We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Justine Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Justine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

There are parts of being a business owner that I absolutely love and parts of it that make me miss having a “regular job”, but owning a business has made me happier than I ever thought it could. Before having my second kid, I worked full time as an account manager at a company that provided health screenings (and I had a series of different positions at this same company before that). I found it extremely challenging to work full time and also be there for my first kid for all the things that he needed too. He was still really little, so there was lot of energy that went into feeding him, being home when he was sick, chasing after him, and having enough left to just be his mom. When I found out I was pregnant with my second baby, I started questioning if the “regular job” was worth it and decided at 6 months pregnant to quit and stay at home full time. One week after I quit, COVID lockdown started, so now I was not working, was very pregnant, and locked inside with my almost two year old. It was a HUGE change, but I was somehow finding ways to enjoy it.
After my second was born, I continued to stay home, but started getting antsy to do something other than raise children when she was around 9 months old. I love them both so much, but needed something else to pour into, and a friend of a friend needed someone to help her sew headbands and I was HOOKED. I could sew when I had time during nap time and it was such a positive outlet for me. When Logan (the official founder of Happy Badger Headbands and who I was sewing for) was ready to let the business go, I convinced her to let me buy it from her and keep it going. I was never really anticipating becoming a business owner (and my degree is in Health and Exercise Science), but it has offered the flexibility and outlet that I never knew I needed.
Now, it is such a blessing (and a curse) that I am able to have my own hours and be my own boss. Any time the kids have off of school, are sick, have appointments, etc., I am available to be there and be fully present and I can work the business when I have the time. Being able to decide what I do with my time and where to focus my energy makes the success that much more rewarding, because I get out what I put in.
I do miss the routine of a “regular job”, because sometimes having the lack of structure is the biggest challenge in my productivity. I do also miss the reliability of paycheck that is the same from week-to-week, but this business was never meant to support myself or my family, so the success of the business is a bonus! The amount of fulfillment I have received from becoming successful through sewing headbands is more than I would have ever expected. There are no words to describe how good it feels when people tell me how much they love my product, love me, and love my mission. Plus, knowing that the money I am making is truly making a difference in the lives of cancer patients – even if it is just giving them a reason to smile for one moment – makes it all worth it.
My kids are now almost 4 and almost 6 and have seen the hard work it takes to run a business. They are my biggest fans and love being involved any chance they get (especially my oldest) and I love that they get to see first hand what goes into a job, but also that they get to see me as more than just their mom. I think it is important for my kids to know you can be both a mom and whatever you want to be and being a mom doesn’t have to limit you.

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?

I got started by accident, as I was staying home with my 9 month old and my 2.5 year old and ready to find something other than my kids to do, but wasn’t ready to go back to work. I wanted flexibility and minimal hours. A friend (who was an oncology nurse at UW Hospitals) knew I could sew and one of the other oncology nurses (Logan Brodsky) that worked with her also ran small business on the side was looking for someone to help sew headbands. She mentioned me and the rest is basically history. I started with just sewing as needed, then fell in love with having a creative outlet again (and the material was just so incredible) and I started creating other hair accessories from scraps for my 9 month old to test out and became passionate about the product, but also about the mission the business had of giving back to Logan’s cancer patients.
About 6 months later, Logan was ready to take a traveling nursing position and was ready to let the business come to an end, however I saw how much good it was doing for the patients, how much people loved the product, and how much I loved creating it that when I asked her to sell it to me, it didn’t take much convincing.
Since taking over in August of 2021, I have learned so much about what it means to take on a small business, especially since my background is in Health and Exercise Science. I have continued to focus on the twist headbands, which is the classic headband that everyone loves, but also have expanded into different styles of headbands, scrunchies, bows, hair ties, or anything else that might coordinate with the twist headband, because who doesn’t love having options?! The twist headbands are still the biggest seller, but the business has grown exponentially with the additional products because the fabric that I use is just too good to pass up!
I have also started attending/vending at markets and building relationships face-to-face with my customers and been an added bonus for everyone. I am pretty social, and it comes through better in person, and I love talking with everyone that comes by! I do think it also makes a difference for people to see the person who makes it all.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

As mentioned before, I purchased the business from Logan Brodsky, and I met her through a friend of a friend. She is a pretty incredible person who branded Happy Badger Headbands and got the connection to the Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the UW Hospital. However, now that I am running the business as my own, my right hand man (or woman) is Rheannon Kiddoo, who actually was by boss at my “regular job” before I left to be a mom and small business owner. I always respected Rheannon’s leadership and work ethic and we always seemed to think similarly and got along well. She was by boss for handful of years before I took a different position at the company after an acquisition. We were the only two employees in the Madison office and got along very well, and after leaving the company, we kept in touch and got together off and on. She was always extremely supportive of my business adventure and when I started doing markets, she offered to be there by my side. She has been at almost every single market since then, had helped with designs, organization, planning, and more and is the person I always ask for advice regarding the business. Although she isn’t officially a parter at Happy Badger, maybe one day we can grow enough that she can be :)

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients is absolutely word of mouth from my customers! People truly love my headbands and then share that love with anyone who expresses an interest in their headbands. I get messages frequently about how people were introduced to me by their sister/friend/mom/coworker, etc. and it warms my heart, but also creates trust in the company and the product for the new customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.happybadgerheadbands.com
• Instagram: @happybadgerheadbands
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/happybadgerheadbands