What TAPOUT gear was to the UFC, Advnce Apparel will be to Iron Tiger Fight Series as they are the official T-Shirt partner of ITFS moving forward. We are proud to welcome them and their incredible products to the fold.
We recently had the chance to sit down with C0- owner Mike Shaffer and ask him 10 pivotal questions as to what makes Advnce the premier Apparel of Iron Tiger Fight Series. Jake Babcok had something more important to do that day, (like watch his wife give birth to a beautiful child!)
Where are you from?
· We both are from Toledo, ohio
· Jake Babcock and Michael Shaffer
Do you have a family, if so, tell us a little bit about them?
· Michael has no kids and is engaged to amazing woman and are getting married dec 29
· Jake is married to a amazing woman and is having their first child today! 10/12/18
Michael is a cement finisher for the local 886 while his soon to be wife is a rn nurse at a local hospital
Jake is a radiology tech and his wife is currently in school and working at a local Starbucks
What year was your company founded?
Advnce was created 2017 , after we dropped our first name which was athrex apparels that was created at the end of 2015
What was the inspiration behind it, and how did you go about making it happen?
· We worked out together everyday at this time, we just finished watching ‘Pumping Iron”. As we worked out that day, we kept making fun of ARNOLD. The line we kept talking about was the interview when a reporter asks Arnold if he drinks milk. Arnold response was perfect. Which was “milk is for babies”, I drink Beer! As we worked out we would say milk is for babies!! Mid set. This bought on the idea of making that as a shirt, As we thought about having this shirt made.
· We said why not make our shirts? Why not make our own company? An apparel company that has both comfort and awesome shirts. Normally you get one or the other. So we went to work and started building our company since. So this company was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the movie pumping iron paired with fitness.
What are some of the most important services your company offers?
· Comfortable and awesome apparel!
What is the key to making customers feel like they are more than customers, treating them as human beings and always being open to listen and help with their issues?
-We are both blue collar guys that love what we do. We both work very hard for our money and we hate being ripped off or unsatisfied with something we buy. We have been there and we hate it. So we make sure everything always gets made right for everyone or we will die trying,
How much do you enjoy being a part of the Iron Tiger MMA Family and what is your favorite part of coming to a live show?
· We love Iron Tiger! Michael has fought for Iron tiger a couple years ago. Michael has also trained down Iron tiger and love everything about it. We both enjoy every show. Amazing fighters are parts of these shows and everything is run so well. Not to mention being apart of it with Advnce, it has a whole side we enjoy. Awesome seats and everyone has been so amazing to deal with .
If someone wants to reach out to you and hire you, what are the best ways to get ahold of you and where can they go to find out more about your services?
· Facebook, website or Intsagram are all ways to get ahold of us
Being a small business owner is a 24/7 job, what do you do in the very little spare time you have?
- we both have struggled to keep up with our car hobby. Jake no longer has a project to work on due to time, and Michaels Trans am has took a back burner seat the last couple of months.
What are the future goals you have for yourself, your company and expanding your brand overall?
All we want here at Advnce is to see people wearing our product while we go out and do our everyday errands. We cannot get over just seeing something we made on someone! The feeling is out of this world when you see your company on a person you don’t even know. That feeling beats out tons of money to us every time. This is why we have so many giveaways and coupons all the time. We just want to see our product on everyone!
