I just want to become an artist full-time. This isn’t fair.

People have no idea what a company does to appeal to them. Nor do they know how much work actually goes into making their company look good so people will come to them. On top of that, people dont know how much stress the owner goes through sometimes.

People (besides artsits) don’t respect good art when they see it, if it has a high price tag it “sucks” or “too expensive”. A price tag should does not matter to me, but the moral value of the shirt is what appeals to me. You can tell when someone has an authentic and sincere message they tried to get across via artwork. I attach a moral and story behind every release we have. Stay True is NOT one of those indie clothing companies that do it to be cool because everyone else is doing it. I have been screen printing since I was 16 in high school and ever since then, running a clothing company has been my dream. This company has a soul, a backbone, a foundation that it sits on and keeps it going forward.

People have praised me for my work and say they love the clothing but yet I have to see anyone of those people purchase something. Some people I understand because of their financial status. But it truly angers me because someone can say that they’ll support it or buy it, but when the opportunity comes around nothing ever happens. Same goes to bands, you all say “We’d love to rock Stay True on stage and tour, we love your company!”. But if you love it so much.. why don’t you purchase some goods and support someone that is living their dreams? Sounds very hypocritical to me, but then again isnt the whole world practically?

I have put in countless amounts of time into Stay True since day one. I thank the people that have supported in the past, and I am grateful that you were supportive. But now is the time for us to take to the next level. We need bigger sponsors, more sales, more items, and more followers to accomplish what people expect of us. I’ve been spending hours and hours on end working on new designs, concepts, and collaborations with people so I can release them to the public. I have the necessary material to release a (what I think) is a impressive line based off of our history of item releases. I cannot accomplish this goal if people do not support and purchase our goods, which leads me back to my argument…. If people would actually purchase the goods that they say they would, items would be coming out every month or so based on income and promotion. But apparently someone isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, and its not me. I’ve even offered price cuts and a discount code on the merchandise, but yet no one has yet to bite the bait on this deal. There is no strings attached, there are no gimmicks, just quality clothing (American Apparel) with a quality print at a good price.

Along with having to step up sales, promotion and the credibility of the company, comes a price tag. This company is not self sufficient yet, nor is it close. All these items you see that have been released have either been paid fully by my income, or partially by my income (previous funds covered the rest). I have school loans and personal debts to pay off, as well as bills to top that off so the last thing I need to worry about is spending 100 dollars to get a new shipment of shirts because the people who said they would pre-order, didnt. Also, I currently works nights (10-3am) so the amount of sleep I get is usually not enough because of my school schedule. So lets add that up, student loans + personal debts + bills + school in the day + work at night + no sleep. It seems to me that I’m putting more than that extra bit of energy that I have left into this company. Why? because this is my dream, this is what I love, and this is what will make me happy.
Am I asking of too much financially from people? I dont think $15 is much for a shirt, nor is 3.50 for shipping (the average amount to ship a package is $3).

If you think so, please, please please, inform me because I would love to hear your insights (and I mean that in a non asshole way).
If you could, please pick up a shirt and help me keep living my dream. It would seriously mean so much if you do.
Thank you.