Meet Angelo Bonaparte of Cosmos Ink in College Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelo Bonaparte.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Angelo. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It all started in February 2018. I had been making vinyl hats and shirts on and off for about 3-4 years, then after doing some reading about various printing processes, I was introduced to sublimation. At that moment, I instantly fell in love with it! After diving more into the process, I began to collect a vast knowledge about the topic and its processes.

While doing some research, mainly on Google and YouTube, I noticed there was no place that had an entire database dedicated to sublimation. As a newcomer, this was not only frustrating to me but also to other newcomers in the sublimation community in various Facebook Groups. So a few months later, August 15th, 2018 to be exact, I decided to launch my own line of sublimation ink called “Cosmos Ink”. It instantly became a hit as we sold out within 2 minutes of the launch. At this point, I officially became the first-ever Black-owned sublimation ink and pigment company in the world.

Through that, I was able to fully dive into creating a YouTube channel, Instagram, Website, and Facebook Group dedicated to sublimation.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s no such thing as easy path. The greatest quote I’ve ever heard is “Failure is the greatest teacher.” This was the case with Cosmos Ink. Cosmos Ink is a culmination of various knowledge I’ve learned from previous failed business ventures. Whether it was video editing, building a website, running Facebook ads, or starting an LLC, I learned a lot of techniques in which I use within different aspects of Cosmos Ink to this day.

Other than that, one of my biggest hurdles was growth. The speedy growth of Cosmos Ink was due to our fanbase, affiliates, our marketing style, and our willingness to share knowledge with our custom printing community. It all started at home, then I outgrew my den and started working out of four indoor 10’x30’ climate-controlled storage units. Then on June 18th, 2020, I signed a lease for a 14,000 sq ft warehouse which we use as our distribution center.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Cosmos Ink – what should we know?
At Cosmos Ink, we recognize that everyone starts somewhere, so our mission is to help newcomers enter the world of sublimation with budget-friendly options. We do this by providing free YouTube and Facebook Live tutorials. In these tutorials, we mostly cover sublimation, and from time to time we cover business tips, recommended machinery, host Meet and Greets nationwide, and perform giveaways. For those who want to support our free tutorials and willingness to share information, we offer our own brand of sublimation ink called Cosmos Ink.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I feel like being original, genuine, relentless, and helping people along the way was the key to our success. A lot of people don’t know this, but I used to work overnight at my main job, then worked on my side business (which is now my main business) everyday for nine months straight. This resulted in only having 3 hours of sleep per day for nine months. Talk about sacrifice, lol.

We also network our tails off not only to be in a better position but to help others achieve a better position as well within their lives. I’ve always been able to see the talent within others, so if you have that talent I’m going to ask you “What are you going to do with it?” At that point, if they decide to do something with it, the best piece of advice I can give them is that “Business isn’t for the faint of heart.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cosmos-ink.com/
• Email: support@cosmos-ink.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmos_ink/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/cosmosinkofficial
• Other: https://m.youtube.com/cosmosink

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