Beyond the Shop

Most days, you’ll find me at Pate Ranch Creations making products, filling orders, working with customers, and figuring out the next problem that needs solving. But another part of this business that has become increasingly important to me happens outside the shop. I also speak at conferences and industry events, sharing what I’ve learned from actually building and running a maker business. In September 2026, I’ll be speaking at UV Energize in Nashville, Tennessee, which will mark my fifth conference as a speaker. My session, The Varsity Edge: Navigating College Trademarks Without Getting Sidelined, focuses on university licensing and trademarks—an area I’ve had to learn firsthand as both a maker and a licensed vendor.

From Doing the Work to Teaching It

I never set out with a goal of becoming a conference speaker. It happened because the lessons learned inside a real working shop can be useful to other makers trying to grow their own businesses. My presentations tend to focus on the practical side of the industry: business strategy, marketing, systems, data, licensing, laser processes, and the lessons that come from making plenty of mistakes along the way. I’m not teaching theory from the sidelines. I’m usually talking about things we are actively doing, testing, fixing, or learning at Pate Ranch.

Why I Enjoy Speaking

One of the best things about the maker community is how much knowledge gets shared between businesses. A lesson that took one shop months—or sometimes years—to figure out can save another business a lot of wasted time and money. That is what I try to bring to every presentation: real-world information that people can take home and actually use. Speaking also forces me to look closely at my own business. When you have to explain a process, strategy, or lesson to a room full of people, you quickly figure out whether you truly understand it yourself.

Still a Maker First

As much as I enjoy speaking, I’m still a maker and small-business owner first. The shop is where the stories, lessons, numbers, successes, and occasional disasters come from. The conferences simply give me an opportunity to take what I’ve learned here in Texas and share it with a larger community. Five conferences in, I’m still grateful every time someone thinks something I’ve learned might be worth listening to. And then I come home, walk back into the shop, and get back to work.