John Dowling: So, I’m John Dowling and I am here with Mohammed Esmaelsadah the president and founder of Embroidme in Melville New York.Well, first off, I want to congratulate you on being nominated as a model citizen for Model Citizens Magazine.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Thank you.

John Dowling: You’re welcome. I nominated you and Alex M. Wolff a former nominated model citizen seconded your nomination.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Well then a thank you to  Alex as well.

John Dowling: We nominated you for all the work you do for schools and for charities. And I know you don’t really like to talk about it much, but for the high school teams and athletes you’ve done some really nice things for them recently and over the years.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes, they are my neighborhood schools and I want to help them with during Covid with all of the challenges and difficulties they are going through.

John Dowling: So share with our readers what you actually do for them, because first off you manage a boutique frame shop, right. And an embroidery shop and you do some marketing with all kinds of free creative services for the artist community. But for a recent graduating class, didn’t you give them like 350 or so embroidered t-shirts for the seniors free?

John Dowling: So, I’m John Dowling and I am here with Mohammed Esmaelsadah the president and founder of Embroidme in Melville New York.Well, first off, I want to congratulate you on being nominated as a model citizen for Model Citizens Magazine.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Thank you.

John Dowling: You’re welcome. I nominated you and Alex M. Wolff a former nominated model citizen seconded your nomination.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Well then a thank you to  Alex as well.

John Dowling: We nominated you for all the work you do for schools and for charities. And I know you don’t really like to talk about it much, but for the high school teams and athletes you’ve done some really nice things for them recently and over the years.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes, they are my neighborhood schools and I want to help them with during Covid with all of the challenges and difficulties they are going through.

John Dowling: So share with our readers what you actually do for them, because first off you manage a boutique frame shop, right. And an embroidery shop and you do some marketing with all kinds of free creative services for the artist community. But for a recent graduating class, didn’t you give them like 350 or so embroidered t-shirts for the seniors free?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes we donated over 350 T-shirts to help them with their graduation ceremonies and activities.

John Dowling: Why?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Because they’re in my neighborhood and everything was shutting down, or opening up, or shutting down again, so their funds were challenged.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Over the years we also have done a great number of framing jobs for schools so I just felt that we wanted to give back during these hard times.

John Dowling: That’s a big deal for seniors as they love to put those t-shirts on and run around so that was really generous of you.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yeah. At first I said, I am going to do the hundred shirts for free. But when he shared that they did not have any budget at all and asked if I could do the entire 350 of them, I said sure, no problem.

John Dowling: Wow. Again, very generous of you. So, tell our readers and your fans, what are you doing on a daily basis? What kind of services do you provide? We know you do great stretching on canvas as you stretched at least 500 of my prints for the Miracle In The Making Fine Art Photo Exhibition. So, we want to recognize you and we want to make sure that everybody knows that you truly do support the artist community So, you do framing as well and also some printing?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes.

John Dowling: And what about on the embroidery side? What is it hats, t-shirts? Share with our readers a cross section of your services as it looks like a department store in here.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: We do all kinds of conservation framing. And also we do commercial framing, commercial, is not conservation, but we do that as well. And just mostly marketing products like hats, t-shirts, jackets, anything that you can embroider we create often in large quantities but small runs for local retailers and organizations as well. 

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Often our clients desire large format signage and promotional signs that go in waiting rooms and in retail stores so we do cater to corporate America as well. 

John Dowling: Cool. And what about these machines? What do these machines do? It looks like you could do anything in here and you’ll appreciate this when you see the photos, but I can see that you laminate large format items.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes we laminate, and provide most services that are needed for branding your business across most categories even give away items, coffee mugs, team shirts, basically everything.

John Dowling: Let’s talk about the t-shirt business because it’s more than silk screening your embroidering hats your embroidering jackets, right?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yeah. Well, for marketing reasons, we do a lot of parties, sweet sixteen and bar mitzvahs.

John Dowling: What do you do at parties? What do you do at sweet sixteen? What do you do at bar mitzvahs?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Giveaways, they give out shirts and they give out bags, hats, sometimes mugs.

John Dowling: Got you. So you can print on anything? I’m seeing these little Rocky things here, do you print on toys and stuff like that or, or like USB drives? Can you print on anything like that?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Anything, on USB drives, on toys, anything.

John Dowling: Anything?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: 78,000 different items.

John Dowling: Oh my God. Got you. So, you have a whole catalog of products?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Bags, tote bags, and duffel bags.

John Dowling: I was referred to you by a competitor actually Michaels right down the block on 110, as they could not handle the quantity of items I needed stretched.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes they work with mostly individuals they refer us when ever the job needs higher standards, or when they do not provide the service. We have a great complimentary relationship.

John Dowling: How long have you been doing this?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Framing I’m doing almost like 30 years, 31 years now.

Screen printing and embroidery and digital printing 12 years.

John Dowling: And how has the pandemic affected you?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: It affected everybody but I would say, it was a wake up call for me.

John Dowling: How so?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: From one side, I mean the way that I needed help financially, I saw a lot of people and I could help. I mean, the school that I helped, it helped me motivationally. And that’s why I was non-stop working even at the time I was closed.

John Dowling: You get into the whole routine and then it’s weird not to be in the routine anymore.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: That was the weirdest thing. But still I was coming and doing embroidery, screen printing, picture framing through email.

John Dowling: Okay.

John Dowling: Because a lot of stores like this didn’t survive through the pandemic. They just closed down.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yeah. Unfortunately.

John Dowling: All right. Now did you have COVID yourself?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: no but my daughter has it.

John Dowling: How is she feeling?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: She’s feeling good. She’s almost over it.

John Dowling: Okay. Thank God.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yeah.

John Dowling: Okay. Well, listen first off, thank you for everything you’ve done for us.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: You are welcome.

John Dowling: And you’re doing an amazing job. So, of course we endorse you because you’re worth endorsing.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: I am enjoying your work.

John Dowling: Thank you.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: You’re doing a great job.

John Dowling: Thank you.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: So all these photographs there, each one I’m finishing and I’m looking at them. Wow, nice. Whoa. Wow. Look at this. Oh yeah.

John Dowling: Have you spent some time behind the camera also?

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Spend time behind the camera? No.

John Dowling: Are you an artist yourself? Well, framing is an art first off.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: It’s an art, but again no I’m not a good artist.

John Dowling: So you really do have a great appreciation for other people’s work.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Yes.

John Dowling: Nice.

John Dowling: Well Mohammad, thank you again for everything you do for Model Citizens Magazine and of course for myself. I’m very happy to be able to recognize you and to also recommend you to all of the artists and people who read the magazine because you do amazing work and it’s fairly priced, very competitively priced.

Mohammed Esmaelsadah: Nice thank you, it is truly an honor to stretch your canvas prints and to be a small part of your Miracle In The Making Fine Art Photo Exhibitions. I look forward to providing more services and seeing more of your amazing art over time.