Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Smith-Love.
Hi Deanna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
N the Zone Ink actually started by accident.
Late 2009: My husband, Josh Love (boyfriend at the time), had worked for a local screen printing shop many years prior while he was in high school. Years later, all of the equipment and supplies from that business came up for auction. After a lot of thought and discussion, we bought everything for just $2,000 and set it up in our garage. By this time, everything was very outdated, but we pulled together what was still useful and made it work.
At the time, we weren’t planning to build a company. We both had full-time jobs. We simply thought it would be a fun side business where Josh could earn a little extra income making custom apparel for the local schools, youth sports, clubs, and community organizations our kids were involved with.
After plenty of trial and error, our family stood in the garage and watched as Josh pulled the very first prints off the manual screen printing press of what would eventually become N the Zone Ink.
Early 2010: During the recession, like so many others, I lost my job. The very next day, I “went to work” for N the Zone Ink by setting up a desk in our dining room. I took on sales, email marketing, purchasing, accounts receivable, and even taught myself Adobe Illustrator while Josh continued working his full-time job. He would come home in the evenings, print our orders in the garage, and we’d do it all again the next day. During this time, Josh and I became partners in the business.
One of our biggest early wins came when we convinced an apparel distributor to give us dealer pricing for one year. The catch? We had to purchase $10,000 worth of apparel during that first year to keep our account. At the time, we honestly didn’t think there was any way we’d hit that number. We still laugh about how impossible it seemed.
Mid 2010: As the business quickly grew, we moved from our garage into a small building in town that had no water or sewer. Thanks to our incredible neighbors at Dutch Bros Coffee, we were able to bring water into the building via a garden hose, while Josh designed and built a makeshift water tank system so our wastewater could be pumped out. The shop wasn’t glamorous, but it worked. Within a few months, Josh left his full time job to go “all in” on N the Zone Ink. There was no turning back at this point and deffinately one of the hardest pivotal moments in our journey.
From the very beginning, every dollar N the Zone Ink earned went right back into the business. Rather than paying ourselves, we each started another business to support our family. I launched a wedding floral design business, and Josh started a specialty machined parts business. Those businesses helped cover our personal finances while N the Zone Ink invested in equipment, software, people, and its future. This continued for multiple years. We worked the side businesses on nights and weekends.
Looking back, those early years taught us that building a business isn’t about overnight success. It’s about perseverance, sacrifice, and being willing to do whatever it takes to keep moving forward.
2012: We upgraded to a 1,500-square-foot shop, with full plumbing! We also purchased our first automatic screen printing press, which dramatically increased our production capacity without increasing our team until we were truely ready.
2016: We purchased a local embroidery business and moved both companies into our current 7,500-square-foot facility. Embroidery was always something we knew we wanted to add because it complements screen printing so well. When a fellow embroiderer decided it was time to retire, it turned into the perfect opportunity for both of us.
2020–2021: Like many businesses, the pandemic forced us to adapt. We made significant investments in equipment, automation, and software that allowed us to continue producing efficiently with a much smaller crew. Many of those improvements continue to benefit us today.
Over the years, N the Zone Ink has grown far beyond what we ever imagined. Along the way, we realized our business isn’t just about printing great-looking apparel. It’s about creating an exceptional customer experience, building strong systems, developing an incredible team, and fostering a culture where people genuinely enjoy coming to work and take pride in what they do.
2026: We purchased the future home of N the Zone Ink, a 12,080-square-foot building that will support the next chapter of our growth. The new facility will house our third automatic screen printing press alongside our embroidery department with 18 heads, as well as our heat pressing, sewing, and finishing departments. Today, N the Zone Ink employs 19 amazing team members.
Today, we’re proud to serve businesses, schools, nonprofits, events, and organizations throughout Central Oregon. While we’ve grown tremendously since those garage days, what I’m most proud of is that we’re still learning and improving. Every day we challenge ourselves to become better leaders, better partners, and better stewards of the business we’re fortunate to build together.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all. Like most entrepreneurs, we’ve had our share of challenges, and those challenges have changed over the years.
In the beginning, the challenge was simply figuring everything out. Neither of us had experience running a business, so every day felt like a crash course in entrepreneurship. We learned through trial and error, made plenty of mistakes, and wore just about every hat imaginable.
Cash flow was a constant challenge. We struggled to get loans for equipment, convince new customers we could handle their projects, and establish business credit. We quickly learned that building business credit can be much harder than building personal credit. It took a lot of “no’s” before we finally started hearing “yes,” but we never let those setbacks stop us.
It was about 18 months before I received my first paycheck as a co-founder, and it was very modest, somewhere around $1,500 month. It was nearly three years before Josh received his first paycheck from the business. In the meantime, every dollar possible went back into growing N the Zone Ink. Even family trips were funded through yard sales. We were scrappy, resourceful, and determined to make it work.
As co-founders, another challenge we didn’t expect was impostor syndrome. It took years to build the confidence to truly see ourselves as business owners, trust our expertise, say no when something wasn’t in our wheelhouse, learning what our value was and charge appropriately for the value we provided.
As the business grew, we discovered that growth brings an entirely new set of challenges. Hiring the right people, building systems, maintaining quality, and creating consistency became just as important as bringing in new customers. Growth isn’t a straight line. Every time we reached a new level, the systems that had worked so well suddenly needed to evolve. We learned that growing a business means constantly improving it.
Like many businesses, the pandemic brought its own challenges. It pushed us to become more efficient, invest in automation and technology, and rethink how we operated. While it was a difficult time, all of the improvements we made during those years continue to benefit our business today.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that every challenge is an opportunity to improve. Some of our best ideas, systems, and processes were born from problems we were trying to solve. Today, that’s actually one of my favorite parts of the business, finding better ways to lead, improve, and create a stronger company for our team and our customers.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
N the Zone Ink is a full-service apparel decoration and promotional products company based in Bend, Oregon. We partner with businesses, schools, nonprofits, sports organizations, and events to bring their brands to life through custom merchandise. From screen printing and embroidery to promotional products, online company stores, fulfillment, sewing, heat pressing, and finishing services, we provide a true one-stop solution.
What sets us apart isn’t just what we make, it’s the experience we provide. We believe every order represents something important to someone, and we treat it that way. Whether it’s a small local fundraiser or a large corporate program, our goal is to make the process easy, enjoyable, and stress-free.
One of the things our customers love most is our 1,000-square-foot showroom. In today’s world, so much is ordered online without ever seeing the product first. We wanted to offer something different. Our customers can come in, explore hundreds of apparel and promotional product options, compare colors, feel the fabrics, and even try garments on before placing an order. It gives them confidence that they’re spending their hard-earned money on products they’ll truly be happy with. We believe great customer service starts long before the order is placed.
I’m also incredibly proud of the culture we’re building. We’ve invested heavily in leadership, coaching, and continuous improvement because we believe that when we take great care of our team, they’ll take great care of our customers.
At the end of the day, we’re not just decorating apparel, we’re helping people tell their stories, build their brands, and create products they’re proud to share with the world.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
One thing that surprises people is that after more than 16 years, Josh and I still genuinely enjoy working together every day.
People ask us all the time, “How do you work with your spouse?” The truth is, we couldn’t imagine building this business any other way.
We’ve always said that N the Zone Ink wouldn’t exist without both of us. We have very different strengths, and that’s exactly what makes our partnership work. Josh is an incredible builder and problem solver. He thrives in production, equipment, finance and finding creative solutions to challenges. I’m passionate about sales, marketing, leadership, systems, and creating an exceptional customer experience. We each have our own roles and responsibilities, and there’s a great deal of trust and respect for what the other brings to the business.
Looking back, especially in those early years, working together was actually how we got to spend time together. We were both working around the clock, and if we hadn’t been building N the Zone Ink side by side, we probably wouldn’t have seen much of each other at all.
After all these years, I honestly can’t imagine doing it any other way. Building this business together has been one of the greatest adventures of our relationship, and I’m grateful we’ve been able to share every step of the journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.NTZINK.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nthezoneink
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nthezoneink
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/n-the-zone-ink?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NtheZoneINK
- Other: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bu5kUFzubMsN4Ega9
Image Credits
Mady Love with Madyson Takes Photos
