We're Not Average. We're 11.
11 Crew is a woman-owned custom apparel and branding company based in Imperial, California. We build gear for people who want their presence to speak before they do.
A Crew of Public Service
We're a proud crew and family of public service. Fire, police, military, and health care all live under our roof. We've spent our lives around people who show up for others, and we know what it means to wear something with pride.
That's where the name comes from. We'd watch firefighters, officers, and service members work in the public eye, looking sharp, composed, and carrying a pride you can't fake. When someone showed up in clean gear that honored the uniform while the job still got done right, we'd say, "That's an 11."
Not a rating. A presence. The way you carry yourself when others are watching.
Our Journey
Honestly? It started as a joke. I told Rudy, "We need to start a business. We need a tax write-off." I showed him a video from Big Brandoh and said, "Look at this guy, he's got something going."
That wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But Rudy took it and ran. Next thing I knew, he'd financed an embroidery machine and came back with, "I did what you said." 😅
So in October 2021, we filed our DBA and started selling shirts. We had a machine, but no embroidery experience, no business plan and no finance background. Just an idea.
We were lost from the very first step. Filing a fictitious business name felt like a foreign language. A dear friend, the late Juan Carlos Salazar, sat down and walked us through it. Then we found peers in our industry who were willing to lend a hand. We'll never forget the people who helped us when we didn't know what we were doing.
It took us almost a year to teach ourselves embroidery. We learned from networking, YouTube videos and late-night online searches, doing heat press transfers in between to keep orders coming. Nobody showed us how to keep books, price our work or track our money. We figured that out one mistake at a time, while juggling 8-to-5 jobs, kids and everything else life throws at a family. More than once we asked ourselves, what are we doing?
By the end of that first year, we'd paid off the machine.
Finding Our Direction
We started with T-shirts and embroidery for anyone who asked. We didn't know who our customers were. Everyone tells you to "find your niche," but nobody tells you how to know when your business is quietly heading in a new direction.
For us, fire found us almost by chance. As a fire family, we offered our services to the fire service around us. At first, they didn't really use us. Then, little by little, they did. The repeat orders, the referrals and the work that felt right kept pointing the same way: fire departments, first responders and our own community. We didn't pick our niche. We noticed it.
By year three, we knew this was real. We took on a big client and filed the trademark for Los Bomberos Valle Imperial®, because we wanted a clothing line that meant something.
In year four, I went to FDIC, the fire service's big annual conference, and my eyes opened. Standing in that room, I knew this could be something much bigger than us.
Along the way, we leaned on technology to fill the gaps nobody else could: online courses, Shopify, and AI tools that helped us plan, write and think things through.
Five years in, we're still part time, and we're profitable. We've had every opportunity to leave our 8-to-5 jobs, but we haven't, because we love what we do there too. Why choose? We run 11 Crew as a business built to last, with real plans for keeping our clients and for who carries it forward. We're just not in a rush. We're building it one evening and one weekend at a time, and when the time is right, we'll take the next step.
The Crew
It's still a family operation: me, Rudy and our kids, with my mom lending a hand in the shop. And Leo, our pug, who models a tee when he's in the mood.
And the crew keeps growing: it's everyone who wears our gear and walks in feeling like an 11.
— 11 Crew
Who We Build For
Today we bring that same standard to everyone: businesses, first responders, schools, teams, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs. Anyone who wants quality they can rely on and confidence they can wear.
What We Offer
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Crew Packs: logo polos and hats for your team, from $129
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Custom embroidery for hats, polos, uniforms, and work apparel
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Printed apparel via heat press, sublimation, and premium transfers
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Staff and team wear for businesses, departments, and public service partners
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Client portals so your team can reorder approved gear anytime
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Spirit and event gear for schools, teams, clubs, and organizations
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Branding support for new and growing businesses
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Los Bomberos, our fire-culture brand, made by a fire family
Our Mission
To help every person, team, and organization feel confident, represented, and proud in what they wear. No complexity. No guesswork. Just quality that lasts.
Why 11?
Because a 10 turns heads. An 11 owns the room. That's how we want you to feel in your gear.
