Impressions - February 2020 - 29

Preparing for Success
When you carve out your own space, you may need to prepare for quick growth. This is one of
the obstacles Coleman and her partner, Jenny Rearick, encountered when they got started
in the business.
"Our main hurdle was growing really fast without a team behind us," Coleman says. "We
mapped out an organizational chart and went from doing everything ourselves to hiring seven
positions all at once. Although having a really big idea can be invaluable when starting
your business, you'll be far more successful pairing it with an initial business plan."

In fact, searching for "Liverpool Football Club Seattle" on Google
will yield two results in the Top 10 for The Anfield Shop.
The Seattle area also is home to Naval Base Kitsap, the third-largest
Navy base in the country. With Liverpool Football Club's success,
Weiss had people asking, "Can you do what you're doing for soccer
for submarines?" The answer was "Yes."
"These guys have a story to tell," Weiss says. "It's called the silent service because nobody talks about it. We could create products to improve morale, and you've got kids who are missing their
parents. We're in our third year now and we do everything from
products for the people who are supporting the sub from ashore,
to products the crew can take underway, and from funny products
to heartwarming products, to celebratory products."
While being asked about creating submarine-inspired products,
Weiss also noticed a lot of underemployed military spouses who,
because of the area's geography, were limited when it came to job
opportunities. That's where the 16Submarines brand became reality.
"I began to see a need," she says. "Submarining is a very hard
life; unlike some other naval forces that can Skype, you might be
able to email, but that's your only form of communication for six
months. Many of the spouses feel alone and are under a great deal
of emotional stress. Hiring some of them is a great way [for them]
to stay busy and be a part of something that means so much to
them and their families."
The brand is proudly powered by submarine veterans and their
families.

out with this [design of an] ox towing a submarine. I appreciate
the opportunity to have fun with the creative elements and design
something so special for these men and women and their families."

Sloan Coleman, "monster marketer" for St. Louis-based Tiny Little
Monster, wanted to create a fun, casual workplace while being involved
in the local community. It didn't take long to carve out a niche market.
"We like to call ourselves the 'print shop for the people,'" she
says. "We are really involved in our community and we specialize
in fundraisers, non-profits and local business. We do live-printing
events, including an annual food drive called 'Cranksgiving,' where

Skyhawk Press, which creates submarineinspired merchandise, did creative work for
Amine Air Freshener, an underwater perfume.
Photo courtesy of Skyhawk Press.

Working in a specialized space can come with a unique set of obstacles.
"It's a challenge to train a workforce on the fly," Weiss says.
"You have people [who] want to work but don't have background
or experience in screen printing or graphic arts. Also, people tend
to move every three years in the military community. Can you design jobs that are portable? No matter the challenge, it's fun and
rewarding, and the ability to give someone a job is the greatest
thing on the planet."
Weiss loves working on projects that mean something to people
and make them proud - even if it elicits a simple smile. One of
the company's first successful projects was developing creative assets for Amine, a chemical used on submarines' ventilation systems.
"It has the most disgusting smell," Weiss says. "You know your
spouse is back from deployment from this smell. We did creative
for Amine Air Freshener, the underwater perfume. It just made
people giggle."
Another fun project was creating merchandise for a new submarine, the U.S.S. Oregon. "I'm a kid of the '90s; if you say Oregon,
I'm designing around the Oregon Trail," Weiss says. "So we came
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Impressions - February 2020

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