My stepdad started this company — by accident.

Karst Kreations (that K made me crazy) started as a hobby out of his home, stemming from not being able to easily get Shriners uniforms. There were hardly any companies doing it locally and doing it well. He saw an opportunity. Most of the ongoing work after that came from industrial clients through his network of friends in the Charleston area—buddies referring buddies for embroidered polos and jackets.

That's the company I came home to.

I grew up in Mt. Pleasant, SC (Charleston), went to Belmont in Nashville, and spent seven years in the music industry in publishing and artist management. A completely different creative path.

In 2003, I was back in Charleston temporarily with a lot of restless creative energy. My mom owned an employment agency. Gerald had this small promotional products company. Before music pulled me sideways, I'd been on a graphic design track — so there was a creative thread I could grab onto.

Logos. Color. Design.
I figured I'd give it a shot.
I had no idea what I was doing.
I opened the phone book and started calling. Seeing where we could help—I was technically selling, but not even with an awareness that that's what I was doing. Glad no one called it that; I probably would have stopped. I don't consider myself a sales person. I approached everything with "How can I help? How can I make this and make it better?"

Then everything changed.
Gerald fell off a ladder. A bad fall.
Suddenly I was running the whole business overnight—figuring out how to cut a check, pay vendors, order product, do art, and talk to clients. Solving problems I wasn't qualified to solve. I just figured it out.

I learned enough to keep things moving.

Then I started changing things. Different software. Quicker processes. A different approach to client requests.

When Gerald came back, he saw the changes, worked alongside me for a while, and maybe 6 months in said, "You've got this." I think partially because he didn't want to learn my new ways — things were starting to feel like work again — so back to golf he went. That was 2004.

The promotional products industry I entered was largely a commodity business. Catalogs. Logos. Bulk orders. Price competition.

The problem was, I didn't know that.
So I didn't operate that way.

When a client came to me with a generic request or a logo that wasn't serving them, I'd push back.

Why are you doing this?
What's the actual goal?
What if we approached it differently?

I assumed everyone in the industry worked this way. They didn't. (They still don't.)

It took nearly ten years to find my people — the small group who saw merch as a creative and strategic challenge, not a procurement competition.

When I found them, I realized two things at once:

1. We'd been approaching this work differently all along — a novel way.
2. We should be positioning and pricing it accordingly.

That's when Karst Kreations became Karst.

What's Changed in 30 Years

Everything and nothing.

The industry today is almost unrecognizable from 1996 — and exactly the same at the same time. Most of our industry still works from the old mindset: product first, what can we slap a logo on?

Anyone can source products themselves now. But the marketers who get the value of merch aren't looking for product and vendors anymore. They're looking for creative partners — experts who know design, strategy, textiles, deco, logistics, and end results.

They want systems, campaigns, and programs. Not one-off orders. Branded shops, curated drops, thoughtful packaging, memorable unboxing — strategy, design, and execution that feels more like product development and marketing than "swag" purchasing.

We've evolved into that naturally.

Today we run on EOS. We follow an 8-step proven process. We use AI to speed up systems where it genuinely creates value, and avoid it where it doesn't. Humans are still creating here — working with other humans. (But that spreadsheet is going to my robots.)

The fundamentals haven't moved an inch.

Gerald's principles still guide everything we do:

Do what's right. Deliver quality. Be accurate. Don't ship something you wouldn't want yourself. Treat the production floor with the same respect you give the C-suite. Just fix the mistake and move on. Figure it out. Don't take crap from anyone — and don't give it either. Pick up the phone.

Most of our client relationships started small and grew year over year — sometimes for decades. Twelve years. Fifteen. Twenty.

What's Next

The next chapter of Karst is about investing in our technologies and our team.

We've deployed — and continue to elevate — online shop platforms that stay fresh and take the pain out of managing merch, onboarding, inventory, one-piece items, drops, gifting, all of it.

Our team's education is never complete. We're investing in continued training so we show up as strategists with solutions and plans — not just product. We start with the objective, not the product. Every recommendation is built around what you're trying to accomplish. Merch is the vehicle. The impact is the point.

We'll continue to grow our design team. Our designers go beyond great design — they blend brand stewardship with years of product, imprinting, and manufacturing expertise to create merch that's both beautiful and built to perform. That combination is rare, and it shows.

We're expanding our experiences and activations — from small DIY on-site pop-ups and interactive moments to large-scale, fully custom immersive spaces. This part is exciting. What we can pull off on-site is limitless, and letting a client's attendees create and take with them their own merch has been really successful.

We have an amazing culture, and we're adding to the team. We're a values-driven crew that owns every outcome, keeps improving, and delivers what we say we will. Not a vendor. A partner.

Thank You

To the clients, collaborators, and makers who helped build the last 30 years with us —

The gas company owner who bought those first water bottles.

The festival teams.
The consulting firms.
The brand teams.
The makers.
The supplier and production partners.
The teammates, past and present.
To Gerald & Mom for believing in me.
Thank you.

You are this company.
You always have been.

The next chapter is going to be fun.
I'm glad you're here for it.

— Michelle Harris
(Unsupervised since 2003)
CEO (and Controller of Chaos)

Gerald + Michelle (2006)