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Stan State grad goes from student to business owner
Steffin Winston 1
Stanislaus State grad Steffin Winston is using his business marketing degree straight off the bat by taking over the Cen-Cal Embroidery business from his uncle (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

Many college graduates don’t have the first clue about what their hard-earned diploma will do for them in the future.

That’s not the case with Stanislaus State grad Steffin Winston.

After picking up his sheepskin on Friday during a sunrise ceremony that got underway at 7 a.m., the business marketing major hopped into his car and drove three miles east on Monte Vista Avenue to Denair, where he’s beginning the process of taking over the Cen-Cal Embroidery business from his uncle, Russell Steeley, who started his business back in 2013 and runs it out of his garage.

“Hopefully, someday, we’ll be operating out of a storefront,” said Winston. “But for now, I’m going to run it out of the garage.”

Cen-Cal provides custom embroidering for hats, shirts, jackets, patches, and banners. Cen-Cal also does sublimations — heat-pressing logos onto apparel. They also do vinyl wrap on items such as skateboard decks, tool boxes, helmets, and more. Their clientele stretches across the country.

“Growing up, I was always drawing,” said Steeley, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2023 and now finds it difficult to be on his feet for long stretches. “Art was always intriguing to me, but I never went to college. My wife — she was my girlfriend at the time — found a screen-printing machine for sale, and I started with that.”

Steeley sold the screen-printing machine and bought his first embroidery machine in 2015. He now has four embroidery machines and does nearly $200,000 in sales per year.

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Steffin Winston graduated on Friday from Stanislaus State with a business marketing degree (Photo contributed).

“Steffin’s been with me nine years,” said Steeley. “And I would love to hand it to him and have him take off. So, that’s the plan.”

Winston knew he wanted to become an entrepreneur when he began attending Denair High School.

“As soon as I got into high school, I knew that I wanted to own a business,” said Winston. “Everybody wants to be their own boss, and as soon as I got out of high school, I knew what I wanted to do.”

Winston said he doesn’t have the artistic flair that his uncle possesses, but loves that the job requires him to stretch his creative boundaries.

“I’ll stay here until midnight or one in the morning finishing up an order,” said Winston. “And it doesn’t feel like work to me at all.”

After Steeley’s diagnosis, the Denair High grads — Steeley in 1993 and Winston in 2019 — began talking about passing the torch.

“I think Steffin’s going to take this business to the next level,” said Steeley. “I really do.

You can call Cen-Cal at 209-853-0500, or visit their Instagram page at cen_cal_embroidery.