Shirt Show Podcast
Your New Must-Listen Podcast:
Shirt Show
Industry veterans Andy Rudman (Shirt Kong) and Dylan Gilligan (Upstate Merch) are here to bring you a whole lot of insight, expertise, and candid discussions about what’s going on in decorated apparel today. From new trends to best tech choices, they break down all of it — so get listening now.
Shirt Show is the latest podcast to enter the decorated apparel stage, and it’s showing up with a whole lot of gusto. Hosted by two industry veterans who are known for their creativity, drive, and printing expertise, it was guaranteed to make a splash when it first hit the podcast airwaves back in June — and we’ll be the first to tell you, it hasn’t disappointed yet.
Andy Rudman and Dylan Gilligan, of Shirt Kong and Upstate Merch respectively, come with a wealth of reputable insight, experience, and new ways of thinking — and the good news is, they’re not shy about sharing it.
Each episode, they bring a different decorated apparel expert onto the show and get them talking. We learn about how some of your favorite industry players first got their start, how they developed their businesses into what they are today, and how they’ve been coping — and innovating — with the changes of COVID.
No topics are off-limits. No conversations are too frank. These hosts give you the raw truth, the unfiltered insight, and the tips and tricks you need to be positioning your business optimally in these strange times.
Get ready to learn, get ready to laugh, and get ready to find your newest favorite podcast — ladies and gentlemen, this is Shirt Show. And Monarch Color couldn’t be prouder to be one of its sponsors.
Let’s Meet the Hosts
First up is Andy Rudman, the owner of screen printer and embroidery shop Shirt Kong.
While the Shirt Kong team has always been well-known in the decorated apparel community as a hard-working, high-value print shop, they were among the first to truly position themselves as an innovator during the onset of the pandemic. They took risks, adapted their capabilities, and left a major impact on their community — both local and national.
So anytime Andy, Shirt Kong’s leader, has something to share with our industry? You better believe we want to hear it.
That takes us to Dylan Gilligan. Owner of upstate New York’s apparel decorating and merchandising company Upstate Merch, Dylan’s also a recognizable face in the industry.
From his team’s consistently impressive work to their knock-out digital presence — including all 24.5k of their Instagram followers — Upstate Merch has been pushing boundaries and relying on innovative techniques since the beginning.
And that’s largely due to Dylan’s commitment to being bold. Throughout his career, he’s never hesitated to voice his passion for printing — whether to customers, staff, or the “competition.” But, instead of viewing competing print shops as the enemy, he’s always held the viewpoint that helping others improve was the key to the whole industry improving — and that meant his team would improve, too.
So he was known for spending time coaching, teaching, and learning from his peers. He was known for starting conversations, asking how teams near and far were doing, and connecting — not just for the sake of appearances, but for the sake of real, long-term connection.
He wanted to know what his peers thought. He wanted to teach, and learn, and discuss — and it was that authenticity that drove him to social media, where he was able to reach out and connect with the click of a button.
So, as you might guess, Dylan joins Andy’s ranks here — in that, whenever he has something to say, we’re absolutely ready to listen.
The duo combines expertise with authenticity, down-to-earth anecdotes with honest recommendations — and we’re here for it all. But we’re not just here today to introduce you to the general podcast and its hosts. We’re here to introduce you to a very special episode. An episode that features somebody we’re pretty certain you’ll want to hear from.
Shirt Show Episode 34: Monarch’s VP of Sales & Marketing Screen Products, Aaron Blank
Not only do Dylan and Andy dive into Aaron’s past and how he got his start in the world of decorated apparel and textile inks, but they also get into where we’re at now. In the present, and why Monarch’s inks are so different.
