Summer Gift Guide: Presenting Hens and Chicas

Boulderite. Golden Girl. kind of amazing. Sweet Home Colorado. I Don’t Care That You’re Paleo. These short, and very Boulder specific, slogans are only a sample of what has been floating around Jenna Marraccini’s head for quite some time. She knows her surroundings very well, and also how to make a very funny and stylish T-shirt.B

Marraccini has been making Boulder specific shirts for years, selling them at street festivals, local markets and even on the popular handmade shopping outlet Etsy.com. It’s combining two things she’s passionate about: her home and her desire to produce something people want to wear.

“I wanted to do something fun, something that I enjoyed,” Marraccini said. “I had always joked with my friends that we should ‘make a shirt out of that,’ and finally I just decided to make some of these shirts that we were talking about. I didn’t know how it was going to happen, or how it would be received but it kind of just took off.”

Marriccini made her first shirt, a simple design with a bicycle and the word “boulderite” arching above the bike, three years ago. She had no idea if anyone would even be interested in the shirts, but she took a chance and set up her booth at the Louisville Farmers Market. Printing about five of her original designs, she went to the market with the hope of selling at least one shirt.

Marriccini ended up selling 20 shirts on her first day. For her it was a relief, and eye opening.

“You never know when you put something out there exactly what the response is going to be. You don’t know if your dream is silly or not.”

Jenna Marraccini

“It was affirming to me to see that people actually do appreciate this,” she said. “You never know when you put something out there exactly what the response is going to be. You don’t know if your dream is silly or not.”

After her successful first day at the farmers market, Marriccini decided to pursue it a little harder. She started writing down ideas whenever they came to her. Found the right T-shirt materials for what she wanted, and what the customers would enjoy. She decided to do everything herself instead of reaching out to printing companies, and hit the drawing board, coming up with new designs that would cater to her market: Boulderites.

When she started making the shirts, Marriccini was still working her corporate job in marketing. It was the birth of her second child in October 2014 that pushed her to jump out of the office and onto the design wagon full time. Well, full time designer alongside being a full time mom, which could be one of the hardest jobs of all.

Today she has more than 20 designs printed on soft, form fitting materials, and more than 40 designs swirling around her brain. She’s also branched out from her farmer market days, and sell shirts at street festivals in the area, such as the Boulder Creek Festival, and online at Esty.com where people buy her shirts all over the nation and even in Europe. Her favorite shirt can be bought on Etsy, or wherever she sets up her booth. It’s a motto that she lives by, and wants everyone else to follow. “Don’t Quit Your Day Dream.”