Author: Mallory Fencil
Ellen Daigle, then a nurse, envisioned herself spending more time with her children and made the tough decision to leave her career behind and pursue her dream of starting a business. Daigle set out to find a new career and went back to college to take classes to explore her artistic aspirations.
“I kind of had a vision of getting a VW bus, having my little sign painting equipment in the back of the bus, taking the kids with me and going around and making signs,” Daigle said.
Daigle divorced her first husband, and, in an attempt to spend her days with her children, sought a new occupation.
“Nursing is a great career, but it is very hard,” Daigle said. “When I got divorced,
I wanted to stay home, so I was thinking of things that I could do and include
my children.”
Pasadena City College provided an intensive program dedicated to sign painting, which was done entirely by hand at the time. However, Daigle soon decided that she was better off working on the business side of silk screening.
“Although I’m creative and although I have an eye, I really was terrible at
measuring, and I wasn’t good at fastidious repetition. It wouldn’t have been a
good mix for me, but it introduced me to other possibilities.”
Attending classes in the afternoons and going to work in the mornings, Daigle would spend her evenings doing homework and writing up hospital reports. When she started her business, she hired a UCLA student to do the printing, giving her time to acquire clients by visiting many shops.
“I’d go from store to store until I got an order. If I got two orders in a week, that was enough for me to live on and it kept me busy all week,” Daigle said.
When the Olympic Games arrived in Los Angeles in 1984, Daigle found a company that designed independent logos for the games and started producing signs for them. After this first break, Daigle began printing for the LA WATTS festival with one printer and one operator.
During the Olympics, Daigle’s company had one third of the productivity it has today due to having only one printing press. Most of the business’ presses have several stencils attached to them at a time, which results in a large output of prints on a single day.
“A company came up with some really beautiful graphic designs, and for about six months, [we] did just a bundle of printing for them. We did about 10 thousands shirts. It just grew,” Daigle said.
Since its ventures in the ’80s, Ellen’s has become increasingly successful working with non-profits, family businesses, big companies and even Hollywood film companies. Ellen’s Silk-Screening has contracts with the Getty, Norton Simon and the Huntington Library.
In a typical day at Ellen’s, seven people will work on the products while five employees work on the sales floor. The process begins with the designing when a customer orders prints. The artistic department has several computers, and designs can either be edited to flow more aesthetically with the article of clothing or completely created from scratch. Once the designs are approved, the presses will then be used to paint the image onto the product and a oven is used to dry the design. The same process is implemented for embroidery with the replacement of the presses with the sewing machines.
“It’s so varied that it’s incredibly exciting. This is really a joyful business, and I get to see creative
things. I get to problem solve,” Daigle said.
Despite truly loving her work, Daigle will be retiring soon at the age of 71 and will be replaced by her current sales manager, Andrea Damian. Damian and Daigle have been working together for years and shared their favorite customer story. Damian used to work very often with people on the crew of the AMC show “Mad Men.”
Damian received an order for an embroidered jacket by email. The person who had contacted the business wanted to come in and view the progress of the piece.
“I was a little impatient because it was a very simple design, and I didn’t feel it needed to be checked in person. I thought a digital proof was sufficient.”
The man stopped by, approved the design and paid for the work. Damian then took his credit card and asked how to spell his name.
“I ran his credit card and got his signature and I asked him how to spell
his last name. It was H-a-m-m; it was two m’s. So he left, and everyone said
to me, ‘how did you handle that,’ and I said ‘handle what?’ They we like,
‘that’s him, that’s the star of mad men, that’s John Hamm’,” Damian said. “I had no idea.” Ellen’s now works directly with January Jones as well as other cast and crew members from “Mad Men.”
While her printing does not currently take place within the trunk of a German automobile, Daigle has been successful in building a business from scratch, creating a job for herself that allowed her to spend more time with her children. Daigle has dedicated the last several decades of her life to a business that has evolved due to her independence and moral integrity. Ellen’s Silk Screening has been an established business for more than 35 years, becoming a certified WBENC Women’s Business Enterprise.
“You treat everybody, hopefully, the way you’d like to be treated,” Daigle said. “I think it starts with having respect for people, whether it’s a costumer or people you work for, certainly the people who work for you. It’s so important that you’re honest.”
Ellen’s has occupied three separate residences, including her garage, but now resides in a two-building complex. The factory area has an automatic press, three regular presses, an artistic department and embroidery machines. Ellen’s is located at 1500 Mission Street, South Pasadena and has delivered their products for 35 years.
Daigle attributes her success to honesty and morality, saying she does not believe in the saying, “Well, it’s just business.”
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