A Small Business Story
Welcome to the New Hardhits!
Twenty years ago, I started Hardhits with my high school friend Chris Concepcion. Our dream was simple: to build a sporting goods store that doubled as a community hub—somewhere that prioritized local youth organizations and schools. But as we got started, we quickly learned how hard it is to break into the market. We couldn’t compete on volume or pricing with the big companies.
So, we did what we had to do—we devalued our labor. With no employees, just the two of us working side jobs to make ends meet, we were able to undercut the competition. And it worked. As the business grew and we began hiring, we kept the same pricing model alive, just in a different way.
We turned to contract work—consistent jobs from brokers who acted as middlemen between us and the end client. They handled the sale, bought the merchandise, shipped it to us, and we printed it. In return for volume and consistency, we charged them half of what we charged anyone else. It seemed like a fair trade—until it wasn’t.
The Cost of Scaling with Brokers
Broker work made it difficult to grow sustainably. They would use the volume of their orders to leverage lower prices and faster turnarounds. If we couldn’t meet their demands, they’d threaten to pull all their business, putting our revenue at risk.
There are things I could have done to protect myself. I now see the warning signs I missed. I was young and a little naive. I trusted these people. I built strong relationships with them. I thought I had no other option but to say yes to their demands, and I felt obligated to do so. But over time, I realized how destructive that was.
These brokers didn’t care about the product or the labor behind it. They cared only about their profit. They made mistakes and tried to pin them on us. They constantly asked for things that weren’t feasible because they didn’t understand the printing process—they didn’t print, they just sold. They took up more of my staff’s time than any customer ever did, and paid less for it.
Worse, they demanded subpar work. I hated putting out work I didn’t believe in, but they were the client. It was their call, not mine. And when their customer complained, and they realized they should have listened, they just disappeared and never paid their bill.
With most broker work, the customer and the person with the most information and experience are often ignored.
A Pivot Toward Purpose
(Chris stepped back from Hardhits in 2018.)
In 2020, after years of frustration, I made a change. I decided to stop being a contract labor business serving clients all over the East Coast and shift Hardhits back to its roots—as a community-focused company that delivers service and quality.
That meant cutting ties with the brokers who made up most of our revenue. I needed time to train my staff to handle a different kind of customer, and I needed to build a new client base from the ground up. If I were to focus on my community, I wanted to ensure that I could actually deliver.
(And while Hardhits has shifted away from most broker work, we still keep some. Like most things in life, broker work is not all bad. There are good brokers out there who do care and listen, and we have not cut ties with them.)
I’ve always been good at teaching people how to do the technical parts of the job. But teaching someone how to handle customers? That’s been my greatest challenge. It’s a skill that comes naturally to me and I’ve studied at length, and for the last four years, I’ve been working on how to teach it to others—how to communicate clearly, compassionately, and professionally.
Building the Right Team
In 2023, my wife Vanessa left her IT job and joined Hardhits full-time. I needed a partner. And I could think of no one better than Vanessa—someone who could handle the administrative load, allowing me to focus on mentoring the team. I knew how to do everything in the business, but I didn’t have the time or the structure to teach it all.
With Vanessa on board, that changed.
Since then, Hardhits has been on a mission to be a community-forward business that represents the customer and the company in harmony. We want to grow, hire locally, and give back. We’re not here to be the cheapest. We’re committed to providing quality, consistency, and service.
So let me introduce you to the new Hardhits.
We are a family-owned branding company specializing in custom apparel and design. Our team’s job is to represent you. We’ll help you make the best apparel decisions possible—not just by selling a product, but by educating you along the way. We’ll listen. We’ll answer questions. We will share experiences. We’ll be there when you need help. Because we understand things happen. Life is not perfect. Emails get missed. Kids destroy shirts. Reprints need to happen. We get it, and we’ve got you.
Over the past four years, in addition to focusing on self-growth, we have also updated Hardhits’ ordering software, website, and production machines. As we grow, we will continue to reinvest in technology that provides value to our customers.
We’re not working for the middlemen anymore—the ones skimming off the top, who don’t understand the process, and who disappear when things go wrong. We are working for you. Hardhits has been here for 20 years, and we plan to be here for 20 more.
Meet the Team
When you work with Hardhits, you’ll meet a few key people:
Vanessa is my wife, your representative, and the administrative lead of Hardhits. Vanessa helps you select apparel, guides you on what looks good (and what doesn’t), and ensures your order flows smoothly through our system—from quote to production to delivery.
Alex, our talented graphic designer, is deeply committed to self-growth and mastering both design and print. He doesn’t just make things look good—he ensures they can be printed correctly. That makes a world of difference.
D’Ante is our production manager, with 10 years of experience at Hardhits. D’Ante oversees everything from check-in to print to final inspection. He ensures your order is done right.
And me – I’m here to support everyone. If someone on the team isn’t sure how to explain something or navigate a tricky request, I’m a phone call away. And if you hear from me directly, it’s because something important needs your attention. But more importantly, I’m always working to make sure you don’t need me, because my team is trained to serve you with excellence.
In a complex process like custom apparel, mistakes are inevitable. Sometimes the customer will make them, sometimes we will. But every time we will be you're partner to resolve the issues in the most effective way possible.
Hardhits is a family business, and when you shop with us, you're part of our family.
Our Promise to our Customers.
We will set proper expectations and meet them. We will educate you on the process and focus on the details to ensure a seamless experience. We will ask questions, and if a problem arises, we will resolve it.
So, we invite you to join us in 2025. Follow us on Instagram and share our first commercial. If you need custom apparel or know someone who is a branding decision-maker, send us an email at info@hardhits.net or give us a call at 703.365.7706.
We are ready to help.
Peace & Love,
Jeff & Vanessa Mayhugh