Meet the Owners
Hi there! We’re James & Justin Blansit-Westmoreland, owners of BWco.
We met mid-2016 in Chattanooga, Tennessee (all thanks to a dating app). At the time, Justin was working in advertising and marketing for a local sign company and James was working as a top sales and customer service agent for a national home warranty company.
In late 2016, James’ aunt Tanza asked us to help her with t-shirt orders at the East Ridge flea market. We hesitantly accepted and trained ourselves on an outdated Silhouette machine to cut HTV vinyl and learned the heat press basics to assist her with orders from her booth at the market (we’ve upgraded a bit since then).
In 2017, we decided to branch out on our own and begin creating custom t-shirts for our own customer base under the name Awoken Apparel, and we loved it! We created so many custom t-shirts for local non-profits, family reunions, company events and so many birthday celebrations.
In 2018, we bought our first home, got married and took a break from t-shirt orders. After our honeymoon in January of 2019, we started rethinking our apparel brand and re-launched Awoken Apparel. That year, we successfully launched a new website, social media strategy and built an even larger customer base.
We first assumed that our enjoyment in creative design would allow us to help friends and family while also making extra money on the side of our full time careers, and now we’ve branched out further than we’ve ever imagined.
In 2021, after operating under Awoken Apparel for over four years, we launched BWco. (a business name that pays homage to our partnership by incorporating our last names and initials). In the beginning, BWco. launched as an apparel and candle business. After a year of strategizing and testing our products in the Chattanooga metro area, we discovered our design services are also beneficial to our community.
Being able to help other small businesses—especially in our local community—gives us fulfillment and purpose. It becomes more than just “work” or “a paycheck” when you genuinely enjoy what you do, and BWco. exemplifies that in the best way.
Today, we have both changed careers, grown our skill sets and built relationships that taught us much more than we ever expected. BWco. is here to help businesses achieve their goals at fair pricing—that’s guaranteed.
We are so excited to meet you and hear about your project! Book a free consultation on our Facebook page.