For the past 11 years, the 2 Regular Guys podcast has held its annual REGGIE Awards, a forum for the decorated apparel community to nominate and vote for people and businesses in the industry who deserve to be recognized as the best in several categories. The 2023 winners were announced during the 2 Regular Guys live show on Dec. 8.

This year’s nominees were once again representative of the excellent work happening in the industry. A nomination form is posted in October, then co-hosts Aaron Montgomery and Terry Combs choose up to five (occasionally more) of the nominated people or businesses in each category. In November, voting opens and the team allows each nominee to encourage fans and followers to vote for them. The voting and nominating process is done entirely by the listeners, fans, and followers in the garment decorating and personalization industry.

“When we started, I believe we expected to see a lot of the usual faces, but every year we’re surprised by someone we hadn’t met before,” says Combs about the winners and nominees. “We meet new friends every year.”

Montgomery agrees. “It’s awesome to meet new folks who are making a big difference,” he says. “It’s not about winning an award; it’s about finding cool people who care about our industry.”

Let’s meet the 2023 winners:

• Fresh Impact Product Award: Sawgrass Printmate
• Customer Care Spotlight Award: Vik Patel, Craft Express
• Industry Education Excellence Award: Laurie Donovan, Sawgrass Brand Ambassador
• Decorator’s Hub Trade Show Award: Impressions – Long Beach
• Rising Star Award: Abby Carillo, Craft Express
• Women’s Voice Award: Meghan Rodenhouse, Craft Express
• 2 Regular Guys Podcast Guest Star Award: Vik Patel, Craft Express
• Industry Ambassador Award: Laurie Donovan, Sawgrass Brand Ambassador

“I think this year’s winners all had a strong emphasis on education as a part of their way of doing business in our industry, and the 2 Regular Guys are all about education,” Combs believes. “When we started the REGGIE Awards 11 years ago, we had no idea how the concept of peer nominated/peer voted awards would take such strong root in the industry. There was much gratitude expressed this year, due to the fact these awards are nominated by and voted on by our peers in the industry.”

Over the years, the co-hosts feel the REGGIE Awards have been successful, but Montgomery says they always welcome feedback. “We love hearing what everyone thinks about the REGGIE Awards and know that there is always room for improvement,” he states. “We want the REGGIEs to be something everyone in our industry is proud of. We hope it encourages everyone to keep helping each other, so we all keep growing and thriving.”