Ever since Ross Cartwright was a little kid, he collected signs. “I always had interest in graphics and signage,” said Cartwright. “I had them hanging up in my room.” It seemed destiny that he would end up in the sign industry. After studying design at school, a chance meeting on a ski slope with the owner of Holthaus Signs in Cincinnati led to his being offered a job in Holthaus’s design department. “We did huge jobs with that company, including the Cincinnati Reds scoreboard,” he said. “We did a lot of really big projects for the biggest companies in Cincinnati and local universities as far as the University of Kentucky and University of Tennessee at Knoxville. We’d travel all over the country doing these big projects for these huge companies , schools, and organizations, and it really opened my eyes to how big this industry really was. Four days into it, I was hooked and knew that was something I wanted to do long term.”

This was 2008 and the Great Recession was just around the corner, and after two years with the company, he found himself laid off. Refusing to go on unemployment, he asked Holthaus if he could work for them one day a week. Combined with a couple other part-time jobs—including a fateful stint at the local FASTSIGNS franchise—he made it through the recession, and ultimately landed a full-time position with FASTSIGNS of Cincinnati overseeing production and installation. 

“It was a whole different side of the signage industry, more of a smaller mom-and-pop type feel vs. a bigger manufacturing facility,” Cartwright said. “I didn’t think I’d like it at first, but I fell in love with the FASTSIGNS model and how it was set up.” What impressed him most was the ease of getting support, tech or otherwise. “If our printer went down, I had somebody at the touch of a button that I could call and get help,” he added. “What made it a lot easier to learn this business was being part of the FASTSIGNS network.” He stayed with FASTSIGNS Cincinnati for four years, ultimately co-running the business with owner Jeff Cline. “We really clicked and had a good vibe,” he said. “We had a great team, we really had a lot of fun, and we grew the center.”