Afterburn is the after-dark maker show for people building real businesses with lasers, UV printing, DTF, embroidery, and custom products.
Every week, Erik Crowell (https://linktr.ee/makerfoundryco)and Ashlee Crowell (https://linktr.ee/makerfoundryco)go live and unfiltered once the shop lights go down. No script. No highlight reel. No fluff.
Each episode gets into the stuff nobody else streams: shop talk, pricing, workflows, mistakes, tools, trends, and the messy middle of turning maker skills into real revenue. Plus a rotating guest and whatever the live chat throws at us.
What works, what doesn't, and what's actually worth your money. Pull up a chair. Thursdays, 9PM ET.
Scaling for Q4: Hiring, Training, and Getting Found by AI
Scaling for Q4: Hiring, Training, and Getting Found by AI | Afterburn Ep. 8
Back from Printing United and a week away, Erik and Ashlee came home 400+ items behind. This one is about scaling for Q4: hiring and training new help, turning our system into the training manual, why we skipped a $1,200/month marketing agency and built our own AI systems instead, and why your corporate gifting window closes at the end of October.
All Episodes: https://afterburn.show (https://afterburn.show)
Maker Resources: https://mfco.app/makers (https://mfco.app/makers)
13 Oct 2026
Mall Shop Math, Fraud Orders & the Package That Vanished
Mall Shop Math, Fraud Orders & the Package That Vanished | Afterburn Ep. 7
Erik and Ashlee get into what it really costs to run a maker shop inside a mall, the fraud filters that save you from chargebacks, and the FedEx package that vanished into the mail system. Plus the air assist fix that cleaned up the Hydra 16 and a Printing United preview.
All Episodes: https://afterburn.show (https://afterburn.show)
Maker Resources: https://mfco.app/makers (https://mfco.app/makers)
13 Sept 2026
Meet Ashlee: Craft Shows, Trade Shows, and Running a Shop Together
Meet Ashlee: Craft Shows, Trade Shows, and Running a Shop Together | Afterburn Ep. 6
All Episodes: https://afterburn.show (https://afterburn.show)
Maker Resources: https://mfco.app/makers
24 Jul 2026
Community Over Competition? Ft John Modi - MakerFlo
This week on Afterburn we're joined by John Modi, the co-founder of MakerFlo, one of the biggest blanks companies in the game. We get into the stuff makers argue about all the time but rarely get to ask a founder to their face. Grab a seat for this one.
Late-night maker talk, after the shop lights go down. New episodes every week.
▶️ Episodes: https://afterburn.show (https://afterburn.show)
17 Jul 2026
Next Level Maker Conference - Worth It?
Is a maker conference actually worth it? The money, the travel, closing the shop for a few days? We put that question to the two guys who built one.
This week Kristen and I hang with Mark Collier and Will Louie from Next Level Maker Events to talk about Next Level Maker Conference 2026, "REFRESHED", and the honest version of what you actually get out of an event like this. We get into how they fell into laser design, how they teamed up, and why they'd rather build a room for makers than just sit in someone else's.
It turns into a real conversation about why making stuff can get lonely, what happens when you finally get in a room with people who do what you do, and why the hallway is sometimes worth more than the sessions. Plus the vendor room, the Creator's Corner, giving back through Wipeout Kids Cancer, and a healthy amount of complaining about social media algorithms.
Grab a seat. This one's a good hang.
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What we get into
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• How Mark and Will got into laser design (and into business together)
• What REFRESHED actually is, and who it's really for
• The "is it worth the ticket" question, answered straight
• Why the vendor room and Creator's Corner are more than a sales floor
• Making stuff is isolating. A room full of makers fixes that.
• Giving back with Wipeout Kids Cancer
• The usual gripes: algorithms, and why we can't have nice things
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Takeaways
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• The laser world is better when makers build together instead of guarding secrets
• A conference isn't the sessions, it's the people. That's where the value hides.
• Getting out of your own shop and around other makers beats grinding alone
• The right room can change how you think about your business, fast
• Supporting a cause like Wipeout Kids Cancer makes the whole thing mean more
• And yes, the algorithm is out to get all of us
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Chapters
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00:00 Introductions and background
01:06 Falling into laser design
02:30 How Mark and Will teamed up
07:07 The Next Level Maker Conference
19:07 Is it actually worth it?
20:59 Why "Refreshed"
24:01 Inside the vendor room
25:44 The heart of REFRESHED
27:19 Making stuff can get lonely
28:12 Getting in the room and growing
34:23 Vendor Room and Creator's Corner
36:22 Learning and making connections
47:51 Supporting Wipeout Kids Cancer
51:11 Getting ready for the event
52:11 Community and showing up
59:00 The social media gripe session
01:00:28 What we're each fired up about
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Learn more about REFRESHED / Next Level Maker Events:
https://nextlevelmakerevents.com/
Afterburn - Maker Talk After Dark. New episodes every week.
7 Jul 2026
Trailer: It Starts With a Spark
Welcome to Afterburn, the after-dark maker show for people building real businesses with lasers, UV printing, DTF, embroidery, and custom products.
Hosted by Erik Crowell and Kristen Thompson. Every week we get into the real stuff: pricing, workflows, mistakes, tools, trends, and the messy middle of turning maker skills into revenue. Plus rotating guests.
First full show: Thursday, July 16 at 9PM ET.
Watch live and find every link at https://afterburn.show
Pull up a chair.
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