garners
the attention of the industry, she hopes
to continue to grow to meet the demands
of her expanding customer base. To get
Rau's Designs ready for the next step in its
evolution, she has invested in a laser printimpressionsmag.com

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Impressions - April 2014

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