Putting Arizona on the Map and the Map on the Shirt (with Mike Spangenberg of State Forty Eight)
In this episode of the Knoodle Founders Hour, host Rosaria Cain sits down with Mike Spangenberg, co-founder and CEO of State Forty Eight, to explore how a passion for apparel and local pride transformed a $1,500 startup into one of Arizona’s most recognizable lifestyle and custom merchandise brands.
Born and raised in Chandler, Arizona, Mike spent 15 years climbing the ranks in the hospitality industry—starting as a dishwasher at a Residence Inn before working his way up to general manager. Driven by a desire to create a fashionable brand that represented Arizona’s culture beyond generic souvenir shirts, he teamed up with his co-founders in 2013. Launching with just $500 each, pressing shirts in a spare bedroom, and selling out of dirt lots at First Friday events, the team federally trademarked the State Forty Eight name and built a multi-faceted business that now includes retail, custom screen printing, fractional design services, and a thriving nonprofit arm.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- The Spark Behind the Brand: How the realization that Arizona was the 48th state led to an “aha moment” in a bathroom doorway and sparked a trademarked apparel movement.
- Humble Beginnings and Grassroots Hustle: The reality of working full-time hotel shifts while hand-pressing T-shirts in a spare bedroom and pitching booths wherever space was available.
- Pivoting for Long-Term Sustainability: Why closing three retail storefronts to double down on B2B custom merchandise, screen printing, embroidery, and e-commerce created a stronger, more resilient business model.
- High-Impact Community Collaborations: The story behind major local partnerships with former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Diamondbacks, and a touching Make-A-Wish collaboration.
- Empowering Local Entrepreneurs: How launching the State Forty Eight Foundation in 2020 has provided over $200,000 in grant funding, free educational events, and mentorship to aspiring business owners across the state.
- Leading with In-Person Hospitality: Why Mike prioritizes real-world human connections, voice calls, and hosting partners over digital noise and transactional emails.
Entrepreneurs building a brand from scratch, leaders navigating business pivots, and anyone passionate about local community impact will find immense value in Mike’s candid take on grit, leadership, and purpose-driven growth.
Tune in to this episode of the Knoodle Founders Hour podcast to hear Mike’s inspiring journey of turning a simple T-shirt idea into a statewide movement.
Full Transcript
Announcer 0:01
Welcome to the Knoodle Founder’s Hour, where we go founder to founder with host Rosaria Cain. Today, our special guest is Mike Spangenberg, co-founder, entrepreneur, and CEO of State Forty Eight who put Arizona on the map and the map on the shirt. A true Horatio Alger story you’re just gonna love. Please welcome Mike Spangenberg.
Rosaria Cain 0:21
Welcome, Mike Spangenberg from State Forty Eight, here with all his amazing inspiration and entrepreneurial spirit to talk about why he does what he does. Welcome and thank you for joining us.
Mike Spangenberg 0:33
Thank you. It’s an honor to be here. Such a cool space.
Rosaria Cain 0:36
Well, tell us how you fell in love with Arizona, because of course your brand is all about authentic Arizona. Why should people care?
Mike Spangenberg 0:44
Amen. I mean, it’s where I’m from. So I’m 41 years old. I was born and raised in Chandler, Arizona. My family is from New York. They came out here to go to school, and it used to genuinely just like upset me that there wasn’t any sense of like local pride. And I’ve always loved clothes. That was probably my favorite thing about school was back to school shopping. Remember picking out my outfits, and just as a young kid, I always knew I wanted to create something special and not to be corny, but I felt like I was put on this planet to do something remarkable. And for me, it’s been apparel. But like we were certainly solving a problem of like creating a brand that represented Arizona in a positive and fashionable way. Back then, it was really the three for 10 Walgreens shirts that just weren’t doing it for me. So it was just like I would again get upset going to Cardinal Games, like seeing all the fans rooting for everyone else, or like people want to explore opportunities outside the state after high school. And I’m like, where’s our culture? Where’s our pride? So that’s where it all kind of started from.
Rosaria Cain 1:40
What age did you did you move here?
Mike Spangenberg 1:43
I was born and raised here. Oh yeah, my family is from yeah.
Rosaria Cain 1:46
Okay, that’s great.
Mike Spangenberg 1:47
Yeah, to see where it’s you know what Arizona’s become today, I’m just so proud of and excited, and it’s why people keep moving here every day. But no, my family grew up in New York. They came out here to go to ASU, and I was born in Chandler.
Rosaria Cain 1:59
See, that’s awesome.
Mike Spangenberg 2:00
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 2:00
And you’ve seen Chandler.
Mike Spangenberg 2:01
Oh my God!
Rosaria Cain 2:02
Really change.
Mike Spangenberg 2:02
Yep. I still get people like, “What’s in Chandler? And it’s like a whole city.
Rosaria Cain 2:06
A lot, a lot has happened since they’ve probably been to Chandler. Well, what makes Arizona great?
Mike Spangenberg 2:11
I really think like the diversity and like people coming from all over. I think there’s a true reason why people are wanting to come to Arizona, and I also think like it was for me. It was like the land of opportunity. Like if I wanted to go explore creating a brand in California or New York, you know how hard that would have been. But it’s so competitive, and it was like I think anything you do when you have something you’re really passionate about, like it just becomes that much more purposeful and like that much more exciting. And I just have always like–right or wrong–I’ve always felt like the underdog, and I’ve just felt like Arizona is such a beautiful freaking place with so much opportunity, and I’m just really proud of it. And I like to focus on all the positive stuff here, but I think it’s just we have created like a melting pot, you know, of different people and cultures, and I’m just I just love it to death.
Rosaria Cain 3:01
Well, when you draw inspiration from Arizona, what do you look at that really moves you?
Mike Spangenberg 3:07
It’s always the people for us. I mean, collaborations has been you know the number one thing we do even before it became trendy. You know, our first big partnership was Bruce Arians, a former Cardinals head coach, and we created a silhouette of BA that also portion of proceeds went back to his foundation, which helped neglected children with a bad upbringing, and you know working with Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the Diamondbacks, like the people, like we would not be the brand we are today if we didn’t have the people supporting us, and that’s us just being consistent and genuinely having people on our team that want to promote love. So it’s always the people that inspire, you know feedback and designs, but of course I have a whole aesthetic of like what I love on the on the apparel side, but it’s always the people that really inspire me every day.
Rosaria Cain 3:50
Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you came up with the idea to really market Arizona in the fabric of your t shirts, yeah.
Mike Spangenberg 4:01
Funny story. So I was probably writing down names in a book for like over a year. It was funny. My mom even sent me a screenshot yesterday of some of my ideas. But what was really you know cool is I knew I wanted to create a brand that repped A Z. But then my buddy that I never thought we’d been business together. We were working together. We were living together. I shared him this vision, and he’s like, “Let’s do it together. I’m like, “Cool, but he comes out brushing his teeth one day, and he says, “State Forty Eight, and I’m like, “Again, born and raised here. I’m like, “What’s State Forty Eight? He’s like, “Arizona is the 48th state. I was like, it was the aha moment, and it was like, “We got lucky.
Rosaria Cain 4:35
How many people don’t know that?
Mike Spangenberg 4:37
A lot. I mean, a lot more now, like know it, but was a fun fact that I’m really proud of is we are the first company ever trademarked State Forty Eight in Arizona. We own that in the apparel space. There’s 100 plus organizations now with State Forty Eight branding in it. But we got lucky. But it was like that was aha moment. And then we brought on his younger brother, self-taught graphic designer. We’re like, all right, let’s go three do a three equal ways and that was one of the smartest things we ever did was trademark that our logo and our name and now we’re federally protected. Well, we have been since 2013, but that was our big moment of like. And then when we started selling shirts, and you see friends and family and people you didn’t know like just fell in love with the logo, and it really got them thinking like, what is that? And then they caught on, and it just became some really special.
Rosaria Cain 5:22
How was it in the early days? So you you founded it when you didn’t have a lot because I’ve read your I’ve read your story and I love humble beginnings. Those are I don’t know if you’re familiar a Horatio Alger story.
Mike Spangenberg 5:34
No, not familiar.
Rosaria Cain 5:35
It’s a literature where they always wrote about like pardon the pun, rags to riches stories where people started with nothing and then became millionaires. Yep. Tell me, tell me about, tell me about your story that way.
Mike Spangenberg 5:48
Yeah. So the day I joke and say I’ve always loved playing sports, but the day I could legally work, I like retired from sports in high school. I the day I could legally work, I started working at the Residence Inn by Marriott and by Chandler Fashion mall, just cleaning dishes. You know, my parent, my mom was in the hotel industry, so that’s how I got in there. But essentially, I spent 15 years in the hotel industry. That’s why I’ve always loved people. Worked my butt off to become a GM at one point. But when we started, you know, it was 1500 bucks collectively, so 500 bucks each that we invested, and we all worked full time jobs the first couple years in business. You know, we one thing we did really smart was Stefan went full time first, then Nick went second, then I went third, and that was strategic just because like where we’re at in our careers and our lives. And it was, but what we realized the more you can invest into yourself and other people, you just naturally continue to grow, right? So that was like our. I mean, we were pressing T-shirts in a spare bedroom. I mean, anywhere that allowed us to sell shirts. First Friday before it was cool in a dirt lot. It was pretty remarkable to look back, and we literally had nothing for so many years. And now we have a little something, but just really proud that we’ve grown year over year. You know, over almost 14 years now.
Rosaria Cain 7:01
What do people say to you when they give you feedback about your your T-shirts? Because they’re really quite amazing. What kind of what do you hear?
Mike Spangenberg 7:09
Yeah, thanks. It’s overwhelming amount of positive feedback, and that’s because like when I said, you know, when we were talking earlier, it’s like I really want to lead with intention and purpose more than anything. You know, with a collaborate with highlighting, oh, essentially, I want to highlight the great people and places in Arizona, and that’s through the retail side, that’s the B2B side, but it’s overwhelming amount of positive feedback of people love what we stand for, and it’s refreshing because like that, it’s just the world just needs more of that. Now we certainly have our opportunities to get better every day, and I genuinely love like I wouldn’t even say negative feedback. I’m grateful for anyone that takes the time to leave us a review to say I didn’t like this or that. You know whether it’s garment focused or the graphic. That’s how you get better, and that’s how you continue to improve. And everyone should be humble enough to take all that feedback and say, hey, these are the people that are supporting your livelihoods. Like, why not listen to them? And we really focus on retention and really loving on our people rather than always trying to acquire, acquire, acquire. So feedback is so important, and it’s not always great, but that’s great to me because they care enough to tell us how we can get better.
Rosaria Cain 8:17
Now that makes sense. Now you founded your company in 2020, that was that was a really interesting year for so many reasons. Of course, the pandemic started then. Tell me how that how that happened in a year where almost the whole world lost hope.
Mike Spangenberg 8:36
Yeah, well, we actually started our for profit in 2013, but we started a nonprofit in 2020, so I was crazy enough to be like, “Yeah, let’s start a nonprofit in the pandemic. But like to your point, you know, it’s always how I’ve gotten by is like, “We’ll figure it out. And if you have a real reason of why you’re doing this, and we always wanted to be known for more than selling T-shirts and hats, which is why we created the nonprofit State Forty Eight Foundation 501 c3. So many people reach out. So many people, especially around the pandemic time, wanting to explore their own opportunities and control their own destiny, and reach out, ask for advice. And it’s like, how can we help others be successful and win? Not because we have all the answers, but we have an incredible network, and that’s what we do on the nonprofit side. And I totally underestimated how much time and money you know goes into sustaining a nonprofit, but it’s one of the most you know incredible things that I’m that brings me the most joy every day is our nonprofit because we’re not only giving out grant funding, but we’re bringing rooms together that generally give to give and like, hey, let’s not all make the same mistakes that we’ve made over the years, whether you know, do you have good legal advice or marketing support or whatever, and we just build these rooms that really help each other. So, very long-winded answer, but it was something I definitely underestimated how much time and money and hard work went into creating a, essentially, another business in 2020.
Rosaria Cain 10:01
It is. It is. What do you like best about the nonprofit side?
Mike Spangenberg 10:06
Selfishly, it fills my cup every single day. You know, we put on free events that bring people together to talk, bring different leaders, experts, and and and the community, and say, this is my experience. This is practical tips, all that stuff. I could have a hard day, a hard week, hard month, and I go to one of our events, and I, I just like, hey, I’m surrounded with like-minded people that are all going through the same things. Because entrepreneurship, you know, everyone perceives it to be the sexy thing to do, and you’re going to go make millions of dollars. Breaking news, like if you have that figured out, awesome, let me know. But that is so much sacrifice to your own personal life, friendships. It’s very lonely. You have to let go of friends that believe in your mission and come you know take a chance with you. There’s a lot of like dark times in entrepreneurship, but it’s a beautiful thing when you can really do something you love with people you love and respect. So selfishly, it fills my cup, and it’s that’s how we’re helping create more jobs and and just create more love in Arizona by helping others win. We don’t have to keep things inside. Like people shouldn’t keep things inside, in my opinion.
Rosaria Cain 11:07
They should share.
Mike Spangenberg 11:07
Yeah, share it. And like even if you share it, doesn’t mean you’re going to go execute it, right? But like I think it’s just like so so rewarding when you can see others be happy and successful in life.
Rosaria Cain 11:17
No, that makes sense. So talking about how you got what you did before the business, what was your first entrepreneurial moment?
Mike Spangenberg 11:27
Oh, great question. So I joined again, I’ve always had this entrepreneur itch, but like this company was a it was a multi level marketing company called SendOut Cards. It was like you could essentially send a greeting card with gifts in there to someone from your computer, and it will go deliver it with handwritten notes.
Rosaria Cain 11:45
Cutting edge back then.
Mike Spangenberg 11:46
Yeah, it really was. Yeah. So like that was my first–
Rosaria Cain 11:49
What year was that?
Mike Spangenberg 11:50
Oh, great question. I started probably like 2010, 11, maybe. I don’t know. I think that was my first.
Rosaria Cain 11:57
The internet was young.
Mike Spangenberg 11:59
Yeah. I remember even going to like Utah for like a tour of their corporate office, but you know it just wasn’t for me. But like I’ve always just wanted something where I can control my own destiny and not worry about the government or others or what whatever is going on in the world. Like I just wanted to do something impactful, and like that was my first like kind of experience. But I was not. I was not great at that, and I wasn’t like passionate about it. I think that’s the number one thing that brings out my skill sets. Is like you got to be passionate about and love what you do, otherwise you’re gonna give up probably.
Rosaria Cain 12:33
Tell me about your really early days. So, paper out selling candy for your your team.
Mike Spangenberg 12:41
I didn’t. I don’t think I had like any of those early like selling lemonade on the.
Rosaria Cain 12:46
No, I didn’t sell lemonade on the corner?
Mike Spangenberg 12:48
No, but like I’ve always like even as a kid, I never really cared about like cartoons or video games. Like it was either ESPN or business, and like still now, I absolutely–
Rosaria Cain 12:57
That’s pretty telling.
Mike Spangenberg 12:58
Obsessed with documentaries. I want to learn. Like time is so limited. I want to get better every day. I was always investing in myself, so that’s a characteristic of entrepreneurship, right? So, like the day I could legally work, I started working. I didn’t have, you know, my mom or dad to give me a car. I had to go earn it, and like I’ve always loved that, and that would always fire me up. So I think it was more of just like it was certainly inside of me, but I didn’t have those early days that I recall.
Rosaria Cain 13:22
Yeah, but you had that drive.
Mike Spangenberg 13:29
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 13:29
Which is really which is really great.
Mike Spangenberg 13:32
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 13:32
and then when did you start really? Now you you went to the residence inn. You started at the bottom.
Mike Spangenberg 13:37
Yep.
Rosaria Cain 13:37
Washing dishes. Ended up general manager. How did that happen?
Mike Spangenberg 13:40
Yeah, I think it was just–
Rosaria Cain 13:42
And how old were you?
Mike Spangenberg 13:43
I became a GM before I left. I mean, so it had been 2011/12. I was an operation manager for like many years, basically, you know, supporting the GM and the business. But I think what got me to where I’m at today is always my work ethic and how I treat people, and I don’t need, you know. Sometimes you learn from managers or leaders of like what not to do, and I’ve always known that I wanted to treat people the way I wanted to treat people that actually would like inspire and also like make them feel worthy and and good, but I think it was always like I didn’t need. I’m gonna do the things that I know need to get done, even if someone’s not looking. And I think that’s important. Like act the role, earn the role before you even get the role. You know, become the the GM before you’re even like I was even a young manager, and I had you know grown men and women reaching out to me of like that support, or what could I do? Or I would be answering my phone at 11p.m. at night, or the night auditor, you know, calls off, and I was there to step up and show up. Right? It was in before, like again, I wanted to earn that and play the part just because that’s naturally how I do things before I actually like was given it. And I think more people will be. Successful in whatever career path they’re going to, if if they went down that route.
Rosaria Cain 15:04
So you’re like the guy that always wants the ball.
Mike Spangenberg 15:06
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 15:07
In in terms of a sports analogy.
Mike Spangenberg 15:09
Yep, I agree with that.
Rosaria Cain 15:10
You don’t want to just pass it and let somebody else do it. You wanna you wanna be there at the end.
Mike Spangenberg 15:14
Yeah, because I remember even like um you know hotel meetings and like you know leader was I was like, man, I wish I would, I would like to add here, or I would want to like you know do things a little differently. No, nothing disrespectful, but just more of like, I could always, I have a lot of self awareness. I’m good at people skills, and I think that’s ultimately got me to where I’m at today.
Rosaria Cain 15:35
Do you remember the moment when–I know you talked about your friends that became really important to putting this whole company together. Do you remember the moment you decided you wanted to go into business yourself?
Mike Spangenberg 15:51
Yeah, it had to be. I don’t remember the year, but I mean it had to be like elementary school or junior high. Like you said earlier, like I was born an entrepreneur, and I just always felt like I was put on this planet to do something of my own, create jobs, and do things differently. I’m big on that. Like I don’t want to talk to people say how are you good in the same old you know surface level stuff like challenge. What’s been the best part of your day, or like what are you most passionate about right now? Like because I’m challenging myself every day to be better, and I just want, you know, to have more of that, some more purpose. But yeah, I don’t recall like an an age, but it was certainly early on.
Rosaria Cain 16:30
That’s great. Do you remember when you started your business and you decided to take the plunge? I mean, was there a specific event or person that impacted your choice?
Mike Spangenberg 16:45
No, great question. I remember Steph and Nic and I; those were my partners at the time, and we’d argue about this stuff all the time. And I remember it turned into like a real, like you know, healthy but serious argument of like them challenging me to finally take you know take the leap because I transitioned to basically be having the same responsibilities at work as an operation manager, but only working half the week and and cutting my pay so that way I could spend more time, stay free, and it was like–
Rosaria Cain 17:10
Kind of a nice transition into it.
Mike Spangenberg 17:15
So like, and that was I’m so grateful for like leadership. You know, I had amazing relationship with the team at the hotel because they knew what ultimately I was building, and they knew it was going to come. But I’m like, hey, let me help you help me. Of like, let me go transition so it’s not like zero to 60. And that you gave me a little bit more comfort because I had a salary, I had you know benefits, all that stuff, and I was like, you hope that it’s all gonna work out, but it was just even imagining back in the day of like for us even to work full time was like a dream come true, and the fact that you know now we have 25 team members is like still you got to pinch yourself, but it was very very healthy argument between probably Stephan and I and Nic, and just challenge me like you got to stop being you know comfortable and just go for it. And finally said, yeah, I agree. And then you know easier said than done when you’re like always hustling and trying to you know generate more sales to justify it. But again, like the more you invest in yourself and other people, it always tends to work out.
Rosaria Cain 18:20
A lot of highs and lows in entrepreneurship.
Mike Spangenberg 18:22
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Rosaria Cain 18:23
Tell me about if you like your low point. Tell me, have you ever have you ever thought why did I do this?
Mike Spangenberg 18:30
Not why. Why did I do this? but you know, for the first time even last year, I thought about quitting. You know, that was when. So little backstory. Stephan was my original partner. He exited the business probably five years ago. We just didn’t get along well, you know. But we had a healthy breakup. He wanted to go explore opportunities in in a different state. And now works for Nike, and we’re better friends. And we wouldn’t be anywhere without Stephan and Nic and myself, and then Nic and I, you know, never really saw eye to eye often on like just like division, and he had great ideas. I had great ideas. We just never really like clicked, but it came till last year after we closed three out of our four stores because the math was no longer mathing for retail, I just wasn’t happy, and I just knew something dramatic needed to change. And I was like, I know where this company needs to go. And when Nic and I just had a very healthy, honest, you know, tough conversation, it’s like I’m like, it’s either you or me, because like I want to enjoy life, I want to be happy doing this, and it became more tedious, and it was sucking out all the passion in life of me of like not having the success I wanted to and the impact. So thank God for Nic. Like we had another healthy breakup, so now he exited the business in October. He still serves on our board. We have a better relationship since, but it was at that time where, like you know, there was a couple years, you know, we probably lost a quarter of a million dollars because we just weren’t executing. And it was, yes, we have an amazing business and a lot of impact, but it was just the the finances weren’t like humming, and I’m just like, you know, partially that’s on me too, but it’s just like it wasn’t. We just weren’t great partners together. So thankfully, like now he’s exited and happy and being a dad and like doing his own thing. And I’ve never been more happy and optimistic of like kind of eating crap for a few years to really see. Okay, this is no longer working. How do we get it right to really scale back in order to scale up, so the vision is clear as day for myself and the team, and I’m just so stoked for like the future and where it’s going. So that was those were kind of some some darker years. You know, I’m very positive, optimistic guy, but it was really the business was eating me alive.
Rosaria Cain 21:00
That’s the thing about being in business, though, isn’t it? You’re sure to. You don’t really. It’s a shame we don’t really learn so much about the good times. I mean, we learn some, mostly that we really like it, but the bad times is really where you dig deep, and you learn what to do and what not to do.
Mike Spangenberg 21:19
Yeah, it’s a beautiful point because, like, I’m guilty. It’s like a blessing and a curse. You’re never satisfied. I don’t–
Rosaria Cain 21:25
That’s a gift to never be satisfied, actually.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, but I don’t celebrate the wins enough. And there’s a lot of great things, incredible things have happened in my journey as an entrepreneur and our business. Like we had a young lady last year pick State Forty Eight for her Make a Wish. Like she could have selected anything in the world. And not only did she select us, but we created a collection to help her generate money that she decided to give all to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. That saved her life. Like that brings tears to yourself, knowing like you’ve created a brand that genuinely loves on people that people recognize that. That’s all like that’s the best part, but then when you look at the P and L, and it’s not you-you have a lot of pressure on yourselves. Like you have other people’s livelihoods, can you help them grow? Like, so that was really eating at me, and you know, I made some bad decisions, like we’ve all had, and as learning to become a CEO, right? There’s no textbook to that. I learned as I went.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
And some of the ones with all of the answers have none of the answers.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, so it’s like that’s again blessing and curse. You’re never satisfied. You’re going to keep going, going, going. That’s like where I pay a lot of tribute to my leadership skills. Of like, I’m gonna work my butt off until we figure it out.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
I asked you this before we were on camera. Of how about another state, or how will you expand?
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah. So what I’m really proud of now is like our company has really become a one-stop shop for all apparel and design. And what I mean is like we have one retail store now. We have e-commerce that wants to grow outside of even the state. Most of our audience is Arizona, or they have ties to Arizona. They went to ASU. They went to NAU, GCU, and they live somewhere else. But where I really think we can go further is like our messaging of loving on people, supporting entrepreneurship, Western vibes. You know, those kind of things can be attractive to everyone in the world. So we have a massive opportunity to grow our audience outside the state, while still staying true to whowe are, and that’s just representing our hometown. Just like everyone cares where they’re from, so that’s one thing. But we also offer the biggest part of our business is creating like custom designs for other organizations, and now even offering like fractional design services for other organizations that don’t want to hire designers, but we can dedicate a designer. We offer screen printing and embroidery for other organizations. So we really have multiple revenue streams now that allows us to be attractive to anyone really in the world. You know, whether it’s manufacturing, whether it’s helping develop a product, it’s a custom story on a shirt, or the retail component. So I’m really pumped of like what we’ve set ourselves up for to be more sustainable and successful.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Where do you see yourself in three years?
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
So on the nonprofit side, making even that much more impact. Year to you know since we’ve started in 2020, we’ve given out $200,000 of grant funding. We’re hoping to give out another $100,000 this year alone. So that just shows you the growth we’re making to create these rooms with 1000s of people that are just helping each other, you know, create jobs that are sustainable and create their and just and follow their passion. So that’s where on the impact side, I’m really, really pumped about. And then the for profit is just like really having much more, because we’ve had to dig ourselves out of our hole for the last couple years of you know the retail decisions, and to really have that much more of a financial sustainable and successful company by just really focusing on what we do best. And that’s if we could just print most people’s uniforms in Arizona and beyond, we’d be crushing it, and then that way we could do much. More intentional projects on the retail side, more fun, you know, stuff where we’re not so reliant on sales. So that’s where I really see us is like we’ve set it up. Now we just have to execute, and it’s just we care about quality, we care about service. Like we can really solve everyone’s problems in Arizona for merch or design through our company. So it’s just educating everyone of what we can do because most people just know us as like the State Forty Eight logo and the custom designs, but they don’t know the other part of like printing and designing.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
It’s great to have that brand, though.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, absolutely.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
I love that part.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Which is an entry card to all those other things.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Amen.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Well, tell me how did you come to the brand, and how do you approach marketing?
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
So I love marketing. It’s something I I think about
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Natural. Yeah, so you have a natural ability.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, and I you know what I really love about marketing right now when I keep preaching every day is like the old school way of like actually inviting more people to our store and meeting people every day, and behind the scenes, like I, we could preach digital. People are so overwhelmed and kind of tired of like being sold to on the digital. Like you can only articulate your story and who you are so much on something that people watch for three seconds, right? So what we do now is like we have so many amazing partners who’ve worked with probably 2000 plus organizations in Arizona, we’re strategically focused on trying to bring more of you know five to seven partners into our office every week, just to come shop, to have lunch, to come learn, meet the people behind the brand.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Much softer touch.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yes, and then like then when you get to know myself, the people behind the brand, you’re like, oh my god I love them like they’re genuine you know they’re doing…
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Like your brand.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah and that’s where really focusing on sure there’s all these marketing campaigns and different things you could do and I think technology’s certainly making that easier but I’m really focusing on like creating more impersonal, in person experiences through our nonprofit or for profit because that’s what that’s what creates like loyal supporters.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
It’s funny. I get so tired of Zoom meetings, don’t you?
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, there’s a there’s a time and place for.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Well, there is. I mean, and sometimes they’re necessary. Yeah, but it sure is nice seeing people person to person.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Amen. Yeah, and you just and and that’s where I want because we have a lot of young professionals on our team, and just even general, I think the young young bucks get a bad rep now. Of like, that there’s they have so much information at their at their fingertips where you could really be able to do anything you want. But what you, I think, more people need to focus on is those people skills. Like, stop relying on email. Stop relying on texting. Call someone. Send them a voice message, like invite him somewhere, go to their event. Like people want to. I think one of the most you know important things about being successful in life is like, does someone actually want to hang around you? You know, can you actually have a conversation? You know, that’s what’s going to take you to the next level because everyone’s going to have all this technology at their fingertips. But how do you differentiate yourself and be someone at like, oh my god, I can’t wait to see you, or like, you know, that’s where I’m really preaching to a team of like, if there’s an issue or whatever, randomly just call people, just you know, get a get a off of just like relying.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
Don’t email them when their desk is eight feet away.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, yeah,
Rosaria Cain 21:27
And that happens.
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah, it’s a lot of wasted times.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
It is, and some of it’s generational too. Do you find it’s more difficult to have those conversations with the Gen Zs, for instance?
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
Yeah. Yes and no. I think if you bring in the right people that fit within your values, like have a lot of young professionals that I’m so proud of, and they work their butt off and like, and it and it’s and it’s great. The best organization should have a diverse group of like, you know, generations and how you think and like it challenges us all. So yeah, there’s definitely challenges. But I always like probably am my harshest critic, and I say, how can I be better? Not as tough as a leader. You gotta know everyone’s love language, and just because you do things this way doesn’t mean this person does this thing, and that has been very challenging to learn over time. Because I know I always mean well doesn’t mean I always articulate that well, or someone doesn’t want to be recognized in front of everyone, or they they you know there’s just all these different ways to to work with people, and I think that makes me better.
Rosaria Cain 21:27
That makes sense. Well, you’re also in the creative space. How are you regarding AI right now?
Mike Spangenberg 21:27
I love I love it. I think the people that that shy away from it and just like hate it are gonna get passed by. But I think you have to use it to your advantage in order to create more time for humanity and like the things you love the most, like for example, I actually just sent out a new challenge this week to our team, trying this new challenge every week, and this one’s like, how can we prepare better, you know? And if even if we use technology at our fingertips for more research, you know, ideas or whatever it is, if we save 15 minutes a day over a year, that gives us 60 hours. A year back, like you could be enjoying life more, and that’s just one easy example. So, like, I don’t think, especially in design world, you see these graphics being made that are all AI and they’re you know respectfully terribly looking, and you still need great humans and to put it all together. But if you’re not using that to streamline your systems and processes, or
Rosaria Cain 21:27
It has its place.
Mike Spangenberg 22:09
Yeah, what’s the most tedious stuff? Like I freaking love it to death. Like you know, I could have them analyze my P and L like quickly, or I can just digest this, you know, legal letter or something like. There’s a lot, like, and especially people forget you have to really invest into getting them to get to know your your voice, whether it’s copy or brand, and like so, I’m absolutely loving it. It could be overwhelming at times, but it’s just like I think the best use of it is like researching and and eliminating all the tedious stuff that like most of us don’t want to do in their jobs. So we could focus on more of what we’re really good at, and that ultimately creates more ROI for yourself and the company?
Rosaria Cain 31:01
So when we talk about approaching your marketing, do you do it in house or how do you how do you look at it?
Mike Spangenberg 31:06
Yeah, so in house, but we also have a couple contractors that spent time in the agency world that do their own thing now. So work with you know especially the email, the paid ad side. But we don’t have a big team. But I still am big part of like the marketing side.
Rosaria Cain 31:21
It’s what is. I imagine it sounds like it’s what you love to do.
Mike Spangenberg 31:24
I love that the most. Like if…
Rosaria Cain 31:25
You’re a natural.
Mike Spangenberg 31:26
Yeah. If I could be just doing these kind of things and just talking to humans and like educating people on what we’re all about, like I would be that.
Rosaria Cain 31:34
Kind of like a brand ambassador.
Mike Spangenberg 31:35
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 31:35
And you are essentially right.
Mike Spangenberg 31:38
Unfortunately, the CEO role requires a lot more other stuff, but that’s my goal to build this business up where it’s more sustainable, where it’s not so reliant on me, and I could just be that person, you know, moving the business along because I do consider myself a visionary, and I’m never gonna sleep until we’re, you know, I don’t know if I’ll ever sleep, you know, and the into the when and what I mean by that is like till I know that we keep learning and growing and getting better, but I would love to not just not be in my email, not to be in all those in P and L, the finances, paying bills, all that stuff, the forecasting. I would love just to be talking to people and and growing the business.
Rosaria Cain 32:15
As you look at the rest of the year and next year, what do you want to do better at as a CEO? Not that there’s anything you need to do better, but there must be something.
Mike Spangenberg 32:27
No problem admitting that. You know, I would say just getting the most out of everyone. You know, I have no problem inspiring when I can have conversations, but like, I think challenging myself to continue to be a better listener and to really learn like what fires everyone up and get the most out of people because you get to a point sometimes where just like here’s the goals I need everyone to execute because you’re limited time but like I could be investing even more to to a certain degree of like how can I really make sure you’re maximizing your full potential and the happiest you’ve ever been too? So I would say probably a lot is those those people skills within.
Rosaria Cain 33:11
Well, as a visionary and as a leader, when you decide you’re going to go forward. Are you more like a coach? Is that kind of is no, not not that.
Mike Spangenberg 33:25
No, okay. Oh, sorry. Go ahead.
Rosaria Cain 33:28
No, no. Tell me what it is.
Mike Spangenberg 33:30
Of how I like manage?
Rosaria Cain 33:31
Yeah, or what kind of what kind of role do you play as as CEO? How do you see yourself running the field?
Mike Spangenberg 33:39
Yeah. So I’m in. I’m involved not in a micromanaging way, but I’m involved with everything. Like I know the business inside and out. Like I want the best out of everyone, so I’m constantly pushing. That’s where I think I want the most out of everyone, like for them personally, but also for the business, right? And I genuinely care about that. Like I want people to leave if they leave State Forty Eight. Like man, I learned so much about hospitality that now can translate into my next career or job, right? And that’s where, like, the hospitality experiences, like, people are tired of me at work in like a loving way because, like, I’m preaching that every day of like, I don’t ever want our company to be transactional. Like, when you come into our store, it’s not about you know trying to sell you on the next couple tank tops.
Rosaria Cain 34:23
Right.
Mike Spangenberg 34:23
It’s like, how can I get to know you? How can I make your day better? And I mean that with all sincerity of like preparing for pleasant surprises. If you’re in store and we’re we’re talking about you just lost someone special in your life, do I have something there ready to to comfort you in, or can I just you know provide you you know a follow up call that next week. That is the beauty of like business when you can create stories that people tell. You create an experience where people want to tell stories about. So that’s where I think is my strength of like I’m always pushing and wanting the most out of everyone, and it makes them uncomfortable because you got to get uncomfortable to grow. And I think that’s probably my strongest skill set of just like I never sleep because I generally need everyone on the business to really help us continue to move forward, and I tell them that every day. So I’m gonna want more out of you, not in like a unreasonable way, but just like you could do so much more, and that’s kind of like my…
Rosaria Cain 35:22
That makes sense. So what’s next? What’s next for State Forty Eight?
Mike Spangenberg 35:26
Yeah, it’s really we’ve spent so much time this last year or so creating better you know systems and processes, SOPs, really structuring restructuring the business. Now it’s just about executing. It really is like can we just educate more and more people to move their business with us on screen printing, embroidery. We’re grateful that we get to collaborate with so many organizations. We want to keep growing our retail presence and like providing things that not only people in Arizona want, but people you know outside the state want. And then just you know growing our nonprofit and making more impact, so that’s what I feel so refreshed about. You know, going on 14 years in business and finally to the point where it’s like, okay, now it’s really time-not necessarily to be building everything, but just to go to execute. You know, and then we’re going to be that much better of a business.
Rosaria Cain 36:16
Well, you have so much to offer. What advice would you give somebody on starting a business without a pot of money.
Mike Spangenberg 36:24
Yeah,
Rosaria Cain 36:25
Because you’ve done that.
Mike Spangenberg 36:26
Yep. Yeah. So definitely, what problem are you solving? Are you passionate about this? Because if you don’t have the passion behind it, it’s going to be really hard to to go through all those dark times. That’s that’s one one thing that we failed miserably at is defining our roles and responsibilities as three friends and found and co-founders. We spent we wasted so much time spinning our wheels on doing the same things. Where I had a better skill set than Steph, Steph, and I had a better skill set than me here, Nic. So really, before you start a business, like is this truly who you want to go into business with? Because it’s very hard to work with friends and family. It could be possible. It could work really well, but it’s very, very hard to have those honest, tough conversations. Are those the people you want to go with? And then, what are your roles and responsibilities? What am I going to focus on? What is Nic going to focus on? What is Stephan going to focus on? I think a lot of people starting something up now, like myself and us. Like we just went for it and figured out as we went, and so thankful that we got to where we’re at today. But a lot of organizations won’t have that same luck or success if you don’t create better systems and process early on.
Rosaria Cain 37:41
Who do you not listen to, or what do you not listen to?
Mike Spangenberg 37:46
Negativity, that’s for sure, or excuses. I’m just don’t like that. You know, I was I was reading something today, and you know, to a certain extent, I believe in this 100% But like, you have to be careful listening too much of the outside feedback that people don’t even that don’t even support you. Like if they’re not paying customers, like sure you welcome that feedback, but like you should really be dialed in and narrowed in on like the people that are actually supporting your business and have put money behind that and invested in that to give you that feedback, if you listen, you know, especially early on, if you your friends and family are always going to have opinions, and and it could be, it can get it can get a it could get crazy in your in your head, and it can get noisy. But it’s really trying to focus on like who are like your customers and what are they telling you.
Rosaria Cain 38:40
That’s great advice. What do you wish you knew before you started your business? Is there something that comes to mind?
Mike Spangenberg 38:49
I guess just how important systems and processes are. However, it’s kind of double edged sword because like I’ve always believed like you need sales in order to create better systems and processes in order to bring on more people to do that, but I should have invested more into like the right people and systems and process earlier on. Like we didn’t have financial support for four or five years, that set us back, you know. And just having someone who could really execute vision. So yeah, it’s really those are a couple things that kind of stick out to me.
Rosaria Cain 39:20
So I imagine you work a lot.
Mike Spangenberg 39:22
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 39:22
Based on our conversation, what what habits and routines keep you grounded?
Mike Spangenberg 39:27
Yeah. So I really love a good routine, especially now. Like I’m also trying not to just. I’m understanding out working. Everyone’s not always the most sustainable and going to bring you the most happiness, but a routine for me is like I try not to be anywhere before 10 in the morning now, and that’s really allowed me to wake up. You know, I’m an early riser anyway, but like wake up, do things. You know, go to the gym, break a sweat, go for a walk. You know, make a couple calls, really to control my day and not to get right into my phone and email and social, right at the beginning, I listened to a podcast one time, and they said, imagine like you wake up and you just let 1000s of people in your room. That’s what it’s like when you go to like open it up to social media or email, and then you go these 20 different directions, right? So I think really protecting my mornings, which I value the most to allow you if you do need to pivot, but like really to start your day off right because if you don’t have the right mindset, you’re going to be worthless, you know. So that’s that’s kind of been a routine that’s really worked well for me. And then I’m good with if I need to work till eight or 9p.m. if I need to, if I don’t. But I really want to protect my mornings because that starting the day off is so valuable.
Rosaria Cain 40:42
I’m a morning person too. I totally understand. What about you would surprise people?
Mike Spangenberg 40:48
I mean, I have almost every Arizona tattoo there is.
Rosaria Cain 40:51
That’s good.
Mike Spangenberg 40:51
Don’t know if that would surprise many people? I would probably say just you know, entrepreneurship in general, founders, CEOs, like it’s perceived to be so much more glamorous than what it really is. And again, don’t get me wrong. Like I get to do this, I love this, so I’m not like knocking it. But it brings a lot of stress and pressure to myself, and I’m my harshest critic, and I’m you know really hard on myself a lot. And I think that’s why I always push for more and more support from marketing. But I would say those are a couple things.
Rosaria Cain 41:26
It’s a lot to carry around, isn’t it?
Mike Spangenberg 41:27
Yeah, it is. And like, how again, it gets so lonely, and you got to figure things out on your own. So you have to have a great, you know, network around you that you can bounce off ideas. Because like, as the CEO, founder, you have to, for some reason, you need to know all the answers, which I get, right? But that doesn’t mean I know all the answers. But it’s really putting the work in to see what’s the best, you know, decision for a company, and no problem saying like, okay, I was wrong here. We’re gonna figure it out, and that’s what I…
Rosaria Cain 41:57
Everybody’s wrong.
Mike Spangenberg 41:57
Yeah, and that’s what I preach more like to the team. I want your ideas. Like, don’t be afraid to fail because it’s not really a failure. It’s not a piece of failure. It’s more of like, okay, now I’ve gained this experience that’s making me that much more prepared for the next time. So yeah, just how harsh I could be on myself, and just how much you know work and sometimes sadness it could bring, like when you have to give up so much of like your free time for the ultimate vision of like creating more time for yourself and others. You know, if that makes sense.
Rosaria Cain 42:33
That makes perfect sense. And on that note, we’re going to end this interview. You’re amazing to talk to, and I think you brought forth some great advice. So thank you for stopping in there.
Mike Spangenberg 42:41
Thanks for having me. Appreciate you.