About Us

It all started while my 18-month-old son was recovering from aspirating a peanut.  We were planning a dinner party.  Wine charms seemed to be a great option to help prevent full glasses of beautiful vino from going to waste because you didn't know which glass was yours. But charms look a lot like small candy - I can't have this death trap in our house!  I had to find a better way.  Instead, I etched images that represented our family on the bases of our wine glasses.  My dinner guests loved getting a "special" glass and asked where we got them - It's just "stuff" I made in my basement.  

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Over the next few years, I enjoyed late nights in the basement, honing a craft, and saw a growing need for thoughtfully branded gear that feels personal, not just personalized.  Fast forward, my brother-in-law, Dan — a retired disabled veteran — came to live with us. He already belonged; I wanted him to feel it, live it, and know we'd always find a way to make it work. Dan's arrival gave the business its why. We stopped treating it like a side project and started building something real: we launched Gear Up Nation LLC, invested in real capital equipment, and changed how we operated — going after accounts instead of one-off sales, buying wholesale instead of off the craft-store shelf, and invoicing clients instead of accepting a pizza or a bottle of wine as payment - although still a lovely gesture that won't be declined.

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What began as creating a way for my son to feel safe and belong at our table turned into building a home for Dan — and somewhere in between, it became a business. Real clients. Referrals to global enterprises. A team of our own. But it's still the same instinct that started it all: show up for the people you love, and help them feel like they belong.

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We also changed our business name: to Gear Up Nation - because I felt it was important for my kids to say the name of Mommy's company without risking a Dial Bar of Soap to the mouth.  You might see the legacy name here and there, but it will be phasing out for this next, more mature, phase of our company's life cycle.

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Want to help us grow?  Buy something or share our page!  Or better yet, ask your marketing team who does your gear - If you don't hear Gear Up Nation, we'd love to chat!