We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darren James Hackey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Darren James, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I was extremely fortunate to have not one, but two, separate apprenticeships with two master hatters. Both of these hatters I apprenticed with have over 40 years of experience making western felt hats and running their own respective businesses. I owe them a debt of gratitude because hat making is a very guarded trade and I was able to learn without having to work for them. These experiences significantly expedited the learning process by having near constant access to their expertise.

The most essential skill to have when learning is the ability to listen and do. Listen intently without your own ideas getting in the way (your ideas come later) and then fearless doing. I thank my eduction in becoming a doctor of physical therapy to having the ability to learn well.

The only obstacle to learning more is complacency. My drive to make a better hat every time leads to more learning, every single day. And I love it.

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?

At D. James, we strive to make the highest quality western felt hats humanly possible. Most of what we do is create custom hats for clients around the world. Every D. James hat is made by hand, with the finest materials, using traditional hat-making methods. We primarily use 100% beaver fur felt as this has long been the gold-standard for quality, long-lasting, heirloom hats that can be worn & remembered by generations. I am most proud of how we have intentionally grown slow, with emphasis on small-batch, superior quality products over fast-fashion.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2020, I was in my eighth year practicing physical therapy. This was a career that I had worked incredibly hard to have, and “should” have been happy in. But I wasn’t. Every day felt like I was swimming up stream. Completely out of sync with my natural wavelength. By nature, I’m an artist. I pursued a career as a singer/songwriter before making the “safe” play of going to college and then grad school. But by 2020, I knew I had to make a change. I was suffering and as a result my relationship with my wife and two sons also suffered. By the time I reached my breaking point, D. James, A Fine Hat Co. Had a significant waitlist and my wife finally said “Darren, just quit.” So I did. I gave my notice a day later and D. James became my life’s work. I can’t thank my wife enough for believing in and trusting me to make this transition. We have since opened our beautiful, one of a kind, storefront in Downtown Billings, Montana bringing smiles to hat-lovers from around the world.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the best thing people can do to support artists and creatives is to first learn about what various artists and makers do. How are they creating and what is their mission. Second, if that art & message resonates with you, support them. If someone is doing something that you believe makes the world more beautiful, you must support them or that beauty will go away. We can all also buy less mass-produced art/clothing and invest in high-quality, long lasting pieces that truly bring us joy to have.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.djameshats.com
• Instagram: @djameshats