In an interview with Specialist Printing Worldwide, Joey Santo (CEO) and Carlo Oviedo (CRO) of Culture Studio, shared insights into scaling production, leveraging technology and keeping culture at the centre of its business
SPW: “What is Culture Studio and how did it begin?”
Carlo Oviedo:“Culture Studio is a full-service custom print shop based in Chicago, with an additional facility in Daytona Beach. We started 17 years ago as a lifestyle clothing brand called Shy Clothing. Back then, it was hard to find contract printers willing to do anything outside the norm, such as oversized or discharge prints. So we bought our own manual press and started printing ourselves. From there, it grew.”
Joey Santo: “My family has a background in screen printing. My grandfather had a shop, so I’ve been around it my whole life. We started with one manual press and slowly built up from there, learning by doing.”
“We started with a manual eight-colour Chameleon press”
SPW: “What was the team like in the early days?”
CO: “It was always family first. My three brothers – Rich, Joey and Nick – and I co-founded the business. We all brought different strengths to the table. Rich leads tech and finance, Joey runs production and is the ‘godson of screen printing’, Nick’s the operations backbone and I’m on the sales side. We all stayed in our lanes, which helped us grow without stepping on each other’s toes.”
SPW: “Tell us about your growth. How did you scale?”
JS: “We started with a manual eight-colour Chameleon press. We worked around the clock – literally 4am–2am some days. We slowly added automatics, moved to bigger spaces and now we’re operating out of two large facilities with nearly 20 autos combined.”
CO: “It wasn’t a rocket ship. It took time – 17 years. You look at us now and think we’ve always been this size, but it was a gradual build, with plenty of manual labour and learning.”
“2025 is our year of automation”
SPW: “Has technology played a big role?”
JS: “Absolutely. While screen printing is still our core focus, we’ve heavily invested in technology to run everything behind the scenes. We built our own proprietary software platform that manages every part of the business - from art approvals to production schedules to shipping.”
CO: “The tech has become our secret sauce. It helps our team work smarter and lets clients track everything through a portal – orders, shipping, packing slips. No more chasing tracking numbers. It’s efficient and gives time back to both our staff and customers.”
SPW: “Are you planning to grow that tech side even more?”
JS: “Definitely. We’ve just partnered with a robotics company and are bringing automation into our Chicago facility. It’s all about using tech to eliminate repetitive tasks and make everything more efficient.”
CO: “Every year we invest in new features. We split the tech into two categories – tools for internal efficiency and tools for customer experience. Our goal is to make life easier for both sides.”
SPW: “How do you manage the balance between speed and quality?”
JS: “That’s the tightrope. We’ve learned that sometimes you have to slow down to go faster. Investing in training, building a sample department and properly onboarding staff – those things pay off. Anyone can print fast, but not everyone can do it well.”
CO: “And it’s about having the right partners. We’ve worked with M&R since the beginning and they’ve been incredibly supportive. For us, relationships matter as much as the machines.”
SPW: “What’s next for Culture Studio?”
JS: “2025 is our year of automation. We’re rolling out robotics, expanding what our software can handle and reducing the need for manual data entry.
CO: “But we’re also pulling back a little – no big capital expenditures this year. We’re focusing on customer success, using the tools we already have to their full potential and possibly expanding west to get closer to a two-day ground ship across North America.”
SPW: “Finally, if you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourselves?”
CO: “Invest in Bitcoin when that random guy came into our office ten years ago! But seriously, I’d say, enjoy the ride. We’re always looking ahead, chasing the next milestone and we forget to celebrate the wins. I’d tell my younger self to stop and appreciate the journey.”
JS: “I’d agree with that. We tend to minimise the wins and focus too much on the losses. But that urgency, that culture of never settling, is what’s kept us growing.”
