14 / 116
SOME OF THE WORLD’S most renowned companies were started in a
garage–among them, Apple Computer and Disney. Fort Lauderdale, Florida-
based distributor Wizard Creations (UPIC: Wizard2), shares this origin story as
well. Luke Freeman, the company’s founder and president, began his promotional
career helping out in his parents’ garage-based screen-printing business while
growing up in Bloomington, Illinois. His father, an art teacher, and his mother, a
stay-at-home mom, started the side business to generate more income.
LUKE FREEMAN PULLS CREATIVE BRANDING SOLUTIONS OUT OF HIS COMPANY’S HAT
By Julie Richie
12 •
PPB
• JULY 2016
INNOVATE
PRO
FILE
MAGIC TOUCH
“My earliest memory of
helping the business was when I
was about three years old,”
Freeman says. “My dad handed
me a squeegee and said, ‘Let’s
print some shirts!’” Along with
his two brothers, he helped his
parents print and sell t-shirts to
local high schools, clubs and
other student organizations.
Freeman’s parents sold their
business just before he graduated
from Eastern Illinois University
with a business and marketing
degree, and Freeman entered the
corporate world. Within a few
years he was managing a large
sales team at a national apparel
company, but the pull of entre-
preneurship and the promotional
industry was strong.
“I saw an opportunity to
start my own business, taking
the small-business experience I
gained from watching my par-
ents in their garage and mirror-
ing it with my corporate experi-
ence. The combination of having
a diverse background in small
business and large corporate
business is what has made
Wizard Creations so successful
today,” Freeman says.
The company’s name honors
Freeman’s father, an amateur
magician who often performed
magic tricks to entertain
Freeman and his friends while
he was growing up.
The Golden Rule
Everyone knows the Golden
Rule: Treat others as you would
like to be treated. But how many
businesses use that as a guiding
principle of customer service?
Wizard Creations does. “We are
currently celebrating our 10th year
in business. Over the past 10 years