Year One... And The Year Before That

It was around this time last year, just a few days before PAX East 2013 was in town, I was sitting in my living room with boxes of t-shirts in front of me. Looking at those boxes, I couldn't help but smile and feel scared at the same time. A lot had happened to get to there.

I first started working on Dapper Pixel more than two years ago. Back then, I was working with a few of my closest friends on a gaming website where I created my first t-shirt. After getting a lot of awesome feedback about the t-shirt, I soon fell in love with the idea of creating my own gaming inspired t-shirt line.

My wife convinced me to buy the domain, and I was hesitant at first (for about 5 seconds), but I took her advice. I began blogging at DapperPixel.com while sketching all my ideas for gaming t-shirts whenever I had the free time. I received so much support and positive feedback about my designs that I couldn’t wait to have them produced.

But then my house was broken into.

Many things were lost that day. My home didn’t feel safe anymore. My family and I were devastated. My laptop was taken, along with the designs in them. And so was my motivation. I couldn’t wrap my head around how things were supposed to go back to normal, let alone starting Dapper Pixel over again.

Setbacks and hurdles have come up most of my adult life (e.g. I was a teen parent), however that’s probably a blog for another day. But the one thing I always told myself in difficult situations, and still do to this day, is “I can’t have the people I love, or myself, feel like they’re the reason I failed.” Yes, much of my work was lost, but the ideas and passion was still there. The only way Dapper Pixel was going to fail was if I let this setback take over me, and regret what could have been. So, with a second wind in me, and the non-stop encouragement from The Misses, I got back to it.

Needless to say, I don’t regret it. Having done this for over a year (officially), it’s been a blast. I’ve met so many new people with a passion for video games, been involved with several events, and created over a dozen gaming inspired t-shirts. With many more plans and ideas in the works, it’s safe to say I’m gonna be here for a while.

They’re many people I need to thank for this awesome first year, but this blog has gone long enough. So I’ll put it short and sweet:

“To my family, dearest friends, fans of Dapper Pixel, and most of all my incredible wife, THANK YOU! Thank you for allowing to make my dreams and passion an amazing reality!”

GLHF

Thank you for an amazing year one!