It was the summer of 1985. Growing Pains ran on television, kids were sipping Capri Sun while sporting denim on denim, Cyndi Lauper was gaining popularity, and Friday nights were spent wandering Blockbuster aisles to find your favorite flick. It was also the year that changed Debbie Hanson’s life forever. After graduating from high school in Plano, Debbie came across a newspaper ad seeking a layout artist for a new sign company. It was the exact thing she had learned during her high school commercial art class, so she applied. Steve Mailman at the first FASTSIGNS in Dallas, which opened on July 15, 1985, called her for an interview.
When she arrived, she quickly noticed the beautifully-cut vinyl letters and wondered how she would ever do that by hand before discovering it was computer magic. You could say her interview went well, because in 2025, she’s celebrating her 40th work anniversary both with FASTSIGNS and as the company’s first employee.
Forging Her Path at FASTSIGNS
In addition to spanning decades, Debbie’s career has included a variety of roles. During her first year at FASTSIGNS’ original center in North Dallas, working with Gary Salomon, Steve Mailman, and Bob Shanbaum, she began as a graphic designer. She also worked in production and other roles throughout the center. After her first year, she was promoted to center manager.
In addition to her manager duties, Debbie was also instrumental in helping new FASTSIGNS franchisees on their journey to success. After corporate training, everyone came through her center for on-site training to get acclimated with sign production and experiencing the entire business in action.
On her 10-year anniversary, Gary Salomon gave her a five-day trip to Las Vegas with her friend. When she returned from that trip, Gary made her an owner at the same original center, and she enjoyed her owner/manager role for nine more years. In that role, Debbie focused on treating her employees like family, keeping them engaged, and having fun at their jobs. “I'm the game girl,” Debbie shared. For monthly meetings, she would turn the most recent popular game shows into a team experience with prizes. In doing so, this bonded the team and helped create loyalty.
Debbie's history with FASTSIGNS is long and influential. In fact, she even had a hand in the sale of a FASTSIGNS location. In 1987, a real estate professional named Miriam Karp came to Debbie for a sign. When Debbie accidentally presented a sign with a misspelling, she took Miriam behind the scenes to show her how easily the vinyl could be fixed. This demonstration so impressed Miriam that she, her brother-in-law Lane Harris, and her friend, Doug Cohn, purchased the Irving FASTSIGNS center that year (April 1, 1987), followed by the North Central/Walnut Hill location on April 1, 1988. (No fooling!)
Debbie’s own career path within the company has been just as eventful. When FASTSIGNS corporate was purchased by another company in 2004, the original FASTSIGNS was also sold. Debbie was going to change career paths, but she changed her mind. Her passion for the brand brought her to the corporate team for a year, where she traveled around the U.S. helping several FASTSIGNS centers with their challenges.
In 2006, she began a 13-year tenure as the sales manager for April Gilliland at the North Central/Walnut Hill location she had inspired Miriam Karp to buy years earlier. When that location sold in 2018, Debbie transferred to the FASTSIGNS on Mockingbird, where she worked for two years. Following a furlough during the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked for the downtown Dallas location for about a year. For the last three years, Debbie has worked remotely, lending her extensive experience to Renee Friedman and Richard Goldstein at their FASTSIGNS Central Orlando location.
Throughout the years, Debbie has been driven by monthly and yearly sales goals. Gary always said, “What gets measured, gets done." Every year, Debbie and her team set the goal of being featured on a new K-Club banner at Convention. She remembers the year her team hit a million dollars in the calendar year, and she took them all to Las Vegas.
Navigating Technological Change
According to Debbie, the evolution of technology and materials have kept the work interesting over the years. Early on, they had a small computer called the 4B with thirteen type styles. You couldn’t see the sign you were aiming to produce on the screen, and a pen would draw the sign on a roll of paper. They also had a two-foot by two-foot digitizing tablet to recreate logos.
“I can remember weeding those letters on the table for hours, trying to get things done. 20 years ago, every sign was vinyl, but now they put it on a printer and go.” Debbie reminisced about how she created a variety of colorful signage for the State Fair, including a colorful banner requiring many layers of color that had to be individually created by constructing every piece and color. “What took five hours back then would take about 20 minutes today,” she shared.
Every year, she’s still learning. A few years ago, she spent a lot of time in CoreBridge, and she loves how you can save everything in one place, including the ticket, notes, and files. Debbie references invoices so she tracks where she got something and what she paid for it last time. She also adds the proof and the final picture of the installation for future reference.
While many things have changed, what remains consistent is that every day is different and customers continue to bring her new challenges to solve. They often come looking for guidance, and she loves bringing their ideas to life. “There’s always a new challenge, and figuring out a solution with my team has always been the part I loved most. The magic is in transforming their questions and ideas into something they’re going to love.”
The Art of the Relationship
"I really try to make a friend and not a sale," Debbie shares. Early in her career at FASTSIGNS, a restaurant manager arrived after 4 p.m. on a Friday, desperate after another company had misspelled 20 large signs. Rallying her team for an all-night job, they delivered the corrected signs before noon the next day. He became a customer for life, and Debbie still keeps in touch today.
At several FASTSIGNS locations, Debbie had the opportunity to work on the Texas State Fair account.
“It was incredible to go to the fair and see everything we had made!” April's North Central center had the State Fair Management account for more than 28 years, then she sold her location in 2018. After April sold her center and Debbie was working for Mark Glenn, she was able to procure a meeting with the State Fair. When they came for the meeting, Debbie brought cupcakes with Big Tex on them and won the account. Debbie went a step further for the VP of the State Fair, creating an official State Fair nametag for his baby girl. During his daughter’s first State Fair trip, he snapped a photo of her with the nametag and sent it to Debbie.
For a large client in Orange County, Florida, she learned he enjoyed playing games with his sons, so she had her team create a personalized, branded dominoes set that he loved.
“People will always come back if you make a relationship,” Debbie says. “We always try to under-promise and over-deliver.” She also checks in after the job has been completed, and reviews former orders from the same time of the year prior to anticipate future needs.
The Impact of a Signage Industry Pioneer
40 years later ... Debbie still bleeds Red & Blue. “To know that nearly 800 FASTSIGNS centers are around the world because something I was a part of in 1985 is just amazing. Had that first center not worked, there would never have been a franchise or corporate location. Around 8,000 people’s livelihoods today, plus those who came before, were positively impacted because of what we made work in the beginning.”
“Debbie is amazing and brings something very special to the brand and to every customer she meets,” shared Renee Friedman, franchisee at FASTSIGNS of Central Orlando. “She truly understands the value of customer service and solutions. Her contribution started on day one, and she continues to shine as a virtual account manager for our center.”
“I poured my heart into FASTSIGNS. The people I’ve met through FASTSIGNS over the years at the Conventions, including employees and franchisees, have become my family,” shared Debbie. “I want to begin and end with the same job and retire with FASTSIGNS. My heart and soul is with FASTSIGNS. My heart is full, and I've loved FASTSIGNS since the day I walked in the door."