Sugar Land resident Suzanne Whatley, the owner of screen printing shop Branding Matters!, is a risk-taker. As often as she can, Whatley races her souped-up Ford Mustang at speeds of up to 151 mph on tracks throughout the East Texas racing circuit, she said.

“When I bought my first Mustang I realized I wanted to go even faster,” Whatley said. “One time on the track, and I was hooked.”

Whatley said she made a very risky move when she expanded her business three years ago. After 12 years growing her screen printing business, Whatley decided to buy a building in Sugar Land. While she was able to secure a business loan for part of the money, she was well short of what she needed for the down payment and renovation costs on the shuttered gas station at Hwy. 90 and Brooks Street that she envisioned as a printing shop.

She approached investors for the difference, but when she had no luck raising the money, she said she liquidated her retirement fund.

“This is my 401(k),” Whatley said, of the 3,000 square-foot shop.

Whatley got started in the screen printing business in 2005. She said she had been looking for a business to get into, and while strolling through a home and garden show with her husband one afternoon, the couple came across a screen printing machine used to make custom T-shirts. She bought the machine, and their garage soon became Whatley’s printing shop.

For about a year Whatley found only small jobs, but in 2006 she received her first major order—300 uniforms for the Sugar Land Girls’ Softball League. It was far bigger than anything she had done up to that point. Looking back, Whatley said it was more than she could handle at the time, but she delivered the uniforms on time and notched a happy customer.

“Our motto is, ‘Don’t say no to anything,’” Whatley said. “You have to push yourself and challenge yourself.”

Branding Matters!

8034 Hwy. 90, Sugar Land 281-494-7747 brandingmatters.biz Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. -5 p.m. and by appointment