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Meet Blue Grimes of Out of the Blue Screen Printing, Embroidery & Promotional Products

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Blue Grimes.

Blue, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Out of the Blue in January of 2005. I come from a technical recruiting and software consulting sales and marketing background. I graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO in 1999 with a degree in Business Administration and English Communications. I have a creative passion for screen printing and enjoy working with clients. I take great pride in Out of the Blue and am eager to make sure that every client is completely satisfied with their experience.

I started the company in my basement and remained there for about three months. I then moved the company to our current location. I had one employee. We had one office and a small area for production. Overall, it was about 600 square feet. Now we lease the entire 12,000 building. We’ve grown to 12 employees. We have a General Manager, Production Control Manager, Sales Manager and HR Manager. Our General Manager has been with us for 11 years. Our HR Manager has been with us for ten years.

We did $1,600,000 in revenue last year and our goal is $2,000,000 for 2020. I attribute our success and growth to our culture. Our core values consist of Family, Community, Loyalty, Honesty, Fun, Accountability, Confidence, Environmental Responsibility and Character. Our vision is to MOBILIZE YOUR BRAND.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I have a degree in Business Administration, but I’ve learned everything that matters in business the hard way. I’ve made countless mistakes, but I’ve learned from every single one. I started the company on credit cards and borrowed money from our home. After the first year I was in so much financial turmoil that I had to go back to work full time recruiting. All of my bad debt had charged off by this time so I had to reach out to all of the collection agencies that purchased the debt to negotiate settlement agreements. I worked full time recruiting for the next two years and paid off all of our debt. I would work 8-5 recruiting at my office in the Denver Tech Center. Then I’d drive downtown to our shop and print t-shirts until 1 or 2 in the morning. In November of 2008 I left my recruiting job and began running Out of the Blue full time. I hired our General Manager in July of 2009 and our HR Manager a year later. We’ve grown steadily ever since.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Out of the Blue is Denver’s trusted and proven alternative to on-line based screen-printing, embroidery, and promotional product companies. We are a real business driven by real people. We do most production in-house and have samples on-site to help you to envision your project and bring it to life. We are experts in all facets of the industry and can walk you through the process from identifying and outlining initial concepts, to producing and delivering a tangible product. Our products are perfect for conference giveaways, special events, businesses, sporting teams, clubs, schools, family reunions, parties, organizations, skilled trades etc… We accept orders from one dozen pieces and up and will ship to anywhere in the United States.

Established in 2005, Out of the Blue employs proven industry best practices and keeps current on the newest and best available equipment, training, and trade news. Our team members are continuously learning. They are trained by the industry’s best professionals and work with state-of-the-art equipment to stay up-to-date and privy in this competitive market.

We want to earn customers for life. When you partner with Out of the Blue, we commit to the best possible customer experience and our goal is to leave a lasting positive impression.

What were you like growing up?
I could be the class clown but also very shy at times. I was creative. I was very empathetic but could also be standoffish and mean. My worst fear was being embarrassed in front of my peers. That was grade school. In Middle School I came out of my shell a bit more and made friends easier. By my sophomore year of high school, I was very social. I still see and spend time with dozens of high school friends. College was great, and I did make lifelong friends there, but most of them are from high school.

I never got super involved in sports. I played soccer in grade school and wrestled in middle school. I knew from my junior year in high school that I wanted to work in business. I did not anticipate being a business owner until a couple of years after college. I enjoyed making short movies and hanging out with my friends growing up. Being outdoors, camping, fishing, hiking and road trips.

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Image Credit:
OTB Various Clients and Staff

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