How a Garage Sale Find Sparked a Dream - Part 1
Sometimes the best investments come with the worst instructions. Twenty-two years ago, I paid five bucks for what looked like a medieval torture device at a garage sale. Turns out, it was a screen printing kit – and it would eventually become the foundation of RM Custom Screen Printing.
Saturday Morning, Caffeine, and Curiosity
Picture this: It’s a Saturday morning in St. Louis, Missouri. I’m clutching a cup of coffee like it’s the last life raft on the Titanic, scanning rows of treasures (and let’s be honest, a lot of junk) at a local garage sale. My mission? Find something cool, maybe a tool or two, and avoid coming home with another box of VHS tapes.
That’s when I spot it. Sitting between a fondue set and a stack of “slightly used” garden gnomes is a metal contraption with more knobs and levers than my high school chemistry lab. The tag reads: “Screen Printing Kit – $5.” The seller, a guy who looked like he’d seen a few too many DIY disasters, just shrugs and says, “Good luck figuring that thing out!”
The Mystery Machine
Naturally, I had to have it. Five dollars later, I’m the proud owner of what I was pretty sure was either a screen printing kit or an elaborate prank. My wife Killeen took one look and said, “Please tell me that’s not coming in the house.” (Spoiler: It did.)
As a teacher, I’ve always believed in learning by doing. So, I did what any self-respecting educator would do—I Googled “how to screen print” and went down a rabbit hole of YouTube tutorials, grainy instruction manuals, and forum posts from people who seemed just as confused as I was.
The First Attempt (A.K.A. The Great Garage Mess)
Armed with optimism and a questionable understanding of how ink works, I set up shop in the garage. My first attempt at screen printing was… let’s call it “abstract.” There was ink on the floor, ink on the lights, ink on me. The shirt? Well, it looked like a Rorschach test gone wrong. But hey, every masterpiece starts somewhere, right?
What I lacked in skill, I made up for in stubbornness. I kept tinkering, cleaning up messes, and learning from every mistake (and there were plenty). Every failed print was just another lesson in what not to do—and another reason to keep going.
From Humble Beginnings
Looking back, that $5 garage sale find was the best investment I ever made. Not because it worked perfectly (it didn’t), but because it sparked a curiosity and a passion that would grow into something much bigger.
That morning in the garage, surrounded by ink stains and chaos, I had no idea I was laying the groundwork for RM Custom Screen Printing. I just knew I wanted to figure it out—and that’s exactly what I set out to do.
But that’s just the beginning. Over the next twenty years, what started as a messy experiment would turn into a journey of learning, teaching, and eventually—taking the leap into business. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I trade garage disasters for real progress (well, mostly).
Want to see what a little curiosity and a lot of stubbornness can create? Stick around for the next chapter in the RM Custom Screen Printing story.
