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How I Got the Job: Randy Horejsi

Fuel Graphics’ owner on being proud, but never satisfied; starting from scratch; and accountability.

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Adrienne Palmer: What does a normal day at Fuel Graphics look like for you?

Randy Horejsi: Usually chaos most of the time these days! Being the owner of a small business typically comes with wearing lots of hats. We haven’t gotten to the point where we are able to hire someone for every position, so I have to do a little bit of everything. Answering phones, designing, printing, installing, invoicing, the whole works. I have two employees currently, so things are slowly improving in that area, but at the rate we’ve been growing, it’s hard to keep up.

AP: What were you doing before Fuel Graphics? What led you to the world of wide-format digital printing?

RH: I didn’t go to college after high school; I just went straight to work in an auto body shop for a little while, and then I became a welder at a manufacturing facility. It took me about two years to realize I didn’t want to be a welder for the rest of my life. I eventually went to school, initially to be an engineer, but I wasn’t good enough at the math classes to make that work. After one semester, I switched to a printing program. It gave me the basic knowledge of the Adobe design programs as well as a basic understanding of printing. I graduated with a one-year technical diploma in print technology. From there, I went back to work at various welding shops and manufacturing companies during the day, while I slowly built our business at night, until I finally got to the point where it made sense to work for myself full time.

A Zamboni wrap for August Schell Brewing Company was printed on a Roland TrueVis VG2 540 large-format printer/cutter onto Avery Dennison MPI 1105 easy apply gloss vinyl with Avery Dennison DOL 360 laminate.

A Zamboni wrap for August Schell Brewing Company was printed on a Roland TrueVis VG2 540 large-format printer/cutter onto Avery Dennison MPI 1105 easy apply gloss vinyl with Avery Dennison DOL 360 laminate.

AP: What’s the most challenging part of your job?

RH: The most challenging parts are accountability and distractions. I’ve never really been in a position where I was the one who had to hold myself accountable. It’s easy to let things slide when you’re answering to yourself, so you really have to work hard at staying focused and keeping yourself in check. It’s also really easy for me to be distracted by things that aren’t important at the time. I always have new ideas and things I want to try, but again, I have to hold myself accountable, make sure I am staying on task, not getting too far off track, and taking time away from what’s most important.

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Through a partnership with Mtn Dew’s ad agency, Fuel Graphicås printed graphics via a Roland VersaCamm VS-640 eco-solvent inkjet printer/cutter onto Avery Dennison MPI 1105 easy apply gloss vinyl with Avery Dennison DOL 1360 gloss laminate.

Through a partnership with Mtn Dew’s ad agency, Fuel Graphicås printed graphics via a Roland VersaCamm VS-640 eco-solvent inkjet printer/cutter onto Avery Dennison MPI 1105 easy apply gloss vinyl with Avery Dennison DOL 1360 gloss laminate.

AP: What about the most rewarding?

RH: There are a couple things that are really rewarding to me. One is being able to look back at where I started this business, look at what it is today, and realize I started this whole thing completely from scratch with no fancy college degree, no business background or experience managing or operating a business, and no training for how to design or operate printers. I’ve learned from nothing but experience, trial and error, hard work, and perseverance. It makes a person feel pretty good knowing you created something from nothing. The other rewarding thing is the fact that we’ve gotten to a point where we are able to give back to the community and help others. Helping people is something that’s really important to me, so to be able to give back and help people out really feels good.

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AP: How are you giving back to the community?

RH: In 2019, we tried to give away a scholarship. (I say tried because once schools closed down because of COVID, we canceled the contest for various reasons.) I created a design contest where high school students were to design a trailer wrap for the college that the scholarship was for. We would then pick the best design and award that student a $1000 scholarship for the design program at that college. I’m bummed it didn’t work out, but I plan to get that started up again hopefully in the near future.

Last year, when all of the bars and restaurants were forced to close, we gave away banners to anyone who wanted them that said they were still available for takeout and delivery (or whatever message they preferred) so their customers would know they’re still open and available. We gave away 20 or so of those.

We also made yard signs for people who had high school seniors in their home who were missing out on their graduations, to put in their front yards to honor their seniors. We then took $5 from each sign and donated it to our county’s United Way, which was put toward their COVID relief fund. I wanted a way to help out the most amount of people we could and that was the best way we could come up with. We ended up donating just under $1500.

AP: Can you talk about the importance of leading a business with continuous improvement in mind?

RH: The last place I worked before going on my own was for 3M. Prior to working there, there were a lot of things that I had never really put a lot of thought into or cared about. Continuous improvement was one of those things. At 3M they called it “Kaizen Projects.” Kaizen is a Japanese word for “change for the better.” I learned how important it was to always be working toward being better, and that just because something works well, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. From there, I came up with a saying that I try to implement into our lives every day: “Be proud of what you’ve accomplished but never satisfied.” It’s good to be proud and celebrate the victories, but you have to stay hungry and keep digging for more.

AP: What are your interests outside of work and do they ever cross over into your professional life?

RH: I was born in a racing family. All I’ve ever really known my whole life is racing. That’s what my family spent every weekend during the summers doing and we continue to do the same thing. That’s where my interest in graphics started. As a kid, I really enjoyed putting the fresh graphics and lettering on the race cars every year. I would also build model cars from scratch all the time and hand paint and cut lettering out for them. When I started getting serious about my business, I started out doing racing graphics for people. It was a natural and easy starting point because I was pretty familiar with what people wanted and needed.

AP: Where do you see the vehicle wrap market in the next five years?

RH: Given the fact that it has grown leaps and bounds over the last decade, I would say it’s not going anywhere. When I first started getting into this business, I remember 3M just coming out with the very first handful of films for color change wraps and look at what that has become. One thing that hasn’t changed really though, in my opinion, is that the films themselves haven’t really changed much over the last several years, most importantly from a durability standpoint. Adhesives and install features have improved, but the films still only last so long. I think if there was one thing I would like to see improvement on it would be getting the films to last longer.

PHOTO GALLERY (3 IMAGES)

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