At The PPAI Expo 2024 earlier this year, Joshua Culp, owner of Louisiana-based Hammerdubs (PPAI 928216), grabbed a seat in the front row just prior to the kickoff of the trade floor’s opening. It was his first time at The PPAI Expo – he had only been a PPAI member for about a month – so when the woman sitting next to him said she’d been in the industry for over two decades, he asked her for some Expo-related advice.

She told Culp to post on social media. So, he took out his phone on the spot and snapped a selfie. It wasn’t necessarily the photo itself that was noteworthy, though. It was the caption he included. It happened to be taken 100 days prior to his retirement from the U.S. military after nearly 27 years. Soon, promo would become his full-time job.

Culp has served in the U.S. Army and has recently been serving in the Louisiana National Guard. He has been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait (twice). Serving has been part of his identity for his entire adult life.

The official day of retirement is July 31, but Culp’s retirement ceremony is April 26. “That’s when I stop reporting to work,” Culp explains.

“It is an opportunity for veterans or people looking to start a business because there aren’t a lot of barriers to entry,” Culp says. “It’s relatively low cost to get started.”

Ahead of his entry into full-time civilian life, Culp spoke to PPAI Media about his journey and what his promo future looks like.

The Ultimate Logistics Preparation

Before even finishing high school, Culp joined the Louisiana National Guard in 1997 at the age of 17 in order to pay for college. In college, he joined the ROTC, knowing that he would eventually join the Army and become an officer. That time came soon after college graduation, when he spent five years in the Army before rejoining the National Guard.

  • Culp was deployed to the Middle East four times.
  • He held the position of battalion commander.
  • He is also a Ranger School Graduate.

Any successful promo distributor knows about the myriad factors that could prevent a transaction from running smoothly – from supply chain issues to unclear clients to the attention to detail required before finalizing the deal. This is the kind of experience that the army more than prepares one for.

The average civilian may be aware of the difficulties required in being abroad on military duty, but often overlook some of the most impressive challenges: the actual deployment and return processes.  

“It’s a lot of work to take your family on an overseas vacation,” Culp says.

So, imagine being a battalion commander partially responsible for the overseas deployment of nearly 1,000 soldiers and their equipment.

“There’s a massive amount of work to make sure you can put equipment on the ship and send it to a foreign country,” Culp says. “Things can and do go wrong.”

To make sure that a solider is prepared – both physically and mentally – and transport them with their gear by boat or plane (or both) and get it where it needs to be by a set date determined over a year prior is one of the world’s most impressive logistical accomplishments.

“It’s kind of a miracle,” Culp says. “And then you have to do all that again to come home and get the equipment home.”

Business And Loyalty

Technically, the company had existed under a different title for over a year when the name Hammerdubs came to Culp. He had been home from deployment for less than two weeks and was trying to come up with a name for the WiFi for his internet router. His son Jack’s nickname was “Hammer” and his son Walt’s nickname was “Dub.”

He realized it was a name that stood out. The logo is blue and green, a combination of his and his sons’ favorite colors.  

“Every interaction I do, I want it to be a proud lesson I can tell my boys,” Culp says. “Everything is a teachable moment. I try to conduct business in a way as if they are always sitting there watching me. Don’t take shortcuts. Provide people with value. Be proud of everything you do.”

The business came out of a retail clothing store that Culp and his wife ran out of Monroe, Louisiana. With the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers nearby, gameday apparel was a hot seller, but women’s options for local high schools were few and far between despite having great sales potential.

In 2019, the Culps started an LLC and printed five or six style shirts for nearby high schools through a local screen printer. That was the start of Hammerdubs.

“My own store was my first client,” Culp says.

As tends to happen in promo, opportunities came by happenstance. A friend of Culp’s owned a real estate business and was looking for merch options. Culp was in a position to help.

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“I knew there was a market out there,” Culp says. “Just from being in the military so long and being around government agencies; there are so many things that are branded.”

Some people are conditioned to help others. Culp is attracted to the way promo actively helps an organization with its goals. There’s a relationship aspect and a quality aspect.

“In business when you provide a great product, there’s loyalty that will just happen,” Culp says.

Now, promo can be more than just a side hustle for him. He’s already planning on bringing the whole family to Las Vegas during The PPAI Expo 2025. As far as a post military life? Culp is ready. At least as ready as one can be.

“There is some anxiety there. But it’s a good anxiety.”