As I write this, I’m parked for the night in Grayson, Kentucky. I picked up a load in St. Joseph, Missouri headed for Daleville, Virginia, and ran around 550 miles today. Tonight I’m hauling a load of aerial lifts, the same kind line crews use to keep the lights on across this country. It’s a good reminder that America still builds things, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do with neat&bare.
That’s a lot of road and a lot of time to think, and most of that thinking goes to the company I’m building back home.
Most people think you need a big loan, investors, or a fancy office to start a company. I started mine with less than $200.
I’m Dax. By day (and plenty of nights) I’m a truck driver. I’ve spent a lot of hours on the road watching small towns that used to make things. Closed mills, empty factories, Main Streets that used to be busy. Somewhere along those miles I started asking myself a simple question: why is it so hard to buy a plain, well-made shirt that was actually made here?
So I decided to build one.
Where I Come From
When I’m not behind the wheel, I’m home in Georgia on Manzanita Farm. My wife and I raise mini donkeys and Marsh Tacky horses, a breed with deep roots in American history. Running the place is chaos and peace at the same time. Keeping an eye on all of it are our two pugs, Pearl and Pompey, who are convinced they run the place. They might be right. Pearl’s even the little greeter you may have met on this website.
That farm is where neat&bare was born.
What neat&bare Is
neat&bare is a 100% Made in USA clothing company. Simple shirts, natural materials, no shortcuts. Some of our tees are plain and clean. Some say what a lot of folks are thinking but don’t always say out loud.
What’s Next
The shirts are just the start, and I’ve got real goals for where this goes.
The first big step is buying a DTG printer, a machine that prints designs directly onto shirts. That means I can print neat&bare shirts myself instead of relying on someone else, with more control over quality and every shirt made start to finish by us.
The bigger dream is one I think about on every mile of these highways. I’m saving up to buy an old cotton mill, one of those buildings that used to keep a whole town working, and bring it back to life making clothes again. Under that same roof I want a BBQ restaurant, a brewery, and a distillery. Picture watching your shirt get made, then sitting down for brisket and a cold one made a few feet away.
Back on the farm, we want riding trails and an arena for the horses, a campground, and cabins to stay in. A real community built around making things here and enjoying them together.
How I Started With Less Than $200
I didn’t have a pile of money. I had a phone, a truck cab, and a lot of hours to think. Here’s what I did:
- Used print-on-demand so I didn’t have to buy inventory up front
- Built this website myself instead of paying someone thousands
- Designed the shirts myself
- Used free tools wherever I could
- Learned everything one step at a time, a lot of it from the road
Is it glamorous? No. Is it slow? Sometimes. But every dollar is accounted for, and everything I’ve built, I’ve built on purpose.
Why I’m Sharing This
Because I know there are other truckers, farmers, moms, dads, and regular working people out there who have an idea and think it’s too late or too expensive to start. It isn’t. You don’t need permission. You need a starting point and the stubbornness to keep going.
I’m building neat&bare from scratch, in public, one shirt and one step at a time. I’d love for you to come along for the ride.
If you believe in American-made, check out the shop. And if you’ve got a dream you’ve been sitting on, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
From I-64 and the farm,
Dax 🇺🇸