Meet Benny “Red” Johnston

We recently connected with Benny “Red” Johnston and have shared our conversation below.

Benny “Red”, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

Keep in mind I was born in 1972 so things were a bit different then. My parents came up through a tough generation and didn’t have much growing up. I learned at a very early age from my dad that work day work day, school day school day was how things were. Nobody in my house took days off while I was growing up.

I lived through my parents struggling daily to make a better life for our small family. My mom always worked a full and part time job and my dad would do side work after his daily shift.

I started working with my dad, who was an HVAC tech by trade, around 6-7 years old. I would go with him on side jobs and fetch tools, hold flashlights, work certain meters, etc. Being around my dad taught me a great deal about the importance of giving it your all no matter what the job was.

I remember a very specific moment in my life when he told me that if I was going to be “different” then I was going to have to work hard and give the effort that the people around me may not have to give. That lesson has served me well over the years and I am very thankful for that.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Over the past 30 plus years, I have had a pretty singular focus around screen printing. Growing up a punk rock kid in North By God Carolina, you couldn’t get your favorite bands t-shirt. You could however DIY it.

That is where it came from. My desire to stand out and shout my identity with a t-shirt. Through all of these years it still hasn’t changed. My t-shirt will reflect my mood that day. Happy, I wear something like a Blue October tee. Angry, maybe it’s a Black Peaks tee. Artsy, definitely a Mastodon. I am definitely the guy that believes a t-shirt is more than just that. It is a reflection of who you are.

I love creating t-shirts that show who my clients are. Whether band tee, business tee, school tee or a church tee. I love helping my people create the perfect image for themselves and others to display.

There are very few days I wake up and don’t want to do what I have done for the past number of years.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Artistic vision. I believe that vision is the absolute in any type of artistic endeavor. To me, it is like a blade, that must be honed and cared for. It is the tool above all tools.

Artistic ability. You must have the ability to create the vision. Your hand becomes the hilt to wield the blade. You must constantly practice the craft.

And last, but of utmost importance, is Artistic integrity. Art is just that. It is art. Only you can truly answer the age-old question, What is art? If you truly believe in your art and have the integrity to know when it is great and when it is meant for the scrap idea pile, you will show your integrity. When you are being paid as an artist, people place a high value on integrity.

I would advise any artist on the come to work at the three. Don’t believe your own hype but be your own hype man. Don’t over or under value yourself. Be true to who and what you are, always.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

Prior to C-19 my business was flourishing and headed nowhere but up. Every year we had grown in sales and we were headed toward growing even more.

Then the bottom dropped. We lost over 65% of our sales overnight. Being an event-based company, the world shutting down defined who we as a company would become.

For a person like me, who always has to control the narrative, this was the first time in my career I could not grab onto something, anything, and steer the course correct. This had a major impact on my psyche. I went from being confident (bordering on arrogant) to feeling lost and like I had failed my family at home and my family at work. This went on for about three years. I struggled daily with a sense of despair, depression and for the life of me, could not find my sway.

And then it all changed. My business advisor came to me with the possibility of bankruptcy. After all of my 20 years of blood, sweat and tears, that was the conversation that made me do a 180…

I went home, talked to my wife, and told her I wanted to take my ball and go home. I had lived my life for twenty years for everybody else. I wanted to be selfish and live for myself. Damn the torpedoes!

Today, as I write this, I have been working from my home for around 60 days or so. We added onto a building I already had here and made a really cool boutique print shop. Now I wake up and walk downstairs to work. I get to work with my favorite clients (fired the rest). I get to do cool art projects (don’t touch it just to make a couple of dollars ). I see my wife and daughter more than ever. I am even leaving in 2 days to go on a vacation. That in itself is a major accomplishment.

It took me over 20 years to get back to start.

I am happier than I have been in a long time…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.trtsc.com
• Instagram: theredtshirt.company

Image Credits

Benny Johnston, Kim Johnston