Kim Springer

Two years ago, life was pretty good for Kim Springer. The now 41-year-old mother of four had just given birth to her first daughter, and her husband was creating billboards for Times Square and other high-visibility locations as a senior graphic designer. Then, life interrupted. Right after Kim decided to become a stay-at-home mother, her husband lost his job after his agency closed, and the couple was soon down to the last of their savings.

Luckily, Kim had a plan. She decided to take their last $500 and invest it — in herself and her career. In November 2013, Kim enrolled in an online Mastermind course about online marketing, learning the ins and outs of how to create Facebook ads and build fan pages. Through her mentors in the program, she learned about Teespring and immediately started selling shirts. Learning through trial and error (as well as extensive research), Kim quickly found a t-shirt message that resonated with a specific audience — married women — and in 2014, made over $150,000 in just 10 months from only a handful of designs.

Now, Kim can stay home at Brooklyn, New York with her family, study for her master’s degree, and sustain a successful career on her own time.

How Did She Do It?

Kim credits her two mentors for giving her the foundational knowledge for starting her business, and her husband, for having faith in her ability, for her success. “My husband never batted an eye,” she says. “It was a blessing… and now we’re one credit card away from paying off all of our debts.”

The key to figuring out a successful campaign, Kim says, is first to launch several different types of shirts to help you figure out your niche and just get a feel for the Teespring system. When she tried to launch a Seattle Seahawks t-shirt right after the Super Bowl last year, for example, Kim says she was immediately shut down and quickly learned the rules about not using trademarked logos. Kim also experiments with advertising. Though her “This Girl Still Dates Her Husband” shirt is popular on its own now, she is planning to put some additional advertising spend behind the shirt for Valentine’s Day, to take advantage of the seasonality. She’s also making use of the photos she’s been sent (“social proof”) of her customers wearing the shirts.

Secondly, Kim emphasizes the importance of good customer service. Even now, she replies to every single comment she gets and tries to treat her buyers with as much respect as possible. “That’s how you build a brand,” she says, citing Dove’s customer service as an example. “Communication is number one.”

Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom, Kim says she spent 20 years in the health care industry and “when patients came into the clinic I worked at, I treated them like a guest in my own home,” says Kim. “I brought that same idea to Teespring. You have to connect with your buyers — and they’ll often have good ideas if you listen to them. Don’t miss out on that opportunity!”