Meet Tanya Mack | My Vinyl Cut | Print Shop, Sign Maker, Apparel Decorator, Customized Gifts.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tanya Mack and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tanya, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I found something I enjoyed doing and was fairly good at and just ran with it. I did want to go back to work after having children but didn’t want to leave them. So I took the opportunity to create a business that allowed me to make money while making things at home.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We all have heard the phrase, “Necessity is the mother of invention” and that is the case for me and the start of my business. I have always been an athlete, not really a business mind, not really an artist. But I have traits from both. I have always been highly organized and always start out with following instructions but the creative side usually finds a way to tweak the instructions to satisfy my creative need. I did like to dress funky, out of the norm, bake cookies with out of the norm ingredients. No matter what I did, I liked to put my own spin on things.
So as a Girl Scout leader for over 9 years, making crafts and having to hand cut little objects over and over again, I found the need for a craft cutter so I purchased a Silhouette Cameo. That was September of 2016 and that started it all. I can say I got addicted. I started out cutting paper, making shapes to glue onto cards, making cards, then advancing to pop-up cards. I loved all that it can do with paper until I found out I can cut vinyl with a self adhesive back. So then I set out to label anything in my house that can be labelled. The entire kitchen pantry, my storage boxes in the garage, and reusable water bottles. I then graduated to heat transfer vinyl and applied text to shirts. That was when I bought my first heat press from the Stahls booth at the Imprinted Sportswear Show in Orlando. This was in September and also when I registered my business with the government. This all happened within one month. And that was the birth of My Vinyl Cut, LLC.
I immediately got a website, Etsy shop, Amazon shop and Ebay shop. I also held a booth once a week, every Friday for 3 years. This allowed me to create personalized cups and shirts on site with my heat press, laptop and vinyl cutter. I gained a lot of local repeat business and helped me get a lot of experience.
We have moved to East Cobb, Marietta and I have changed all of my licensing over to the State of Georgia, where I am a licensed and insured home-based business running a wide format professional print shop. I print signs, banners, stickers, posters, t shirts, drinkware and a number of other personalized items using cut vinyl, heat transfer vinyl, sublimation, epoxy, and just introduced embroidery. I love to see my neighborhood graduation banners when driving by at the end of the school year. I love to see family vacation photos with matching custom shirts I made. I love to see someone open a gift I made special for them.
What gets me the most excited is when I learn a new thing to do. I love to add new medias to print on, new equipment to help make things better. I guess I am like a kid saying, “Look what I made!”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have only been in the area for 4 years but the absolute best part for me are the trails. I just love nature, being around trees, wildlife and water. I would have my friend being their hiking shoes and activewear and we would go on any of the nature trails around then go to one of the little coffee shops around. I do love my East Cobb bubble and don’t leave it often, but when I do, I love to go to the old historic looking downtown Roswell. Their shops and restaurants are just the cutest!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to say the number one person I have the most gratitude to give is my husband, Johnny Mack. He has supported my business from the beginning. He converted our pool house in Orlando to a work shop for me so I had room for my supplies and even built me a large work table and installed lighting. He is artisitc himself and knows the value of a workspace. Even after our move here to East Cobb, I have a large portion on the terrace level with my own picture window overlooking the lake and private entrance. My husband has always made sure I had a dedicated work space and for that I say thanks.
In the industry, there have been stand outs for each craft, David Gross of Conde with sublimation, Josh Ellsworth of Stahls for heat transfer vinyl, I even follow a YouTuber, Tock Customs to learn embroidery. These professionals have given me the confidence I needed to believe in my self to help me think, “I can do this”!

Website: https://www.myvinylcut.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myvinylcut/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myvinylcut/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MyVinylCut

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/my_vinyl_cut/

@myvinylcut

Image Credits
All photos were taken by myself. The picture of the sign on the easel is a mock up that I purchased with commercial use rights from Creative Fabrica. It has my design on it that I created using fonts that I purchased with commercial use.