Today we’d like to introduce you to Britney Slater.
Hi Britney, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey really began after my husband, Chris, and I graduated from Central Michigan University. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and went on to teach for six years. While I loved education, I’ve always had an entrepreneurial and creative side that I wanted to explore.
In 2012, while I was still teaching, Chris and I started our marketing company, Initial Brands Incorporated. I was balancing teaching, growing our business, and creating content for my YouTube channel, BritBratReviews, all at the same time. What started as something we were building on the side gradually began to take on a life of its own.
As Initial Brands grew, our marketing clients started asking us for more than traditional marketing and design services. They wanted custom apparel, promotional products, branded merchandise, and other physical items to help bring their brands to life. We saw an opportunity to not only design these products for our clients, but to actually produce them ourselves.
Instead of rushing into it, Chris and I saved our money and invested in the equipment and machinery we needed to start our own printing company, IBrandU Shop. It was a natural extension of what we were already doing, taking a client’s vision from an idea, to a design, to a finished product they could actually hold in their hands.
Today, IBrandU has grown into so much more than we originally imagined. We’ve now been operating from our first storefront for two years, and it has been an incredible experience watching the business continue to grow. We get to work with individuals, entrepreneurs, schools, businesses, organizations, and families to create everything from custom apparel and merchandise to complete branding solutions.
When I look back, I love that there wasn’t one single moment where everything suddenly happened. It was a journey. I went from being an elementary school teacher who was building a marketing company and creating YouTube content on the side, to becoming a full-time entrepreneur and business owner alongside my husband. Each chapter helped prepare me for the next one, and even after all these years, I still feel like we’re only getting started.
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?
It has definitely been a fun and rewarding road, but to say it has been smooth would be very untrue! Like most entrepreneurs, we’ve had our share of growing pains, mistakes, and lessons that we sometimes had to learn the hard way.
One of the biggest lessons for us has been understanding the importance of financial discipline. When your business starts making money, it can be easy to look at that revenue as money you’ve personally earned and can immediately enjoy. We had to learn that just because the business makes money doesn’t mean all of that money belongs in your pocket. Sometimes the best thing you can do is tell yourself “no” and put that money right back into the business.
Learning how to save, budget, plan ahead, manage cash flow, and reinvest in equipment, inventory, marketing, and growth has been a huge part of our journey. There were definitely times when we spent money on things we wanted instead of thinking about what the business might need six months or a year down the road. Those experiences taught us that making money and managing money are two completely different skills.
We’ve also learned that entrepreneurship requires a level of self-discipline that no one is standing over you to enforce. You have to hold yourself accountable, make sacrifices, and sometimes delay the reward because you understand the bigger vision.
We certainly haven’t done everything perfectly, and we’re still learning today. But I think that’s part of what makes the journey special. Some of our biggest mistakes have become our best lessons, and those lessons have helped us become smarter business owners and build a stronger foundation for where we want IBrandU to go next.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about IBrand U ?
IBrandU is much more than a traditional print shop. We consider ourselves a full-service print shop and marketing firm, which means we can help a customer take an idea from the very beginning stages and turn it into a finished product or even an entire brand.
We specialize in DTF printing, custom apparel, embroidery, graphic design, promotional products, signage, banners, business marketing materials, branding, and more. One of the things we’re especially proud of is our ability to serve customers at almost any level. Someone can walk into IBrandU needing one custom item, while another client may need an order of hundreds or even thousands of pieces, and we’re equipped to work with both.
What really sets us apart is that we have in-house graphic designers and production capabilities. A customer doesn’t necessarily have to come to us with a perfect, print-ready design. They can come in with an idea, a picture, a sketch, or sometimes just a vision in their head, and our team can help bring it to life. We pride ourselves on finding solutions. We don’t like turning down projects simply because they may require a little more creativity or effort. If there is a way for us to make it happen, we’re going to do our best to figure it out.
We’ve also become known for our efficiency, quality, and customer retention. Of course we want people to love the finished product, but we also want them to enjoy the experience of working with us. We’ve created an environment where customers feel comfortable coming in, talking through their ideas, laughing with us, and becoming familiar faces. A lot of our customers return again and again, and many have been with us as their businesses and organizations have grown. That means a lot to us.
Brand-wise, I think that is what I’m most proud of. IBrandU has become a relationship-driven brand. We aren’t interested in simply printing a shirt and sending someone on their way. We want to understand what they’re trying to accomplish and help them create something they’re proud to represent.
Whether you need one custom shirt for a special occasion, uniforms for your staff, merchandise for an organization, thousands of pieces for an event, or help developing the look and identity of your business, IBrandU is built to be the place where your idea becomes something real.
Any big plans?
We’re extremely excited about the future of IBrandU because we feel like we’re just beginning to see what the brand can become. One of our biggest long-term goals is to expand beyond our current Westland location and introduce the IBrandU experience to other communities.
We plan to begin connecting with investors who understand and believe in our vision, with the ultimate goal of developing IBrandU into a franchise. We’ve created a business model that combines printing, graphic design, marketing, branding, and great customer service all under one roof, and we believe that model has the potential to be successful in many different markets. We would love to eventually see IBrandU locations throughout Michigan and, ultimately, across the country.
Another major focus for us is expanding our online presence and website. Because we offer so many products and services, we want our website to better represent everything customers can get from IBrandU. Our goal is to create a much more user-friendly experience where customers can easily explore our services, customize and order products, submit their designs, and work with us whether they live five minutes away or five states away.
Ultimately, the next chapter is about scaling what we’ve already built without losing what made people love IBrandU in the first place. As we grow, we want to maintain the personal customer experience, creativity, quality, and willingness to bring unique ideas to life that have helped us build such a loyal customer base.
Westland will always be an important part of our story because it’s where our first storefront began, but our vision for IBrandU has always been much bigger than one location. We’re looking forward to seeing just how far we can take it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ibrandu.shop
- Instagram: ibrandushop
