After a video goes viral, a customized soccer ball is a business success

Andrea Suarez’s business, Printivia Solutions, is taking off. The 25-year-old, who moved to Atlanta from Venezuela two years ago, has a small stall in Lilburn’s Plaza Las Americas where she and her mother sell customized items: gift baskets, T-shirts, stuffed animals.

But it’s the latest product, a personalized soccer ball, that’s really struck a nerve. In the last month, Andrea has shipped balls with heartfelt messages, family photos, and other images printed on the hexagonal squares out to New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Florida. She’s even fielded requests from outside the U.S., but doesn’t have the capacity to do international shipping—yet. 

“Mucho la fiebre del mayoría realmente los que me han pedido son para cumpleaños, aniversario oeste para graduaciones,” she told 285 South. There’s a real craze for them. Most of the ones people have asked me for are for birthdays, anniversaries, or graduations. As she spoke, she looked out from the Printiva stall onto the central space of Plaza Las Americas, where dozens of people sat with their eyes glued to a large TV screen showing the Mexican soccer team playing South Africa—the first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Right now, she said, it’s also “fiebre del mundial,” World Cup fever, and “venía el día del padre”: Father’s Day is coming.

It all started, said Andrea, when she got a request from a mom in Miami who wanted to give her  18-year-old son a soccer ball for his birthday. “Conversando con ella, se nos ocurrió la idea de personalizarlo, que fue el video realmente que se hizo viral este ya me mandó la foto. Le dije¨ Bueno, no lo he hecho, pero lo podemos intentar hacer,” she explained. While chatting with her, we came up with the idea of ​​personalizing it. I told her, “Well, I haven’t done it before, but we can give it a try.”  

After making the first soccer ball, Andrea posted a video of the experience on Printiva’s Instagram account. In it, she narrates the progress by voice-over—“The mother sent me a mountain of photos, and as I looked at them, I felt I’d known the boy since he was in kindergarten”—while ironing on the images. “Una mamá no pide un regalo una madre pide emociones,” she says. A mom doesn’t ask for a gift; a mother asks for emotions. The video now has over 158,000 likes.

Since then, Andrea has made 10 balls in response to customer requests, and is booked out for new orders until December. Each takes three to four days to make; the process begins with the customer sending the images, which Andrea puts into a design software. She then prints them using a special printer designed for textiles, then transfers the printed textiles onto the soccer ball, using a hot iron/heat press. 

The balls, she said, include messages “con frases que le colocan los padres por los seres queridos, con mensajes personalizados de todo lo que dicen, de todo lo que le quieran decir ‘Estamos orgullosos.’” From parents and loved ones, with personalized messages—everything they say, everything they want to convey, like “We are proud.”

Printiva is a new venture for Andrea and her mom, who stood behind her arranging some of the printed materials as she spoke to 285 South. Acknowledging their success during difficult economic times for many businesses, Andrea said that people still need to promote their ventures, celebrate important moments, and share their ideas. “Nuestra esperanza para Printiva es que siga creciendo de manera sostenible y que continúe ayudando a más emprendedores y empresas a dar vida a sus ideas.” Our hope for Printiva is that it continues to grow sustainably and to help more entrepreneurs and businesses bring their ideas to life.