From left, Impressions In Print COO Ashleigh Bagwell and CEO Debbie Higgins. Photo by Paul Chin, Jr.
By T.J. Prieur
When Impressions in Print owner Debbie Higgins was asked to present her first marketing and branding campaign for a company in 1994, she was still working out of her garage. After scrambling to find an office space with a board room to present to the board of directors at Ocean Breeze Waterpark, she presented an entire line of items for the gift shop, employee uniforms and mascots.
“They loved it,” Higgins said. “That was my first big client.”
Now, Higgins and her daughter, Ashleigh Bagwell, run a successful one-stop shop for all marketing material needs, including everything from logo design to employee t-shirts, drinkware, signs, banners, commercial print, and even car wraps.
With Higgins taking a CEO role, Bagwell manages a staff of 15 and the daily operations of the business.
Recognized by the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest growing private companies in the country, Impressions in Print is headquartered in Virginia Beach, but has clients worldwide.
Higgins couldn’t have predicted her business would grow to this size when she began as a school teacher, helping a mother of one of her students begin making custom hand-painted t-shirts.
The two women began getting orders not only throughout the school, but the school system, and even school systems outside the state. Before long, it was time to make a decision.
“Eventually, she realized she had no intention of going into a business like that, and I realized there was more profit in what we were doing than there was in teaching,” Higgins said.
So, Higgins moved the shop into her own garage and started focusing on the creative side of the business, designing logos, mascots and promotional material for different companies in the area.
After her presentation with Ocean Breeze Waterpark, Higgins moved out of the garage and the company began to take off! The company also developed a merchandise program for Festevents for OpSail 2000 Virginia (featuring Tall Ships) that won a silver pinnacle award from the International Festival & Events Association for the category best merchandise program.
“That was the catalyst for us to begin to see we were a merchandising agency at that point,” Higgins said.
After a stint in the events industry, Higgins and her daughter Bagwell moved forward with business-to-business merchandising on a corporate level. Offering anything a business would need to brand itself, they consulted with a software company to facilitate proprietary software to use for private label e-commerce stores for their companies.
“Now we host online stores for franchisors or companies with multi-office organizations where they need their marketing and branding materials to comply with corporate standards,” Higgins said.
That’s not all. Impressions in Print also offers order fulfillment, warehousing, product distribution, and kitting services.
Bagwell explains: “Say a company wants all of its franchisees to use the same logo, but they are in different states with different addresses to their offices. With our software, you can order a cup, a customer can type in their custom address, it goes right on the cup, they see a proof, we don’t touch it, and it goes straight to print from there.”
The franchising market is one that Impressions in Print continues to seek. With the experience of providing marketing and promotional materials for the 2500 franchisees and corporate office of Liberty Tax since 1997, Higgins has her sights set on additional large national franchise and multi-office accounts like Chick-fil-A, Geico, and Subway.
Impressions In Print has also been chosen as the National Vendor of the Year for Liberty Tax for four years in a row.
“We allow franchisees or franchisors to have one place that they can easily order one thing they need, and we can get it out in 24 hours.” Higgins said. “We offer that free as part of our services, and most companies jump right on board for that.”
Higgins explains that her company is set apart because, although they sell logo apparel, it’s not all they do. “We are one of the few companies in the area, or even regionally, that offers everything all in one place,” Higgins said. “This keeps the brand consistent, and we help control their branded assets by keeping everything in one place.”
The 2.5 acre lot behind the Impressions in Print building is empty for now, but Higgins expects to expand as the business continues to add new clients.
“We had to be an expert in what we did because we needed that confidence,” Higgins said. “It didn’t matter who the client was, we knew we could handle it.”
With this attitude, Higgins and her daughter are “hungry for more,” ready for the next level.
“When I was starting out, I didn’t get any advice; I learned at the School of Hard Knocks,” Higgins said. “When someone or something knocks you down, that should just make you stronger and you can move on. Know your own vision. Go with and respect your own vision.”
