Ask John
You’ve Arrived By John Duever
Q: Tim Evans asked, “What was that one project, that one client, that made it really sink in… ‘I’m a professional now,’ and why.” reat question, Tim, and thank you! I think this question is multifaceted, and it has changed over time as Vinyl Images has scaled in size, revenue, core competency, and reach. There are a lot of levels to professionalism, and there are a few different clients that stick out to me over the years that were memorable and give me goosebumps even when I think about them now. Denny Brauer and Strike King Fishing Lures – In the Midwest, bass fishing is extremely popular, and Denny Brauer is the Michael Jordan of bass fishing. The stars aligned, and I had the opportunity to wrap DB’s Suburban and bass boat. I went all out on this wrap; the Suburban was a relatively straightforward commercial wrap, but where we set the bar was with his bass boat. The team at Vinyl Images wrapped everything, I mean everything. Exterior, trailer, interior, even when you opened up the storage on the decks – all of the gel coat was wrapped. When Denny arrived to pick up his rig, he was completely blown away and said it was the best wrap he has ever seen. This rig gained some traction online and led to one of my 22 l WrapFam Unleashed l January 2024
largest commercial fleet accounts to date. The owner of this company is big into bass fishing, saw DB’s rig, and drove down to St. Louis from Chicago for an in-person meeting with me. He just showed up at the shop unannounced. We chatted for a short time, and that led to Vinyl Images making one of our first large splashes in the commercial fleet graphics industry. The initial wrap made me feel like we had “made” it, but the opportunities that have come from that, and what we did with those opportunities, is what has really made me feel like we were finally professional. Bigfoot 4x4 – Who doesn’t like monster trucks?! And when it comes to monster trucks, there is only one that matters to us – Bigfoot 4x4 and Bob Chandler. The monster truck circle is relatively small; everyone knows each other, and if you get the opportunity to get “in” that circle, you take it. Vinyl Images began our quest to wrap Bigfoot by becoming a sponsor for the Monster Truck Racing Association (MTRA). After a year or two, we won the coveted “MTRA Sponsor of the Year” award at the annual banquet. We beat out the likes of Summit Racing and Firestone, to name a couple of other sponsors. This put a big spotlight on us and gave us the opportunity to have simple talks with Bigfoot 4x4. Realizing that it was essentially the perfect fit as we are like-minded and from the St. Louis area, we became fast
