Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Willcox. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laura, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I actually started my business on my 30th birthday, my husband and I had gone on vacation and I decided that I was done working for somebody else and I wanted to really challenge myself and build a business and a brand of my own. There was a lot that I was going to have to do in order to execute really bringing a business together, including trying to balance my full-time job. I never took any kind of business classes in school and I felt like I couldn’t just walk into owning a business blind. I found an online entrepreneurial course and I took that over the course of three weeks and it taught me a lot of the basics about opening a business; the things that I would have to do in order to keep it compliant, how to estimate my costs and profits, and more. It was a great course and it had me feeling confident that I could establish my business, then came the great task of deciding what to call my business.
I toyed around with several names and got pretty creative with some, but in the end, I decided to name it after myself but not directly. When I sign paperwork, I don’t just put my initials LW I throw a little X at the end so LWx hence, LWx Custom Hats!
The next month was full of compliance paperwork and filing with the state in order to get approved as a business and approved to sell. I decided that I wanted to own a hat business because I am very much influenced by Western fashion and love the statement a hat can make and the confidence it brings. People often ask me what sparked me wanting to open a hat making business and truth be told I became inspired by my husband! I was accumulating quite a few hats of my own and he told me that I needed to curb my obsession with them. So, I figured fine, I will own my own hat company and that way I can have as many hats as I like! A few months later, I decided that if I was going to own a hat store, I needed to know everything that went into making a hat. I wanted to know this industry from the ground up. So I took a course with a wonderful woman in New Mexico and she taught me how to custom build western hats. I learned how to stretch them over a block, sew in the sweatband, create a flat brim and then how to shape the hat. I had done all of this in a course of about five months and that first summer I started seeking out festivals to have a little booth at and I came with a handful of my handmade hats that people could view and place an order for, and they were my very first hats I had ever made. Needless to say that when I look back at those hats now I have improved so much in my hat making skills. Clients got to choose their color, their shape any kind of colors that they wanted in their hat band, and I had all sorts of little trinkets out for people to pick from. So I continued that sales model for the entire first year continuing to go to different festivals, etc. By the end of the year I had about 26 custom hat orders in that first 6 months. I was really over the moon with my growth and success and was so glad that I had started my business.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Laura Willcox and my original career field was in Sports Medicine and Athletic Training. I was in that industry for about seven years professionally before I decided to “retire”. I got into the western fashion industry because of my love for rodeo and horses. I started doing sports medicine for rodeo athletes in 2018 and it really felt like when I was around those men and women they were my kind of crowd of people and I just felt at home around the western culture.
LWX provides three main services first and foremost, we are hat makers of beaver fur felt hats anywhere from 7X to 100 X in quality. Secondly, we are a traveling, pop-up hat bar and specialize in events, such as weddings, corporate activations, receptions, retreats, and more. Basically, we will travel anywhere the client needs to be! LWx makes sure that the client’s guests are taken care of and everyone walks away with a hat that they absolutely love. Our hat bar is unique because we are offering live shaping and a professional Hatter. I am in attendance at every event. We operate with both wool and straw hats, depending on the season and we stock dozens of different hat, bands, flower bouquets, ribbons, vintage hat pins and more. Thirdly, we also offer small items that are brand-able, mostly anything that is cowhide and fits in the palm of your hand we offer and these are super popular for wedding favors and we’ve also had corporate companies purchase these for their employees as small personalized gifts.
The thing I most proud of is that I’ve gotten hat making and shaping education from multiple people in our industry and I’ve taken those skills home and honed them. I am by no means perfect but I am always proud of the products that I deliver. So when you choose LWx, you know that your event and your hats are coming from experienced professionals. We also pride our self on individualized attention for hat fitting, and offering high-quality products in our hats and accessories.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

So LWx Custom Hats was definitely a side hustle at its birth. I worked for another two years before going full-time with it. I also wanted to improve my turnaround time on my custom built hats as they were taking me a longer than I would like as I struggled to balance, work life, and my new business. Ultimately I decided to make 2025 the year I go full time with my business and it has been wonderful.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The biggest thing that has helped my business is networking! All of my business has been word-of-mouth, grassroots, or direct engagement lead development. I do get inquiries on occasion from my website and social media, but I have found that building relationships within the industry has catapulted my business to places I never saw it going. I have worked both in the western apparel industry, the events, industry, and the entrepreneurial industry. The first impression you give someone can be the difference between having income that month or none at all. My biggest advice to anyone starting a business is to network! It pays off in dividends.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://LWxCustomHats.com
• Instagram: @LWxCustomHats
• Facebook: LWx Custom Hats LLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-willcox-516251343?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: N/a

Image Credits

Oscar Allen
Laurette Veres
Shawn Chippendale Whiskey Washback
Laura Willcox