TYSON BAKER STARTED Reach Clothing after his niece (who was in the third grade at the time) said a kid at school was being bullied for wearing the same shirt every day. “I heard this story and felt this was my calling,” he says. His goal was simple: For every item sold, Reach Clothing would donate the same or similar item to a local child in need. “16 million children are considered homeless in the US. This stat reflects a child living under a temporary roof. Thirty-nine percent of children are bullied based on their appearance. Our goal is to provide new, stylish clothing to help alleviate that potential, or a hoodie to keep a child warm.”
Designs printed on shirts for sale are identical to those printed as donations. “We do not want to isolate one as being known as a donation vs. a sold shirt,” Tyson says. After selling a set number of shirts, Reach partners with a local nonprofit. “They help us identify and take on the donation for the need.” The company has partnered with a wide range of nonprofits, including religious organizations, schools, community-based charities, foster care providers, and domestic abuse homes.
Tyson’s second-ever donation is one he’ll never forget: Five hundred shirts to a church that helps the local community. “That day, I was blessed to meet a girl named Alice. She told me her favorite color was pink, so I found her a pink shirt. While I was sizing her brother for his shirt, I turned around and she already had her brand-new shirt on. She was walking around like a queen,” he says. “Something as simple as a new shirt to a child provides greater self-esteem. I believe with greater self-esteem a child can do anything they dream.”
Tyson was 19 years old when he started screen printing. He considered outsourcing at first, but the cost to print one shirt for sale and another for donation wasn’t feasible. So, he started watching screen printing video tutorials online, where he found Ryonet. “At the time, they had a warehouse in Arkansas, which was only a few hours from us,” Tyson says (Reach Clothing is based in Collinsville, Oklahoma). “I made my first business trip and took their two-day class to learn how to print. I purchased the smallest press package they had with no credit. I was able to borrow $6800 from a great organization that helps small, nontraditional businesses find funding. Once I made it back from Arkansas, I rented a 10-by-10-foot office in an old auto mechanic shop and started printing.”
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Tyson Baker has grown from a rented 10 x 10 office space to a team of 10 and plans to build a new facility.
In the beginning, Tyson spread his mission via free publicity: TV interviews, radio interviews, newspapers, etc. His team also traveled throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas doing small craft fairs and shows. “It was all we could afford as a small company: $35 to $50 entry fees,” he says. “The biggest show we do every year now is the Oklahoma State Fair. Along with new customer growth, our existing customers amaze us year over year by coming back to our booth to purchase more. I think that says a lot about our product, mission, and service we provide.”
Customer connections led Reach to also print custom apparel (via Reach Custom Clothing). “People loved what we did so much they wanted to use us for their other products. Over the past few years – before and after the pandemic – our company has grown so much on the custom side that we’ve been on the defensive vs. the offensive. This year, with shows and events not being canceled, we’re making a big push back to our brand and mission. We scaled and currently have a great team where we can really push forward with both sides of the business.”
Tyson’s office, print room, and dark room in 2011. “We used a flash unit and temperature gun to cure all our T-shirts,” he says. “All the fun stuff!”
Tyson is excited about Reach’s future. “With our team of 10, we love our M&R equipment and have two automatic presses, one manual, an auto coater, i-Image CTS imaging and imaging/exposure system, and a recently purchased EcoTex Automatic Screen Cleaning and Reclaiming System. We offer DTG and DTF with our Brother equipment, as well. I met with an architect at the end of last year for the new facility we’re building next door. Community is a huge part of our mission, and the new facility will offer many awesome things to be community stewards.”
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