Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Oson.
Hi Ryan , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up playing competitive hockey from the age of 9 through 19, and hockey played a major role in shaping who I am today. It gave me purpose, discipline, and structure, and introduced me to a world I was genuinely passionate about. I was always fascinated by professional sports and especially custom jerseys in the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, and other leagues. I loved when local teams, such as the San Antonio Rampage, would have custom jersey theme nights. Looking back, I didn’t realize it at the time, but that passion would eventually become the foundation of my career.
I also grew up around entrepreneurship. My dad worked in management positions, and I was surrounded by friends and their families who owned businesses. Seeing how they were able to build something of their own and have control over their time and lifestyle made a lasting impression on me. By high school, I had already become very interested in sales and business because I saw entrepreneurship as one of the best ways to create financial freedom and, more importantly, have control over my own life.
Academically, school was always difficult for me. I struggled to stay focused from a young age and never felt naturally connected to traditional education. I attended community college for about three years, but eventually realized I was pursuing a degree that I wasn’t certain I would use, while also taking on an education that I didn’t have the money for. I knew I didn’t want to spend my life struggling financially or simply working to get by. I wanted to build something for myself.
Before XJERSEYS, I tried almost 20 different business ideas and projects, with most of them failing. During that time, I also resold products on eBay while working at Avis Rent A Car. Those experiences taught me a lot about sales, customers, and, more importantly, persistence.
Eventually, I found someone already working in the custom apparel industry—an industry that combined my passion for sports with my interest in business. I worked with him for about a year, learning as much as I could about the business and the industry. That experience gave me the confidence to realize that I wanted to build something of my own and eventually bring him on board.
That idea became XJERSEYS in October 2019, and we officially launched in January 2020. What started as a passion project built around something I genuinely loved eventually became a full-fledged business. One of the biggest personal goals I had set for myself was to build a company that could surpass $1 million in sales before I turned 30. We accomplished that goal in less than four years, even while navigating the challenges of launching during COVID. Since reaching that milestone, we’ve continued to grow the business to more than twice the size it was when we first crossed $1 million in sales.
What makes the journey especially meaningful to me is that I was able to combine two things that had always been important to me—sports and business. Even after I stopped playing hockey, I found a way to remain connected to the hockey world and build a career around something I had been passionate about since I was a kid.
My goal throughout my 20s was simple: find something that worked, commit to it, and spend the next 10 years becoming extremely good at it. I was willing to sacrifice, stay obsessed with the process, and be relentless about improving. Reaching that first $1 million in sales before 30 was never just about the number—it represented proof that the years of failure, sacrifice, and commitment to the process had paid off. What started with a kid who loved hockey jerseys eventually became the career and company I had always hoped I could build.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There have been a lot of moving parts and plenty of challenges along the way, but I think those challenges have played a huge role in shaping the company into what it is today.
One of our biggest challenges happened almost immediately. We launched in January 2020, and shortly after, the world essentially shut down because of COVID-19. At the time, we were working on new business and building relationships, but with sports coming to a complete stop, there was suddenly very little need for our services. That meant very little revenue coming into the business, and honestly, it was something I never imagined we would have to experience so early on.
Instead of sitting around and waiting for things to return to normal, we used that time to learn. As a team, we studied the industry, our competitors, and the things we could do differently to make our products and service stand out. Personally, I spent a lot of time learning how to understand what each potential client actually needed and finding that “sweet spot” where we could provide them with exactly what they were looking for while still building a strong partnership.
Once sports started coming back, we were finally able to put everything we had learned into practice. We ended up having a strong final two quarters of that year, and that was really when I started to realize that this could become something much bigger.
Since then, a lot of our challenges have actually come from growth. We’ve always wanted to improve our shipping times, quality, pricing, and communication, but the more orders you take on, the more complicated those things become. As our volume increased, production became busier, so we had to build relationships with additional factories and spread out our production to keep shipping times consistent and continue delivering on our promises.
Our relationships with our production partners have also been extremely important because they allow us to keep our costs competitive. We’ve always wanted to provide teams with high-quality uniforms without making them break the bank, and maintaining those relationships has helped us continue doing that as we’ve grown.
Then came another challenge that was actually a great problem to have: inventory. After about three years, we were dealing with so much inventory and so many orders that my partner and I simply couldn’t manage all of the fulfillment and operations ourselves anymore. We had to bring on a dedicated fulfillment team to take over those responsibilities. At the same time, the number of custom designs and requests we were receiving had grown so much that we hired two full-time designers just to keep up with demand.
Even the behind-the-scenes parts of the business started becoming more complicated. Bookkeeping became a completely different animal as the company grew, so we brought on an accounting team to help manage that side of the business. We’ve also added someone dedicated to social media so we can keep up with our content and continue building our presence online.
Looking back, a lot of the struggles we’ve faced have been directly tied to the fact that we kept growing. Every year has brought a new problem to solve, whether it was production, fulfillment, design, accounting, marketing, or simply figuring out how to operate at a larger scale.
I think one of our biggest strengths has been our ability to adapt. Every year, our goal is to make the best uniforms possible while maintaining the quality and affordability that our customers expect from us. When something isn’t working, we don’t just accept it—we look at what needs to change and figure out how to make it better.
The road definitely hasn’t been perfect, but I’m proud of how we’ve handled the challenges along the way. Every growing pain has forced us to become better, build a stronger team, improve our products, and ultimately create a better experience for the teams we serve.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about X JERSEYS, LLC?
XJERSEYS is a custom sports uniform company focused on creating high-quality, fully customized uniforms for teams while keeping them affordable and accessible.
What started as a small idea has grown into a company that works with teams across a wide range of sports and levels of competition. We specialize in custom uniforms and apparel, with a major focus on giving teams the ability to create something that feels unique to them rather than simply choosing from a few standard options.
One of the things that sets XJERSEYS apart is the combination of quality, customization, and price. We understand that not every team has an unlimited budget, but we also don’t believe teams should have to sacrifice quality just because they want to stay within their budget. Our goal has always been to find that balance—creating uniforms that look professional, hold up, and give teams the custom experience they want without breaking the bank.
We also put a huge emphasis on the customer experience. From the initial design process to production and fulfillment, communication is a major part of what we do. We work closely with teams to understand what they’re looking for, help bring their ideas to life, and make the process as easy as possible. As we’ve grown, we’ve invested in designers, fulfillment, accounting, social media, and production relationships so that we can continue providing that same level of service at a much larger scale.
Another thing we’re known for is being willing to adapt. Sports apparel is constantly changing, and every year we’re looking at ways to improve our products, designs, materials, pricing, and overall experience. We don’t want to simply sell the same uniforms year after year. We want our customers to see that we’re constantly evolving and trying to give them something better.
What I’m most proud of from a brand perspective is how much XJERSEYS has grown while still maintaining the core idea that started it: give teams great-looking uniforms without making them feel like they’re overpaying. We’ve been able to build a brand that teams can come back to year after year, and that repeat business and relationships mean more to us than simply making a sale.
I’m also proud of what we’ve built behind the scenes. As the company has grown, we’ve had to build an actual team and infrastructure around the brand—from production and fulfillment to design and accounting. What started as something my partner and I could manage ourselves has developed into a much larger operation.
At the end of the day, I want people to know that XJERSEYS isn’t just a company that makes jerseys. We’re a brand built around helping teams look and feel like a team. Whether it’s a recreational league, competitive program, school, or organization, we want to make the process of creating custom uniforms exciting, affordable, and as seamless as possible.
We’re proud of where XJERSEYS is today, but even more excited about where we can take it next.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was definitely a bit of a wild kid. I was diagnosed with ADHD and was extremely energetic and hyper, so I had a hard time sitting still and staying focused on things that didn’t interest me. But when I found something I cared about, that energy turned into what I would describe as hyper-focus.
For me, that thing was sports—especially hockey.
School was probably the biggest example of this. I struggled to stay on task and keep up because, honestly, I just didn’t have much interest in what I was being taught. My mind was somewhere else. I was always thinking about sports, training, competing, or what I could be doing next. If it wasn’t something I cared about, it was very difficult for me to give it my full attention.
I was also a bit of a troublemaker. I didn’t respond very well to authority and never liked being told what to do or where I needed to be. I had a strong personality and wanted to do things my own way. Looking back, I can see some of those same traits in myself today. The difference is that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to channel that stubbornness and independence into things that actually benefit me.
Hockey was really what changed everything for me. It gave me an outlet for all of that energy and taught me things that I wasn’t necessarily learning anywhere else. I had tough, hard-nosed coaches who pushed me, held me accountable, and taught me discipline. More importantly, I finally connected with something I genuinely cared about.
Once I got into competitive hockey, I was completely hooked. I took it extremely seriously. In the early stages, I was working out twice a day, training constantly, and spending my offseasons in the cul-de-sac in front of my house on rollerblades, shooting pucks and skating around for hours. Nobody had to tell me to do it. I genuinely loved it.
There was something about constantly having something to work toward that made me feel completely alive. You had goals, teammates, competition, travel, training, and the constant process of trying to get better. I loved every part of it.
That mentality has carried directly into business for me. I think one of the reasons I’ve been able to build XJERSEYS is because I approach the company the same way I approached hockey. Once I believe in something, I become extremely invested in it. I’m constantly thinking about how we can improve, what we can do differently, how we can make our products better, and how we can compete with companies much bigger than us.
I’m naturally very competitive, and I don’t like being told that something can’t be done. That mindset has helped me tremendously as an entrepreneur. Building a business comes with plenty of setbacks, and there have been times when things haven’t gone the way we wanted. But I’ve always had that mentality of finding a way to figure it out rather than simply accepting that something isn’t possible.
Looking back, hockey shaped a huge part of who I am today. It taught me discipline, competitiveness, accountability, resilience, and how to work toward something even when it isn’t easy. It also gave me some of my closest relationships and friendships and created memories that I’ll never forget.
A lot of the personality traits I had as a kid—being extremely driven, stubborn, competitive, independent, and becoming completely locked in when I find something I care about—are still a big part of who I am today. The difference is that I’ve learned how to channel those traits into building something meaningful.
In a weird way, the same kid who couldn’t sit still in a classroom could spend hours training on a hockey rink because he had found something he truly cared about. Today, that same kid is able to put that energy into a company, a team, and a vision that I’m constantly trying to make better. I think that’s probably the biggest connection between who I was growing up and who I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://xjerseys.us/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xjerseys.us/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xjerseys.us/
