About Us

Hi, my name is Kelli and I co-own Gusto Graphic Tees along with my wife, Amy. The journey began in 2016 when I followed my dream, literally, by quitting my graphic design job to start designing/screen printing t-shirts. In a dream I had of my dad, who had recently passed away, he kept repeating, “Go for the Gusto, Kelli.” With the help and support of Amy, I was able to transition into this creative adventure that my soul needed and I get to go for the Gusto everyday. In 2023, Amy retired after 28 years of teaching and now we’re going to go for the gusto together and make our dreams come true! 

What I love most about our business is that we able to use our creativity to design our t-shirts and stickers and see those designs become a real object that people love. When we began, I had taken a screen printing class and had created several designs. We purchased a single-platen, 4 color press and had a flash dryer that we set up in our single-car garage. I emailed several local, Austin stores to see if they had any interest in our designs and we heard back from a local chain store almost immediately. This prompted our move into a room in our home, but I discovered quickly that printing with a single platen and a flash dryer took a considerable amount of time. Thankfully, as we were invited to sell in other stores and vendor pop-ups, we were able to get a conveyor dryer. After being in business for 3 years, were able to upgrade to a six-platen, six-color press and into a larger space. Now, 6 years later with the support of awesome customers and local stores, we’re moving into a 2500 square foot space and we’re upgrading our equipment to an eight-platen, six-color automated ROQ press, a larger conveyor dryer and a glowforge laser cutter.

We are a local Austin, LGBTQ+/women-owned business that designs and screen prints t-shirts that are primarily Austin and Texas themed. In addition to t-shirts, we’ve added stickers, drinkware, hats, bags, can coolers, and now laser engraved wood and leather products. We are so happy to be doing what we love and we hope that everyone has the opportunity to follow their own gusto and make their dreams come true! 

Gusto Graphic Tees through the years

how it started

How it's going