Getting Started
One of the best parts of being active in our community is getting to work directly with Nebraska youth. It’s something we don’t take lightly, especially because our founders, Nathan and Matthew, found their path through hands-on experience – just like many folks on our team. It’s what led us to partner with The Bay on their Gap Year Program, an initiative designed to help young people explore career options that align with their skills and interests.
Curious about what this looked like in practice? Here’s how it all came together:
Why This Partnership Made Sense
The Bay has been a fixture in the Lincoln and Omaha communities since 2010. As a nonprofit built to be both a “lifeline and launchpad,” they create spaces for youth engagement through summer camps and community programming in music, art, media, fashion, and skateboarding.
They also invest in workforce education through opportunities like their Gap Year Program, which is an 8-month skill and career accelerator program designed for young adults ages 18-24. Through the program, students:
- Explore a range of career paths
- Develop a roadmap for their gap year journey
- Select a pathway like Photo/Video, Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Fashion, or Music
- Develop a portfolio or project to showcase their newfound skills
- Gain real-world experience through mentorship and hands-on learning
Relentless was founded by former college students who thought they had a life plan, until hands-on experience in screen printing changed everything. That same idea, learning by doing, is built into how we operate today – so this partnership was a natural fit from the start.
We’d crossed paths with The Bay previously as fellow entrepreneurs and community partners. That’s why, when they approached us about creating an internship experience within their Fashion pathway, it was an easy yes. “Fashion” in this context refers to the designing, selling, producing, and delivering of an order. Because we handle everything from design to fulfillment in-house, students were able to see the full lifecycle of an order in one place.
(Marketing asset made by our intern, Mer Tuach)
Learning by Doing
While the Gap Year program lasts for over half the year, we only had a 3-month period to teach five students about our industry and the roles within them. We started with an Orientation Day, giving a high level overview of their upcoming shadowing experiences. The teams, who they interacted with on a weekly basis, included:
- Screen Printing: learning production flow, terminology, and getting exposure to our reclaim, darkroom, and ink mixing teams
- Embroidery & E-Commerce: understanding how designs translate onto garments and how online stores support production
- Art: working through file setup, separations, Pantone selection, and preparing artwork for print
- Sales: seeing how we guide clients, build solutions, and match products to goals
- Fulfillment & Logistics: understanding how orders move through the warehouse and out the door
- Growth & Marketing: covering marketing fundamentals, strategy, and creating their own mock digital assets
- Atonal & Merchcast: getting exposure to our sister companies and how they support the broader merch ecosystem
- Human Resources & Management: learning about internal structure, onboarding, and what to expect in a professional environment
These sessions provided more than just observation. Students were able to ask questions, work through real examples, print and embroider pieces, and get a feel for how departments work in tandem. At the end of their internship, they helped with a final print: The Bay x Relentless Merch hoodies they could take home and be reminded of their experience.
Connecting the Dots
By the end of the program, students walked away with a baseline knowledge and understanding of all the components that go into screen printing, embroidery, and promotional products. Most importantly, they gained clarity around:
- What specific roles look like in practice
- How different teams rely on each other to get work done
- Whether this type of work is something they want to pursue
By the end of the program, students walked away with a clearer picture of how ideas move from concept to finished product, and where they might fit into that process.
"Relentless met our students with openness, intention, and a real opportunity by creating a space to explore, ask questions, and build confidence," said Kayla Meyer, The Bay's Workforce Education Program Manager.
"We are so grateful for Relentless building out an experience that truly makes a lasting impact with our youth."
This experience was just as valuable to our Relentless crew. Bringing students into the shop added new perspectives, sparked good questions, and reinforced the value of mentorship within our team. Explaining the “why” behind our work reminds us why it’s important.
"Relentless Merchandise was built on the belief that business should be a force for lifting others up. Our partnership with The Bay is exactly the kind of relationship we strive to cultivate: one rooted in community, trust, and shared purpose. We're deeply appreciative of this collaboration," our VP of Sales, Dave Koenig, said.
This experience also reminded us how connected our departments are! A tiny tweak in a designer’s artwork can change production time. A delay in one area affects the next. Seeing that play out in real time gave our students a better understanding of what it actually takes to execute at a high level with quick turnaround times.
Staying Connected to Our Community
Partnerships like the Gap Year Program with The Bay are a reminder that what we do goes beyond printing a cool shirt. It’s about creating opportunities, sharing knowledge, and helping the next generation of creatives and professionals step into the industry with confidence. We’re excited to keep building on this program and finding more ways to stay connected with our community.
