John Sanco, owner of Texas-based Abundant Life Expressions, has built a three-decade career in the screen printing industry with a combination of faith, community, and strategic reinvention. Since his start in the garage, Sanco’s business has taken on several forms, from a small home business to contract decorating, then scaling back to a slightly smaller facility and focusing efforts primarily on the Texas Hill Country community.
The Early Days: Building from Faith and Friendship in Texas Hill Country
John and his ministry partner launched Abundant Life Expressions in the early 90s with a mission to serve churches and spread positive messages through quality screen printing. As the duo began churning out orders from the garage, the business’s reputation grew, and the customer list extended to other local groups like schools and small businesses.
“Like a lot of people, we were just working out of our garage and would just kind of upscale every other year or so and get a little bit bigger place,” he adds.
Through the 1990s and 2000s, the business grew steadily in terms of order volume and customer list. Eventually, the company secured major contracts with the San Antonio Spurs and became the exclusive printer for everything at the Alamodome.
At their peak, Abundant Life Expressions ran multiple autos, expanded their staff, and handled orders of 20,000-30,000 shirts at a time.
John Sanco
When Success Becomes a Challenge
After over two decades of high-volume production, John faced multiple hard realities: an aging workforce, expensive equipment maintenance, and the constant struggle to backfill roles. Specifically, finding employees who could handle the sometimes challenging conditions of day-to-day production work at a high-volume shop became more difficult as time went on.
“I got older, my employees got older, and the equipment wore out,” John says. “Meanwhile, you’re still constantly trying to keep up with all the orders.”
Then, one morning, John said he had come into work and had a revelation.
“I was looking up at the 20-foot ceilings covered with two decades of accumulated dust and lint,” he explains. “My children were now 26 and 22, and had expressed interest in joining the business.”
But, he adds, the current business model wasn’t appealing to the next generation and wasn’t sustainable for the next phase.
Embracing Technology and Community
John decided it was time to pivot and scale back the business to set it up for future success. During the planning and restructuring, he said a friend recommended he explore Printavo to help him build a more nimble operation.
“I’m kind of an old dude, and although I can do a few things on the computer, it’s not my forte,” John admits, but points out that thanks to onboarding and training, he got up and running quickly.
Alongside rethinking their production management software, the company downsized from a large warehouse in an industrial area with no foot traffic to a strategic 1,200-square-foot location on Highway 281 in Bulverde, Texas, in one of America’s fastest-growing counties at the time.
“We made money as a small company in a small location,” John reflects. “My thought was, could we somehow do this in a small location in a strategic great area and still be automated?”
Putting Printavo to Work
After letting the software sit unused for two months, John’s son encouraged him to start simple: create a quote to test the waters. That first successful interaction helped jumpstart the company’s adoption of the software.
“I started doing quotes, and it just became easier and easier,” John reflects.
Some of the short-term results Abundant Life Expressions saw by setting up Printavo included:
- Paperless Operations: Eliminated traditional file cabinets full of orders and scaled back the workforce needed to quote and process customer orders.
- Improved Communication: Automated responses gave John’s business a professional presentation on par with bigger companies, which made a positive impression on customers
- Increased Efficiency: The team could handle multiple roles effectively
- Increased Profits: John estimates a 20-25% increase in orders and profits since implementation
“Communication is king, and Printavo solves that problem,” John explains. “We reply like we’ve got a whole customer service division because of the automation.”
Community First: Helping Texas Hill Country
By readjusting the focus at Abundant Life Expressions, John says he and his family were able to spend more time printing for community efforts like 5K runs and cancer benefits. While the business might be a physically smaller operation, that dialed-in focus has helped supercharge a bustling shop that’s always got a new run of orders every week.
The dedication to the local community was tested in July 2025, following the catastrophic floods in the Texas Hill Country. This disaster was essentially in his backyard, and John knew his business could be a force for good.
The company collaborated with Lindsay Moore of Paper Napkin Press, who created the simple yet powerful “Texas: Hope for the Hill Country” design. Abundant Life Expressions started printing the design on shirts and hats and used it as a driver to raise money for the region’s hardest-hit areas.
Using Printavo’s Merch Store, they launched an online campaign that raised an astounding $37,000 in just over a week.
“This is our community that it hit, and we’re very thankful that it has been so successful,” John says with pride. “We’ve been able to raise a lot of money.”
More Than Just Business
Abundant Life Expressions has been able to sustain and evolve thanks to operational efficiency, community involvement, and a core value that running a business should be about more than profit.
“Yes, we’re here to make money, but we’re also in business to change lives and to have an impact in our community,” John explains. “
Today, the shop continues trucking with a smaller footprint, higher efficiency, and deeper community connection. John says he’d eventually like to open additional locations in other high-traffic areas. The combination of frequent walk-in orders and the company’s automated processes makes tackling high order volume in a minimal space possible.
The industry itself is evolving too.
John notes a shift “from multi-color prints to simpler designs on higher-end garments.” he’s excited to see a new generation of workers drawn to the tangible satisfaction of screen printing.
“I think this generation is reaching for something real and genuine,” John observes.
Hunt Fire Dept. wearing the “Texas – Hope for the Hill Country” T-shirts.
The Printavo Advantage: Technology Enabling Purpose
For businesses considering a similar transformation, John’s experience with Printavo shows how the right technology can simplify and widen the impact of meaningful work.
The software’s ability to automate routine tasks freed up time and mental energy for Abundant Life Expressions’s most important priorities: quality craftsmanship and community engagement.
“Our goal is not to be the ones that do the most quantity, but to do the most good and to get a good financial return on it,” John explains. “Printavo checks all those boxes for sure.”
By combining modern technology with strong values, embracing strategic downsizing over endless expansion, and prioritizing community impact alongside profit, Abundant Life Creations created a sustainable model for the next generation.
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