# Josh Tabaj

> Josh Tabaj is the Chief Marketing Officer and one of four co-founders of Branded Bills, the Arizona headwear and apparel company that turned a hand-branded leather patch into a national custom-merchandise business. Branded Bills started around 2015 in a Mesa garage with a branding iron, a knife, and roughly $1,000 from each founder; its first patch hat went to a South Dakota brewery. The company grew from state-pride hats into a vertically integrated operation that sources and produces its own headwear, runs a custom and corporate-branding division, sells officially licensed collegiate gear, opened its first physical store inside the Phoenix Suns' Footprint Center in 2022, and moved into a 96,000-plus square foot Tempe headquarters in 2025. Tabaj handles the marketing side of that machine - the brand voice, the customer story, and the argument that a logo deserves better than a screen print.

- **Role:** Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder at Branded Bills
- **Organizations:** Branded Bills
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science (Marketing), W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Branded Bills in 2015 with roughly $1,000 per founder and grew it to a company of about 200 people, Serves as Chief Marketing Officer, leading brand, e-commerce and customer marketing, Helped make Branded Bills the first company to produce leather patch hats for all 50 states

## Career timeline

- **2015** — Co-founds Branded Bills with Dave Dickert, Sam Coil and Tim Welch; the first hand-branded leather patch hat is delivered to a South Dakota brewery.
- **2016** — The company expands from a single state patch to all 50 states, still hand-branding and hand-cutting every patch.
- **2017** — All four founders go full-time at Branded Bills; the custom and corporate branding division launches.
- **2018** — Branded Bills begins sourcing and producing its own proprietary headwear in-house.
- **2020** — Apparel line launches; the company supports frontline responders during the pandemic.
- **2022** — Opens its first physical retail store, on the upper concourse of Footprint Center with the Phoenix Suns; passes $50 million in lifetime product sales; headcount around 110.
- **2023** — Expands within Broadway 101 Commerce Park in Mesa to roughly 37,000 square feet.
- **2024** — Announces a move to a 96,407 square foot Tempe headquarters; headcount around 140 with roughly 40 percent year-over-year growth.
- **2025** — Branded Bills moves into the new Tempe corporate headquarters at 360 S. Smith Road.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Branded Bills in 2015 with roughly $1,000 per founder and grew it to a company of about 200 people
- Serves as Chief Marketing Officer, leading brand, e-commerce and customer marketing
- Helped make Branded Bills the first company to produce leather patch hats for all 50 states
- Helped scale the company past $50 million in lifetime product sales as of 2022
- Part of the leadership that opened Branded Bills' first retail store inside the Phoenix Suns' Footprint Center in 2022
- Part of the leadership that grew headquarters from a Mesa garage to a 96,407 square foot Tempe facility

## Latest updates

- **2024-09** — Branded Bills announces it is tripling its headquarters footprint, leasing 96,407 square feet at 360 S. Smith Road in Tempe, Arizona; Tabaj gives the company's on-record statement about the move and the approaching ten-year anniversary.
- **2025-01** — The company moves into the new Tempe corporate headquarters.
- **2025-01** — Branded Bills continues expanding officially licensed collegiate headwear collections, including Arizona State and Arizona.

## Links

- Website: https://www.brandedbills.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-tabaj-83b3b01a9

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/josh-tabaj
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-27