Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — From working in the commercial interior design realm to being a middle school cheer coach and then, running a Dripping Springs-themed swag and spirit wear online store, Katie Walker is now looking to open a physical storefront next spring.
Up until 2023, Walker was working at STG Design, where she would go into a downtown Austin office every day, before the COVID-19 pandemic halted that and she started doing the job at home. After working several years for someone else’s bottom line, she realized that it wasn’t bringing her joy anymore, so she decided to step away.
She went back to her roots, where she started coaching cheer at Dripping Springs Middle School — the halls that she used to walk when she was a student — for two years. It was then that she realized there was a need that needed to be filled.
“I just don't see anywhere in Dripping that has just a slew of fun and different Dripping Springs swag and spirit wear because all I was still seeing, which is what I grew up seeing, was the typical district Dripping Springs logo, which is the paw with the DS inside,” Walker said. “There was a lack of that in what I saw at the boutiques around town. A lot of the boutiques had fun women's things and like sweaters and maroon tops, but not necessarily like T-shirts and just fun swag that kids could wear and all that good stuff.”
In the spring of 2023, Walker slowly started to create what’s now known as Drip Swag Shop.
“I was mainly just putting it out to friends and organizations, like, ‘Hey, if you want this, come here, etc.’ Then, it just kind of grew,” she explained. “So, my first, and what I do now, kind of my bread and butter, is T-shirts, but also hats. I embroider and I can embroider sweatshirts and hats and I do the printed T-shirts.”
What has helped her business grow, Walker said, is that in the shop’s inaugural year, she started partnering with select sports teams, groups and organizations that needed shirts. The contract jobs, or custom orders, were not sponsored on the website, rather it all came from word of mouth.
She then moved into doing specific organizations, beginning with Sycamore Springs Elementary School, where her children attend. The campus approached her about her doing their swag, asking if they could host it on the Drip Swag Shop’s website for easy access to the community; Walker accepted, adding in a fundraising element that she likes to do with her clients.
“What we have established and what I do with now, like over 10 organizations, is I will, let's say a T-shirt is normally $20, but I'll mark it up to $22 and then, at the end of the month, we do what I call a give back, where I write a check for 10% to go back to that organization," said Walker. "It's 10% for sure to them, but if it's 12% that I'm losing, like it's not a big deal because, at the end of the day, it's helping those organizations. That has been a really awesome way to give back to the community I grew up in and I love.”
Currently, she has contract jobs with all three elementary schools within Dripping Springs ISD, the Hi-Steppers and the Dripping Springs High School band.
Though she has had the online store for two years now, Walker has recently leased a physical building at 11601 US 290 for a brick-and-mortar location. For her, she loves creating for people and providing the special things that they need for parties, going back to school, game days and more — but she felt like she could do more.
“It's really hard to do more online because if you can't see it, touch it and feel it, then you're not sure you know the quality or the exact color and stuff. So, I have accessories; I have bows and purse straps and jewelry on the website, but that's not necessarily where everybody right now is going online to buy. They're going online to buy their school’s spirit shirt or whatever,” Walker said. “I feel like there's a really great market, in our area, for providing spirit items and gift items for collegiate, sorority, Texas camps and back to school.”
It’s going to be a personalized one-stop shop and gift market, where if people need a special fun gift, they will have it, Walker explained. In the store, they will carry all kinds of DSISD spirit wear, while also expanding into maroon and gold pieces for women and men, items that can be embroidered, such as collegiate gift items for students, and personalized gifts for newborns, weddings and more.
“The inventory list is very long and I’m starting to cultivate that now,” she said.
The physical store is anticipated to open in March 2026. To learn more about Drip Swag Shop and check out what’s available, visit www.dripswagshop.com.
