
By Mike Hazlip—
After more than a decade running a successful screen printing business, Jessica Tillery wanted to give back to the community through a passion project that aims to bring some light into people’s lives.
Tillery started All Quality Graphics in 2013 using space in her garage, she said in an interview last month. Fast forward a decade later and her business now occupies a 10,000-square-foot commercial building at 8048 Auburn Blvd. Tillery uses some of that production capacity to create T-shirts with inspiring messages.
Known as L.U.M. and pronounced loom, Tillery said the Love Unstoppable Movement began as part of her overall goal of giving back to the community. All Quality Graphics also donates a portion of their profits to local charities.
One of the few Citrus Heights-based businesses in the manufacturing sector, All Quality Graphics can churn out about 700 shirts each hour at peak production, Tillery said. The company typically produces shirts for construction businesses, churches, and schools, but Tillery manages to fit quarterly batches of the faith-based shirts in the production schedule.
“I really wanted to use our resources as a merchandising company to give back to the community, to lift our industry, to glorify God, and really, just to make an impact,” Tillery said.
With what she called “amazing resources” and an “incredible team,” Tillery started producing T-shirts with faith-based messages in 2019. Customers subscribe to receive the printed shirts without knowing what the design will be until they receive the package in the mail.
“It’s kind of a surprise factor and it’s something to just uplift them,” Tillery said noting the messages are always faith or love driven. “The initial goal with it was for somebody to get a package that changes their day. Maybe they’re going through a hard season in their life, whether it’s divorce or losing a loved one or just having a crappy day. The whole point was to really just have them get that package and realize, wow, in the grand scheme of things, I’m still blessed. “
Now with just over 500 subscribers, the messages seem to be hitting home for some. One of the Love Unstoppable Movement slogans has been “Be a lighthouse, not a tugboat,” and that slogan changed the life of a woman seeking shelter through St. John’s Program for Real Change, Tillery said.
The organization helps women who are in a difficult situation find housing, child care, and job skills, according to their website. Saint John’s Program for Real Change administrators told Tillery they planned to give the slogan to the women in their program to use as an essay prompt.
One of those essays from a woman named Rosalyn described how the slogan gave her hope, Tillery said.
“She shared this two-page letter of what it meant to her, and I read it and I was just sobbing. It was unbelievable,” Tillery said.
Later, Tillery received a note from Rosalyn thanking her for the T-shirt slogan.
“A few months after we released that shirt, she wrote to me and said that that slogan pretty much changed her life and set her up for all these different things that change her life,” Tillery said.
Additionally, Tillery said she has received feedback from subscribers saying that wearing faith-based slogans makes them more conscience of their own attitudes and behaviors.
“That’s kind of our hope is that people will practice grace and just be more loving and kind,” she said.
According to the organization’s website, LUM’s mission is “To make the world a better place one plastic water bottle at a time, one dignified wage at a time, one positive message at a time, one t-shirt at a time.” The organization says each shirt is made from six recycled plastic bottles, with a portion of each subscription being donated to a different local charity every month.
More information can be found on L.U.M.’s website, thelumovement.com.
By Mike Hazlip—
After more than a decade running a successful screen printing business, Jessica Tillery wanted to give back to the community through a passion project that aims to bring some light into people’s lives...
Thanks for reading The Sentinel. You are either trying to access subscribers-only content or you have reached your limit of 4 free articles per 30 days. Click here to sign in or subscribe.