Rising Stars: Meet Susan Kaczorowski
Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Kaczorowski.
Hi Susan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
It all started in December 2017 when my husband and I were hanging out with a friend and local comedian Dhawk. He started telling us how he wants to expand his merch options but the shirts he was currently getting were too expensive and he just wasn’t impressed with them. My husband Dan said we can do that! The next day he bought me a cricut cutting machine and we started our journey. We got our LLC in June 2018 and expanded into sublimation after we attended an expo and purchased our first Sublimation printer. We were both working outside of the home at the time so we were only operating part-time and trying to learn all we could. In October 2018 I lost my job unexpectedly which turned out to be a blessing. I took over the business full time dedicating myself to growing our business and learning as much as possible while my husband worked out of the home. In November of 2020, we expanded a little bit more and began offering White Toner printing. Which allowed me to offer more to our customers. In Feb of 2022, we began offering embroidery in-house. Everything our company offers is about giving our customers Kustom Quality items that you cannot find in stores.
I work diligently to learn and grow as much as possible to be that 1 stop shop for our customers. I am hands-on from beginning to end. Dan is still currently working outside of the home.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Running a business is never smooth, and that is totally ok! With every failure you learn. Struggles can be from buying a piece of machinery that never quite works right and you always needing to repair it, to being in a slow sales time and trying to find out how to bring in customers or being so busy you can’t keep up. With every struggle there is a chance to learn and grow. Along with that comes change.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Cleveland Kustom Creations is a custom print shop. We specialize in apparel printing but also offer custom drinkware, custom license plates, and embroidery. We are known for our Kustom Quality. We offer a higher-end quality products that customers can make their own and have something not sold in stores that shows off their attitude, personality, belief, or their love of something or someone. I think what sets us apart from others is that whether you need 1 item or 1000 we can take care of you. We try really hard not to set minimum purchase amounts because we understand that some people can’t afford or don’t need 50 of 1 type of shirt. They may need 10 of 1 type and 5 of another. We work hard at providing the best customer service possible to ensure our customers. get exactly what they need. There are a lot of things that I am proud of. I am proud of the company we have grown, the amazing customers we have old and new. And I am proud that we are still standing after the pandemic.
What does success mean to you?
Success is what you make it. Success can be getting out of bed every day or it can be closing on a contract with a company you have been trying to obtain. There are successes every day.