At 21 I joined the Navy to become an Illustrator Draftsman. That was when I learned to do many technical & artistic layouts & designs. I also learned to operate plotters, which got me very interested in the sign business. The military for me was actually a nice experience. I liked the people that I worked with, plus I enjoyed my job. I also got to travel a lot when I transferred to the Drafting shop at the USS Cape Cod. It was quite an interesting experience. After four years in the Navy I decided not to re-new another term. My plan was to be a business owner. I saw a good opportunity in signs but had no experience in the sign business. While in the Military, my parents & younger brother moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. I figured, I rather live by them, so I moved from San Diego to Las Vegas too. Very quickly, I was hired at a major sign company in Las Vegas. There, I pretty much learned everything about signs. I worked there for many years as their graphic artist & plotter operator. While working there, I started a home based business with my friend. We did a lot of logo designs, small signs and banners. We enjoyed that business for a few good years. Now I had experience with the sign business & experience with owning a business. Almost five years ago, I met Greta. her father Jack & her were running Valley Press at the time. Valley Press was a lot smaller then. They had to out source any sign job that they sold. That is where I came in. Less then a year after I met Greta, Jack became very ill & lost his battle after being in the hospital for many months. It was such a terrible thing to see. Experiencing this with her made us very close. Since then, a lot of things have changed. Greta, John & I came to a conclusion that it would be most beneficial if I would come on as a partner, add an in house sign service department & with that our future would be to move to a bigger and better location. In order to do that, I had to quit my job and dissolve my business with my old partner, who by the way was okay with me doing this since we were not quite ready yet to go full force with our business together. I’m glad to say that he is still a great friend & doing quite well with his art in photography.
We have been in our new location for a while now. We are still growing and adding new equipment. Since then we have also found Mike to Join us. We have a great team & it is a pleasure to see how far we’ve come. Things are going great! We are all very happy & excited with our Progress & what the future brings... Call Shelia today at 702.236.4482! |