Hello from Colorado

Hi! New member to this forum although I've read many postings on it while doing various searches over the past years. Finally decided to nut up and make an actual account instead of just lurking creepily in the shadows. Be forewarned, I'm long winded.... But you'll know every awkward detail you could possibly ever want to know about Lil ole me.

I'm Lynn and I actually have had almost nothing to do with the t-shirt business world up until recently. I own a small cosmetics and skincare business that has served me well over the last years. My consumer base has grown so insanely fast in the last year alone that I finally even hired my first part time employee. Sad news - we just got put on orders to Japan. I mean, not sad that we're going to Japan, I'm thrilled for that. I am sad that it's right when my business is finally taking off, but I stayed behind on two other overseas tours of 3 yrs each and not doing that again, so the business can wait. I can't take it with me to Japan because cosmetic laws are very different than here and my equipment is far too large to take with.

So the not business related part of me: 32 yrs old, army wife to a soldier who is just two years to retirement, owned by 3 beautiful furbabies (soooooo much cheaper than kids, and no one calls CPS on me if I go out for the night without a sitter), currently living in beautiful Colorado Springs (no jokes about the madd pooper...we've heard them all!) I am a perpetual student. Have my AoSS, a BS in finance and accounting, and just finished a triple concentration MBA in project mgmt, innovation mgmt and finance. I'm kind of a closet nerd but I can rock that dumb blond card if needed 😂😂

So fast forward to the reason I'm here! I've always been a habitual craft hoarder. I do vinyl projects on the side with my KNK cutter but never got in to heat pressed items. Recently though I've been getting requests for shirts, socks, pillows, etc. Since I can't take my cosmetics business with me, this is the next best thing, in my opinion, to keep me in a side hustle. I'm not someone that can sit and do nothing like a kept housewife. So I want to pick up vinyl pressed apparel and even sublimation. With the research I've done, this appears to be reasonable sized equipment for lugging overseas. My cutter was already coming with, add to that a heat press, a sublimation printer, and a mug press (or just wraps, haven't decided yet) and I am hoping this will get me by in terms of equipment.

Of course I appreciate any guidance that anyone feels like imparting upon me but I'm also a consumer of a things written, so I'll read until my eyeballs bleed. Right now I'm considering a uninet icolor 500 because I'd like to be able to print whites and also sub on dark fabric. I'm trying to stay small in size and entry level on price, without going *cheap.* Once I sell off supplies at the end of the year I plan on taking the money to invest in a hotronix press. Feedback on either is welcomed!

Now that you've read the entry to my mini novella (a 3 part series), I'm actually looking forward to getting to know more people here and learning from you all. There is so much insane knowledge in this group that I am sure will benefit me in ways I can't even imagine yet!