Windy city workforce

This department spotlights a relatively recent addition to the workforce, focusing on the person’s educational or working background, daily responsibilities, challenges, passions, frustrations and outlook for his or her future in the field.

Name: Josh Galecki
Age: 25
Company: Loop Apparel
www.LoopApparel.com
Title: Co-owner
College Path: Bachelor’s degree in marketing from Illinois State University

How you ended up here: My whole life, I’ve always wanted to be my own boss, and I have always wanted to create something from scratch. In college, I started booking some bands and putting on some shows, but I didn’t get serious until I graduated. When I moved to the city, I started a production company with two friends, and we booked a lot of shows for at least a year. Then we started managing a couple bands and gaining some momentum. Last year we picked up this incredible band, but they fired us shortly after, and then we kinda fell apart. I felt like I just got dumped by a girl, so I was on the rebound and wanted to start something new that I couldn’t get fired from, so I started a clothing company and haven’t looked back.

How long you’ve been at it: This is the beginning of year two, and things are really starting to pick up.

Who you answer to, if anyone: I guess you could say that I answer to everyone who is in the market to buy a t-shirt. It’s tough to make everyone happy, but I do my best.

Hours you expect to be at work: I work from the second I get home from my real job to the second my head hits the pillow. The one thing that I sacrifice is my TV watching. Sometimes I can catch a “Family Guy” re-run at 10:30, but that’s it. Being busy is a great feeling, but my roommate, Matt, wouldn’t agree.

What your friends assume you do all day: I actually have a day job that takes up all my time during the day. I would love to do Loop full-time, but it’s not really at the point where selling shirts can pay my rent and my tab at Messner’s. When I get home from my real job, I am either on the phone talking to my t-shirt supplier in Mississippi or I’m on my notebook e-mailing my two partners. We just added a marketing guy, so I’ve been working pretty closely with him to let him know what direction we should be going.

Best perk: I really don’t know if there are any perks right now, or maybe I just haven’t found one yet. If a perk is getting more bills than the next guy, then I have a ton of perks.

The perfect t-shirt can… get a good conversation started, and who knows, maybe it can help a person hook up. People want to get noticed. Chicago is a pretty big pond, and I know I’m always searching for something to set myself apart from all the other fish.

What made you want to break into the clothing industry? I was really sick and tired of seeing everyone wearing Urban Outfitters t-shirts, and I didn’t want to see one more “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt. I really wanted to create a “conversation starter” shirt and not just give somebody another cheap laugh. I didn’t want to jump on a trend that was going to fade in a couple weeks and then be stuck with a box of “I Brought Sexy Back” t-shirts.

Seeing overpriced clothing at a boutique or specialty store is like... getting up in time for McDonald’s breakfast, but then you get there and you forgot about daylight-savings time, and you just missed an Egg McMuffin meal with a hangover-curing orange drink by 48 minutes. Talk about disappointment. The point of that being, t-shirts aren’t expensive to make, so they shouldn’t be expensive to buy. It’s really disappointing when you see a really sweet t-shirt and it has a $60 price tag on it.

I have trouble dealing with… all the fakes and pseudo friends out there. Don’t tell me you can do something for me and then flake at the last second. If you come up to me and say, “Dude, I know this guy that could totally help you out,” I am 100 percent going to call you the next day for the details … so beware.

What is your inspiration for the shirt designs? As cliché as it sounds, life, or Chicago life is my inspiration. I’ve been burned plenty of times, but I’ve also succeeded a bunch too. We wanted to try and capture real-life experiences, good or bad, and put them on a shirt. There is nothing like meeting a new girl or guy who excites you. At the same time, there is nothing like getting dumped on the corner of Southport and Addison where you feel like you got hit by a bus. Real-life experiences evoke feelings from people, and that is our one main goal.

Where can you go from here? I have a really really good feeling in my bones about Loop Apparel. I feel that we can make some waves in the already crowded clothing scene. Anyone can sell cotton and paint, but we want our shirt to be your favorite shirt, the shirt you wore when you lost your virginity, the shirt you wore when you watched the Sox win the series, the shirt you wore when you caught Alkaline Trio at the Metro, or the shirt you wore when Dave finally asked you out.

Why you have a smile when you come to work: I truly love what I do. I love putting the extra time in, and I’ll always go the extra 10 miles to get something done. The harder I work, the more money I can make … it’s really that simple. Loop Apparel is my baby, and I intend on nurturing it, teaching it how to ride a bike, sending it on its first seventh grade co-ed dance, catching it stealing a bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet, sending it off to college with shower shoes, and then watching it get its first job and becoming a man/woman.

Advice for joining the field: Don’t expect to make any money right away, and be prepared for all your friends to ask you for free shirts. They are the very people that you count on to buy the shirts, and they want them for free. It doesn’t make sense. My one buddy Jim works at Chase, and I’m not going to walk in his branch on Monday morning and ask him to give me money, am I?

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