Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Flynn.
Kelly, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My school background is in photography and graphic design. I have always been interested in printing and love how a print starts with a blank piece of paper that gets transformed from nothing – into something before your eyes! When I was about 15 years old, I started my first company Knock-Out Printing out of my parents living room. I printed invitations on the home computer on occasion for a small retail shop where my mom worked at the time.
Several years later when I was going to school at the University of Miami, I bought my first 24″ wide-format inkjet printer – an Epson 7600, and fell in love! I have an introvert personality and did not like having to be in the school computer lab with a bunch of other students who were always messing up the printer and causing ink jams – so I took the financial gamble on buying my own and never looked back! Nothing beats printing late nights in your PJ’s for a project due in the AM! Eventually, I upgraded to a 44″ wide format printer and started Clover Innovations Printing – where I would print large photographs of my own artwork and for clients.
Once I graduated with my Masters in Fine Arts from Texas Woman’s University, I was a little burnt out on photography after a very intense thesis project. At the time, I was saving money for a new camera and eventually thought long and hard about if that was the best use of the $3000 I had saved. I was freaked out because now that I was not in school anymore – I had to actually make money and support myself – GASP! All of a sudden I did not know what to do – there were so many avenues I could have gone. I thought about jobs that made a lot of money all the way down to minimum wage jobs – and wanted to find something that really made me happy versus money. I had worked random jobs while in school ranging from screen printing, restaurants, sign shops, teaching assistant, to working at my sister’s oral surgery office for a few years.
One evening at the beginning of 2011, I closed my eyes and thought about all my previous jobs and what had made me the happiest regardless of money and the answer came pretty quickly – the summer of 1998, when I was 18 – I worked for 3 months screen printing t-shirts in a hot garage with 2 other guys that were in a rock band. It was dirty, sweaty, hands-on and I loved it, all of it! It mixed photography, graphic design and printing all into one and I still got to use a darkroom setting when developing the screens – it was perfect! It was not going to make me rich – but I could control every aspect of the business and knew it would be a fun ride in addition to a learning curve.
HEN LAYING EGG Screen Printing Company was born in February 2011 and have not looked back!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Life has up’s and downs – roll with the punches and jump over the roadblocks! Feel the fear and do it anyway!
One of the main obstacles that I face is price competition and what rates to charge for my services. Most corporate or high-volume screen printing businesses have large, 12 color-automatic computerized presses that can produce output at lightning speed. I have a 4-color manual press that I run out of my studio space and have to price accordingly.
I am happy to offer a more personal one-on-one experience to the client than a mass production warehouse and make myself available nights and weekends to accommodate your schedule! I care about how the print looks and want the client to be thrilled and proud to wear it! My motto has always been quality over quantity – let me print for you!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about HEN LAYING EGG – what should we know?
HEN LAYING EGG is a production design company based out of the Greater Houston area. We are committed to providing local and national customers/clients with both quality products and creative services. Our services include hand-pulled screen printing, graphic design and wide-format inkjet printing.
The name comes from one of my favorite novelty fireworks where you light the hen’s wick and it emits flaming egg pellets! Customers like that they can contact me anytime, even late at night, and I can get the work done in a timely manner for their deadlines.
Another way HEN LAYING EGG is unique is because of our mobile printing, where we take the screen press out on the road and print items live at events. It’s artsy entertainment and the guests love watching their shirts getting printed while they watch! Its a win-win because who wants to always print in a garage!
I really enjoy what I do and would be glad to print for you – contact me – anytime by phone or through the website!
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My main mentor while in college was my photography professor Susan Kae Grant (recently retired at Texas Woman’s University after 36 years) who encouraged me to always put my best foot forward and face fear head-on! To this day she is still an amazing guiding light in my life whom I will always be thankful for.
I would also like to thank my wife Tanja McCormick who has stuck by my side for 7 years now through the ups and downs of HEN LAYING EGG. I appreciate her letting me do my thing without question! She also is a big help at live printing events and festivals that we attend together.
Contact Info:
- Address: 17606 Mill Springs Dr. Spring, TX 77379
- Website: www.HenLayingEgg.com
- Phone: 281-221-6629
- Email: info@henlayingegg.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/henlayingegg/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/HenLayingEgg
- Twitter: twitter.com/henlayingegg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hen-laying-egg-spring?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
Image Credit:
Thomas Judd Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
