A Printing Partner: The Story of Happy Llama
Owner of Happy Llama, Ira Johnson celebrates over 15 years as a printing partner to Colorado’s finest organizations. His keen eye for business, a relentless positive attitude and a penchant for fun, provide a special experience for his #happyllamaherd.
Exactly how Ira got into print management remains a mystery, even to him! However, the name and the foundation of his business ethics have deep roots in generations of family history.
Printing Partner Draws From Family History
Ira was born in Fort Collins but grew up on a farm in Iowa where hard work is worn as a badge of honor. His grandfather, Stub, who was an eccentric cowboy, raised llamas and at one point had over 100 llamas on the farm. Keep in mind, this was more than 30 years ago, before llamas became trendy!
Stub also had an extensive collection of antique buggies. Wearing his gallon-sized cowboy hat, he decided he should teach his llamas to pull the buggies. Llamas are a pack animal, so this was quite rare. In fact, when Ira was 9 years old there were only 3 people in the world that had trained llamas to pull buggies.
Being a clever businessman, Stub used this rarity to help promote his restaurants around the Midwest. And that’s when Ira started driving the llama teams in parades throughout most of the summer, including the World Circus Parade in Baraboo, WI.
When starting Happy Llama, Ira drew from his many years of promoting and the fun he had working with those llamas to create a one-of-a-kind culture within his own business.
Local Printing Services Through COVID
As with most businesses, Ira and Happy Llama have experienced many roadblocks and challenges during the global pandemic. Ira pivoted efforts to provide masks and PPE to companies who were left without, including the Denver Judicial System and Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.
Happy Llama Supports Community As Printing Partner
In the years previous to COVID, Happy Llama provided local printing services to the events and ski industries. Ira focused on the events industry as a way to interact and give back to the community through his services. Some of Happy Llama’s closest partnerships include Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Ride the Rockies, Copper Mountain, and Loveland Ski Area.
Local Printing Partner Expands Client Base
Throughout the years, Happy Llama has grown largely through networking and referrals. Ira explains, “It is a privilege to be able to include corporate print management for large companies, municipalities, and non-profits. They have diverse print needs, such as promotional items, employee incentive programs, staff uniforms and retail programs/fundraisers.”
Happy Llama Strives to Create Relationships
Ira strives to bring an unmatched level of enthusiasm, optimism and genuine desire to create collaborative relationships in every interaction. With his diverse experience, he believes the necessity of knowing, and learning from, as many people as possible.