Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenna Davidson and Janice McMenamy.
In his former life as a youth pastor, Kenna had designed many different cool T-shirts aimed at the youth market. He and his now business partner, Janice, worked in the den of her house – creating logos, album covers, newsletters, menus and other graphic designs to make ends meet (youth pastors don’t make a lot of money) They literally worked between 2-3 in the morning to make this happen while they had full-time jobs.
In mid-2000, they decided to make the graphic design business out full-time vocation and Kenna continued to work with the youth of his church on a volunteer basis. They had no idea of the adventure ahead or what they were getting themselves into.
Janice and her husband, Coy, bought two little white houses on Rowlett Road so that Kenna and Janice could move out of the den and have a place to work. Over the past 17 years, Coy has turned the corner into a wonderland – people describe our office as a hobbit house or castle. You really have to come see it in person. You can also see their part of the building by viewing our YouTube channel – McKENNA SHOW.
On their first week in business, Kenna’s friend, Sandy Shelley, called to see if they would be interested in designing t-shirts for her middle school choir. She said she had some other teachers who would like them to create designs for their choirs also. So on their first Thursday in business they had seven jobs lined up with no clue how to buy, print, or price the shirt. With some luck and advice from a friend in the business, they eventually figured it out. From their humble beginning, they now are approved vendors for many school districts and printed over 54,000 shirts this past year.
Has it been a smooth road?
Overall, yes. With no formal business plan, we just decided to just take really good care of whoever the Good Lord sent in our door. That remains our mission today.
Every struggle through the years became a “learning opportunity”. We took every job that came in the door – whether we knew what we were doing or not. When folks would ask what our minimum order for t-shirts was, we would answer “ONE”. Since then, we have learned that we could lose a certain number of orders and still remain profitable.
In the early years, when someone asked they could do something, we answered “YOU BET” and then when the customer left – would quickly google “how do I…”.
There were many lean months but we have “never missed a meal” and have been able to support two households throughout the 17 years in business.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We make people look good. Whether it’s t-shirts, embroidered polos, trade show graphics or promotional products – we can do anything that will promote a business or organization.
Our specialty has become creating cool designs for large groups – school organizations (bands, choirs, field days, churches. school spiritwear). We also create logos and brochures for startups and other entities.
We are known for our customer service. We have learned that we don’t have “big customers” and “small customers” just “customers”. With our marketing plan, mentioned earlier, we rely solely on word of mouth – so everyone we encounter already wants to do business with us which is great.
One of the things our customers like is that we have a “on-time or free” guarantee. Our practice is to “promise in the afternoon – deliver in the morning” which means we always deliver before we say we’re going to which delights our customer. This extends to every aspect of our customer service – for instance, we always include more shirts than were ordered – promise a design tomorrow and then send it today – even something as simple as including a free surprise travel mug in every order of shirts.
We love taking care of people – investing in their lives, listening to their stories and helping in any way possible.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The city has been supportive of us. We have been involved over the years with the Chamber of Commerce and local schools – when you volunteer with any organization, you receive many more blessings than the effort you put in.
Our office was recently named in the list of the “Top Ten Sites in Rowlett”. The building is definitely unique – you must come see us to believe it. In inside of the office is fun, too – with a vintage 60’s VW serving as the conference table. T-shirts are displayed on a giant Rubik’s Cube and a second conference room has a dining booth like an old soda fountain.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4100 Rowlett Road, Suite 100, Rowlett, TX 75088
- Website: mckennaplace.com
- Phone: 972.475.5223
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/mckennaplace
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
