Madison Bailey: Stepping Up to the Plate with SpeedPro

Madison Bailey, 2021 Rising Star

For Madison Bailey, 31, the printing industry has been her passion from the beginning. She went to college in Pennsylvania, where she studied graphic design and fell in love with the creative process. After graduation, she got a job at a print shop in her hometown in New Jersey, where she worked until she joined SpeedPro Wilmington (Delaware) as a production manager.

“I was the production manager here for five years,” she notes, “but then the owner was ready to move on. He had some health problems, so I took over for him.” That was in 2019, and in the two-and-a-half years since she took over as owner, she has seen sales boom under her leadership — all while raising four daughters, ranging from just five months to eight years old.

“I always wanted to own my own business,” Bailey says. “And I enjoy doing this every day. I like the whole graphic design and production aspect of printing, so it made sense for me.”

Building on Success

At her SpeedPro location, Bailey notes that the majority of the work is wraps, both for vehicles and interior walls. While they do take in other work, she says, “those are the two big things we do a lot of, and they’re just fun. I have a great team that makes the process easy for me, so we’re able to get the jobs in and out pretty fast.”

Some of her favorite jobs, she notes, are for schools. “We’ve done a lot of interior wall wraps for schools, and it really changes the space when you go from a white cinderblock to a school logo or design,” she says. “Whether it’s a hallway or a gym, it really transforms the room and it’s just cool to see.”

One of the biggest lessons she has learned is that everything can’t be perfect every time. “I don’t want to say mistakes happen, but that’s really what it is,” she says. “It’s okay for the team to make mistakes, it happens. We have to toss a panel every once in a while, but we just get over it. It’s hard not to look at it as a lost $60 for a panel, and we have learned to minimize the mistakes, but they still do happen.” Giving herself and her team a break for the occasional mistake has made a big difference in the morale and motivation of the staff.

That’s even more important given how fast her shop is growing, going from just herself and the owner when she first joined, to six staff members now. She has also made a point to upgrade her equipment — in her 3,000 -sq.-ft. shop, she has crammed in as much as she can fit, making space for her current biggest challenge.

“We’re bumping elbows a lot, and the upgraded equipment takes up more space,” Bailey says. “We can only fit one vehicle at a time, and we’re rushing to get that in and done for the next one. I’m looking for a larger space, but we have a rental agreement, so do I wait it out or do I move? That’s the everyday struggle right now; I know a lot of print companies that have smaller shops that make it work, but it’s crazy for us right now.”

Her other biggest challenge, like all shops right now, is the supply chain and struggling to get the materials in that she needs to complete jobs. “Things that used to be available are now hard to get, and there are crazy price increases,” she notes, citing one customer as an example that already had a fleet of vans wrapped using a specific vinyl that she just can’t get right now to do the newest vehicle. “What do I do? I have to tell the customer that I can’t get the material they want so the van will match the rest of the fleet. It’s a pain in the butt. Resources just aren’t what they used to be, and it’s crazy.”

For the future, Bailey sees her SpeedPro franchise continuing to grow, sticking with the type of work she and her team do well — wraps. Although she notes that other applications aren’t outside the realm of possibility in the future, she wants to “stick with what we’re good at” and really continue to focus on providing great results for her customers.

When it comes to others looking to break into the printing industry, she notes that the best advice she can give is to stay current with the latest technologies, and what they are truly capable of if you want to succeed in the business. “Technology is constantly changing, especially in this business,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to buy that six-figure equipment that you think [might] hinder your business ... it’s always helpful in the long run. You don’t want to be the printing company with old equipment. When I took over, I bought new pieces right away, and I think it’s really helped us.”