We recently connected with Caitlyn Henderson and have shared our conversation below.

Caitlyn , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Growing up, I was never someone who felt safe to stick out or express myself authentically. I was always taught to blend in with the crowd and always think about what other random people would think of me and how I expressed myself. Once I was in a space to be able to move away from those ideas, I started to really dive deep into what I want to do, how I want to do it, and how I want to display my personality and my passions. That philosophy plays an incredibly integral role into Rainbow Rave Hats, because I want to help anyone be able to express themselves authentically and fearlessly, in any setting. One of the comments I receive the most frequently on my hats is, “Oh, I love your work, but I could never pull that off!”. While I understand the feeling, and the fact that my work is not to everyone’s taste, I’d love to help people reach a point where they feel like they can wear exactly what they want to wear, where they want to wear it, how they’d want to wear it. Period!

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?

Well to anyone who is getting to know me for the first time, hello friends! I am a hat designer and small business owner based in Boulder, CO who has been working on their craft since 2018, but operating as Rainbow Rave Hats since 2021. I create captain’s hats, cowboy hats, bucket hats, and sunglasses for all types of creatives, but my clientele mostly consists of people who attend music festivals and Burning Man. I specialize in creating colorful, wearable art that’s guaranteed to make you stand out in a crowd and meet new friends!

In my short time as a business, my work has reached customers all across the United States that have attended a variety of major events, including EDC Las Vegas, Electric Forest, Bonnaroo, and Burning Man. I have also been lucky enough to have my hats featured in a luxury boutique in Monaco, as well as a fashion show for Nue Denver Magazine.

When I decided to start my business, I was already aware of the fact that there was a severe lack of representation from different brands that work in the same spheres that I do. As a queer and neurodivergent business owner, I strive to provide a welcoming platform for all kinds of marginalized groups to be featured. I want all types of people to feel like they can be the main character; not feel left out, less than, or like they have to work twice as hard to receive the same amount of praise other groups do.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

While it is a relatively small audience, what has built my audience to become what it is now is being both as authentic and consistent as humanly possible. Social media can be incredibly overwhelming and filled with so much noise that it’s hard to know who you can actually trust and relate to. I have found that I have had the most success in building a social media presence by using it as a means to further express myself and show off my art, but also by being as consistent as I can in creating content related to my business and what I’m up to. In my opinion, people on social media don’t just want to be fed ads and feel pressure to consume; they want to get to know a person and understand their philosophies behind what they do. Show that through your social media, and people will begin to notice, thus growing your audience.

A few other key pieces of advice I have for anyone starting out is to know your target audience, and not be afraid to try new things! Finding your target audience for your business takes time and flexibility, but once you discover it, it makes the process of creating for social media much less of a hassle. Don’t be afraid to try all forms of content on different platforms to see what works best for you and your business. It may lead to some ideas not being received as well as you had thought, or some ideas that you never thought would work, reaching the biggest audience! You never know unless you try!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I feel like this consists of several smaller lessons, but in general the most important lesson I learned with my business is to operate in a way that works best for myself, not in a way that is the ideal manner that society expects me to operate.

On top of being autistic, I discovered in my mid-20s that I have a condition called Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, both of which present me with a unique set of challenges in my day to day life. When I decided to start my business, it was so I could create a work environment where I can set my own rules and boundaries. I am not someone who is capable of waking up consistently at 7:00 in the morning, sitting in one spot for 8 hours, and working nonstop on one project. To be real, there are some days where I can’t get out of bed before noon because of extreme fatigue, pain, and brain fog, and I don’t actually start working on tasks related to my business until 6:00 at night. There’s even some instances where I need to take a break for several days at a time just to allow my body and brain to recover from doing the most menial tasks. But, I have come to realize that sometimes, that’s what my I need to function, and as long as I accomplish what I need to, what does it matter? Because I allow myself the ability to operate in this manner, I feel more inspired and motivated to work towards my business, and I am able to accomplish more with my business than I ever would have been able to if I tried to restrict myself to a typical workflow and environment. I understand that being able to have space to function in this way also comes from an insane amount of privilege, but it is also the result of years of intense work on myself and setting hard boundaries.

All of that to say, if you are someone who is starting a business or starting to work for yourself, take the time to understand what works best for YOU, and not just what society expects out of you. Develop routines that cater to your needs, and create a work environment that allows you to be flexible with your workflow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rainbowravehats.com/
• Instagram: @rainbowravehats
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rainbowravehats
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rainbowravehats?

Image Credits
Image Credits: Nicole Hester (@nhester), Ty Gunner (@ty.gunner), Thomas Hall (@h.thomashall), Alex Berroud (@kandi_diva), Stephen Olker (@olkerphoto)