Brendan and Amanda O’Shaughnessy were engulfed with full-time jobs when they started Ocean & Sea, a creative studio specializing in products, design, branding and marketing. They needed a buoy, and got one from AltCap, so they could expand the business to what it is today.

It took $700 from a previous business to design and launch their first product line, the  iconic “LA-KC-NY” T-shirts found in local shops around Kansas City. 

“The challenging part was that I was working like 70 hours a week for at least a year or longer. It’s not like you can’t do the hours, but can you maintain creativity and momentum? I got to a point where it was like, okay, something’s got to change,” Brendan recalled.

When they were able to transition to Ocean & Sea full-time, they wanted to expand their wholesale business beyond the Midwest to become a national brand and begin to offer design, branding, and marketing services.

Brendan was talking to a friend about business loans when he heard about AltCap. His friend said AltCap wasn’t a like a traditional bank. “They’re kind of championing the community and really want Kansas City to succeed.” Brendan reached out to AltCap and met Davin, who walked them through the ARTcap microloan process.

“AltCap felt more like an extension of our small team as opposed to someone who’s just trying to make money off small businesses. It didn’t feel like I was being taken advantage of at any point. That was important for me.”

The capital enabled them to hire a part-time employee and focus on expanding their business, but AltCap also gave them confidence in the direction their business was going.

“I had confidence in myself and where the company was going, but also they had confidence in me. That was reassuring in the process of trying to expand,” said Brendan.