Impressions - September 2020 - 32

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do.

Conquering
the Unknown
With an unwavering dream and a heaping amount
of hard work to achieve it, Deonjala Williams
has big plans for her home-based business.
BY DUSTIN SHRADER, MANAGING EDITOR

Anyone who has met Deonjala Williams knows she not only
possesses the all-important trait of perseverance - but she has
it in spades.Williams, founder and owner of Dee's Sweet Tees,
began her career in the decorated-apparel industry in 2013
with a passion for T-shirt printing and a zeal for hard work.
"I originally learned about the printing process while doing
freelance design work," she says."Quite a few of my customers
Dee's Sweet Tees' creativity
stretches beyond T-shirts to
include picture blankets,
towels, bags, hats and
numerous other options.

asked me to createT-shirt designs for them.
This immediately sent me on a Google
search to find out more about how this
whole process worked. Screens, emulsion,
film positives, sunlight, exposure, scoop
coaters, registration, push method, pull method and reclaiming
- all were way more steps than I wanted to be involved with.
But as the T-shirt-printing gods would have it, some favorable
circumstances came my way."
Williams eventually was gifted with a Yudu machine. After
an investment in other necessary equipment and supplies -
combined with a bargain purchase of a Brown Mfg. manual
screen-printing press - Williams was ready to dive into the
industry she found doubly daunting and fascinating.
Steeping the Tee
According to Williams, Dee's Sweet Tees is a spinoff of an
organization she started in 2013, formally named Let God Use
You (LGUY) Creative Ministries. Originally, its focus was on
broader creative direction, such as branding and logo development, printing marketing materials, etc. After numerous
customer inquiries, she was ready to put her research to use.
"Those first founding years were very interesting to say the
least,"Williams says."I built a $500, 10' x 14' shed in my parents'
back yard and that's where I would print shirts for the first two
years of the business. Early morning before my day job, I'd print
orders, simultaneously making mistakes.Then, I'd go to work
worrying about the mistakes, researching until I figured out
what went wrong at my 'lab.' After work, I'd get back to it."
Meticulous budgeting allowed Williams to expand and buy
a more luxurious, pre-assembled shed that was delivered and
anchored in her own back yard. It allows her to now offer screen
printing, spot sublimation, custom vinyl and embroidery.Williams
says her specific creative advantage is her keen eye for design.
"We help our customers by taking the hassle of coming up
with a design off their plates," she says."Although we encourage
our customers to draw out their vision and give their input

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I M P R E S S I O N S M A G . C O M SEPTEMBER 2020

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Impressions - September 2020

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