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October 13, 2025
NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN – Born and raised in Adams County, Suzy Dehmlow Nolet said she proudly calls herself an “Adams girl and graduate.”
Dehmlow Nolet said her dad worked as a dairy farmer, while her mom – who she describes as “kind of amazing” – balanced working full-time on the farm, preparing meals, doing laundry and holding down a full-time job.
After graduating from Adams Friendship High School, Dehmlow Nolet said she studied theater and public relations in college.
During that time, she said she also worked at Sergio’s Mexican Restaurant in Janesville, where she quickly moved up to bar supervisor and promotional director – gaining valuable hands-on experience that complemented her studies perfectly.
“I was doing all this cutting and pasting for all the flyers,” she said. “And I was like, ‘I really like this.’ So, I bought myself a computer – one of those little Mac Classics – and [started working with] QuarkXpress and Photoshop.”
Dehmlow Nolet said she taught herself everything she needed to know in terms of graphic design and started her own business on the side.
At the same time, her bartending skills were in high demand, so she took a job back home and stayed with her parents – while steadily growing her business on the side.
After a brief stint in a rented storefront in Adams Friendship, Dehmlow Nolet said her parents gifted her and her husband a couple of acres on the corner of their farm – which is where her home and business are still located today.
Initially, she moved the business into a bedroom inside the house, but said the limited space quickly became a challenge.
“I went from a whole building to a bedroom,” she said. “So, we ended up working out of a shed in the yard, and we had a couple of semi-trailers.”
For several years, Dehmlow Nolet said she ran the business from that makeshift setup.
Though Graphics Direct remains a home-based operation, she said she now works from a dedicated workspace on the property that she calls “the shop.”
“I have a big, big shop,” she said. “My friends and family built me a big garage. It’s a beautiful building.”
Though she supplied the materials for the shop, Dehmlow Nolet said she credits the generosity of the local community for bringing it to life.
At times, she said, friends and family would show up to work on the building – even when she and her husband weren’t home.
“The shop has office space, a bay area that houses production and storage and a makeshift hangout spot for community get-togethers,” she said. “People are stopping in all the time. It’s pretty awesome.”
Dehmlow Nolet said the shop area of the property is affectionately known as “L.A. – which stands for Lower Adams.”
“My husband, Jay, isn’t from here,” she said. “He says that he has never heard of anybody calling themselves by their county. He picks on me all the time. I still say ‘I’m an Adams girl.’”
30 years of business
Dehmlow Nolet said Graphics Direct gets help with sales and other projects from Jay, who is retired military and a trainer for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where he writes material and trains for resilience and suicide prevention for soldiers.
“We’ve got a big job right now – the chamber guide,” she said. “So, [Jay]’s helping me sell [for] that. We sell the advertising and do the design work for it.”
Dehmlow Nolet said Graphics Direct also does a lot of printing and publishing for the Adams Friendship School District.
“For the school district, we sell the ads, print the book – it’s got photos of the teams and rosters and schedules for the kids,” she said. “And then there are promotional items. If you can put your logo on it, we pretty much can do it.”
Over the past 30 years, Dehmlow Nolet said she has taken pride in keeping her business local – choosing Wisconsin-based printers for larger jobs whenever outside printing is needed.
When asked what she credits for her longevity in business, Dehmlow Nolet jokingly said, “I drink wine” – but a conversation with her husband helped her see that trust – from her customers and her community – is what has truly kept the business going.
“He heard me on the phone one time and said, ‘Do you realize you just talked him out of a sale?’” she said. “I told him, ‘They didn’t need me. I came up with ideas for them. They didn’t need to spend the money on what they were thinking they wanted.’ He just shook his head and said, ‘That’s why people trust you.’ So, I guess I’m someone people trust when they ask my opinion. They know I’m not going to sell them something they don’t need. If they’re not successful, I’m not successful – that’s how I roll.”
Dehmlow Nolet said all of that integrity and hard work has paid off for Graphics Direct as it spends 2025 celebrating its 30th year in operation.
Business, Dehmlow Nolet said, remains strong – and she’s grateful for the continued support of the local community, especially during uncertain times.
Her passion for the work, she said, stems from a simple goal: keeping her customers happy.
Due to this passion, Dehmlow Nolet said she has a hard time separating herself from the business – “Jay has to remind me all the time, ‘You are Suzy, you are not Graphics Design.’”
“Sometimes my happiness depends on how Graphics Direct is doing – and that’s not [always] the right way to do it, because that’s just going to give you wrinkles, and make you drink more wine,” she laughed. “I’m still a work in progress.”
The constant “busy-ness” of running a business, Dehmlow Nolet said, isn’t always her favorite part of the job.
“I can tell you – it’s not bookkeeping, it’s not the paperwork, not estimating and all that [that is my favorite part] – and that’s really what the owner of a business ends up doing mostly,” she said. “I was up until nine o’clock [the other] night getting stuff finished for the accountant.”
Despite the constant demands of running a business, Dehmlow Nolet said the creative side remains her favorite part – adding that she still takes time to study new design software to stay current.
“That’s how we started – with the design,” she said. “It’s funny how we got into all these different things [along the way].”
When she had her storefront, Dehmlow Nolet said people would walk in and ask, “Hey, do you do this [specific service]?”
“[I would respond], ‘No, but I’ll figure it out,’” she said.
Dehmlow Nolet said that is how Graphics Direct ended up offering so many different services, which include publishing, printing, signs and banners, business cards, promotional items, vinyl and more.
As passionate as she is about running Graphics Direct, Dehmlow Nolet said she’s just as committed to staying connected to the Adams County community.
That commitment, she said, includes serving on the board of the local hospital – where she once worked and helped establish the public relations department – being an active member of the Easton-White Creek Lions Club and acting as treasurer for a veterans’ cemetery project.
Community-rooted
Graphics Direct, Dehmlow Nolet said, has also hosted a customer appreciation party every year of operation – except during COVID-19.
“We have 100-150 people show up for that – Jay [cooks], so that is an incentive,” she said. “He’s a very good cook. He does 18 feet of seafood boil. It’s a customer appreciation party, but we call it a customer appreciation, friends and family party.”
Dehmlow Nolet said she is proud to be a member of her community in Adams County.
“When a disaster happens… everyone here is helping cut up a tree or helping them to find a place to live,” she said.
Looking back on three decades in business, Dehmlow Nolet said she can’t imagine running her company or living anywhere else.
“This place is amazing,” she said. “We are so blessed to be here.”
