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A time before Signs

showcase 66

New Member
This morning I was meeting with a client who is planning on opening an Ice cream and Frozen custard place. I really hope he actually does it. It is hard to find frozen custard in AZ. One of the first things I do when I go back to PA or NJ to visit family is to visit a Ritas and get a Gelatis.
Anyway, turns out this guy use to be a big corporate guy in NY and just decided he didnt want to do it anymore.

It got me thinking what everyone else was doing before getting into signs. I know some were brought up in the business, but most of us weren't.

I am a structural Engineer by trade with a minor in art. I worked as an engineer for 7 years before leaving and sticking with signs and graphics. Money was a lot better than signs but the stress was way to much. The day I decided to leave the engineering field, was probably the least stressful day in my life.

What did you guys do?
 

iSign

New Member
I left Oregon for Hawaii in 1984. I had been a tree planter, working with (one of) the largest owner operated co-op's at that time, bidding on Forest Service contracts. Fun but very very hard work. I started studying architectural drafting, which consumed the next 4 or 5 years of school & work... but then I moved to NYC and got a job at the nations largest Architectural Sign Company.. that was 20 years ago... never looked back
 

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
Office coffee service business. It tended to go slow in the summer. Started out in signs by making vacuum formed magnetic sings in 1971 as a summer lark.
 

SignManiac

New Member
Construction work - framing - masonry and finish trim. Restaurant - waiter - cook - bartender - busboy. Landscaping - Marina work. Tried my hand at dealing pot but got so paranoid I just smoked up all I had and gave up on that idea.
 

Stealth Ryder

New Member
20+ years as a soldier in the US Army, a couple of years as a teacher and found out very quickly I did not want to do that... Just sorta stumbled in to what I do now... Glad I stumbled that day...
 
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theskipman_98

New Member
let's see: USN ET"A", expeller press and grinding operator for a chicken rendering plant, auto/heavy equipment mechanic, service writer, parts supply, lumberyard rat and sales, car salesman (wth was I thinking), an ex-sign guy sold me his plotter and stuff so I became a flea market stikar maker...
 

Cross Signs

We Make Them Hot and Fresh Everyday
Long haul truck driver. Was an Owner Operator at 21 years old, Wow that was a long time ago.
 

TheSnowman

New Member
I did Garage Door Service/Repair & Installation from probably 7th Grade in the Summer for about 14 years till I bought the sign biz. That was a family business, and so is the sign shop. Grandparents were forced into retirement due to health, and I'd been around it my whole life, so I bought it from them. Now when it gets slow on signs in the winter, I go hang garage doors, cause it gets crazy busy with that when it gets cold out.
 

Brandon708

New Member
I made pizzas then worked as a subcontractor for Comcast installing cable. Those jobs where while I was in High School. After high school I got into the sign business. I think i'm still young just turning 29.
 

Williams Signs

New Member
Network Admin and Telecom Manager for a large trucking company. Copier and Computer repair. Family been in Landscaping for 40 years. Help out from time to time. Worked for a guy that did vinyl graphics, got better than him got mad and layed me off, so bought cutter and opened up a shop and have loved every minute of it since.
 

Flame

New Member
Amazingly this is the only job I have ever had. Done journalism on the side, worked counters at a dirt bike shop, but eh....still young. :)
 

CheapVehicleWrap

New Member
Got into a world of legal trouble with computers in 1984 when I was 15 and naturally progressed into software development and later on domain names sales and monetizing traffic. Mostly.
 
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