We recently connected with Karlee Hart and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Karlee thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Growing up, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, thanks to family members before me who were business owners : my Father & Grandfather particularly. I always felt that I was chasing something in my early years, usually sports-related. When I got to college as a Freshman, for the first time in as long as I could remember, I wasn’t playing a sport and wasn’t being challenged physically or mentally like I was used to. I dived into extracurriculars such as a sorority, but didn’t necessarily feel I fit in to that lifestyle. COVID-19 hit during my sophomore year, so I found myself spending a lot more time at home / off campus than I would’ve ever imaged as a college student. Having this driven, business minded approach to life … I was searching for purpose in the not-so college years. One day while I should’ve been studying for Junior Year Spring Semester Final Exams, I was instead researching trucker-hats. I said to my brother that day “I have my next business idea …” and he chuckled, saying “I’m sure you do kid.” From there, I spent the Summer break starting and growing a business making and selling trucker hats: “hatsbykarlee.” It was a quick hit. I notice I had a real knack for the business side of things, more then the creative I’d say. I am a very all-or-nothing kind of person, so I gave it my all. I studied competitors, researched vendors and suppliers and attacked my target audience ..: which was easy considering I am in my own business niche. August rolled around and I was making hundreds of hats had actually profiting money as I grew it from just one hat, patch, and my moms old fashioned iron. I began to feel a heavy weight on me thinking about returning to college. I didn’t “love” college like most kids my age did, I felt different therefore. I was firm in my belief that I had something going … so I convinced my parents that I would take the Fall semester off, to give the business my all, and see what happens. Little did I know, that decision to not return to college for my final year as a Senior, would mean I would never return back to University of Delaware or any college, and would be where I am now today almost two years later. I spent that Fall absolutely hustling, and meanwhile, I was making little to no money. I’ll never forget when my Dad sat me down to go over the financials, and told me the truth like I needed to hear it: the business wasn’t profiting, so what’s the plan? Back to school? … I believe the moments in life when we’re making decisions or taking risks… if fear of failure, rejection, of anything is the only thing holding you back … you have no excuse but to run forward and take the leap. For me, I knew I was young and had everything to gain, not to lose, so I decided I had to go in harder & deeper than ever before. I credit myself for being someone who ask questions, makes connections, let go of the opinions of others, and is a caring person. I truly care about my customers and the community my brand has built. I am growing as an individual and as a person each and every day with my growing brand, I believe we can only improve as we’re all & the business is too a work in progress. I’ve made so many risking decisions since the moment I left college: moving 12 hours south, opening two retail stores only a few months apart, hiring and firing employees, spending thousands of dollars on inventory, investing in manufacturing, etc… it only gets harder, but when you make risks and see rewards, and show up for yourself, you gain confidence. My faith in Gods plan for me and this business grows deeper everyday.
Karlee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Karlee Hart, I am 23 years old. I was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. I was very involved with sports growing up and I believe this is where I grew my competitive edge and learned many good life skills and lessons about teamwork, leadership, desire & the will to win. I also learned how to fail & keep going: “next play” mindset as my Father taught me. I had an amazing upbringing in my small town with a very close family, I am the youngest child of 3. My siblings are 5 & 7 years older than me, so I believe this also may have played a part in me being so ambitious and independent. I am a huge people-person and love talking with people and hearing their stories. For this reason, I was really excited to go away to college and get out of my small town. I was thankful for the opportunity to explore another state / area and meet new people. However, college wasn’t exactly all I thought it would be. My story is a little unique where I left college after my Junior Year to pursue my startup business in apparel. The business began at the very end of my Junior Year, in 2021, as “hatsbykarlee.” All Summer, I made custom hats where customers could chose their patch & color hat to have it on. I was quickly making and selling hundreds of hats and began wholesaling. The lessons I learned of how to build a website, social media platform, handle inventory & customer service we’re all pretty daunting at times. However, I loved every minute of it. I loved working for myself and knowing the sky was the limit if I wanted it. It was exciting for me that I truly built the brand one hat at a time, so I didn’t need a whole lot to invest. It was more of a “fun summer-gig” until it started to really grow. Right before I started making hats, I was working at Lululemon in a beach town a few towns over from my beach house. Instead of spending my days at college, I’d spend it at home or driving to the shore for work (Avalon NJ). I am thankful for this job, even though it only lasted a few months before I had to quit because I was busy with my new business, because I got to see the inside / behind the scenes of a large scale, high end company. Not just any company, an apparel / retail company … and a location at the shore (aka in a slow paced, easy going, summer time fun, beach town). So fast forward again to July 2021, I am working full time for myself running this growing company, and I decide I want to go full into this and go in the direction of an apparel, lifestyle. So, I revamped the brand to become “beachkrew” a beach-inspired lifestyle brand. My family’s beach house is just a few blocks from the ocean, and I truly love the beach life style. I wanted my brand and the community to be similar minded individuals who truly want to live a life full of the same inspiration, peace, community and activity that we do while at the beach. At the same time, we want our offerings to be next level. I believe what sets us apart from other company’s in beach towns is we don’t have the classic sweatshirts with the name of the beach town slapped across it, instead we have unique look, colors and sayings that make people feel good. It might not say their beach town on the shirt, but it holds the feeling of their favorite town(s) and the community within it. As a business owner, I never rush into a decision, order, colorway just to make an extra buck. I truly take my time on everything making sure we’re ordering our best possible to the customers. Since I started so small and at a young age, I am slowly going to be growing this company into exactly what I want it to be and am giving myself lots of room for improvement. We are moving in the direction of manufacturing and designing custom apparel and looking to be hosting more community events. The turnaround times go from weeks to months, but I know in the long game it’ll be worth starting now. I’m inspired by my customers everyday. Being a business owner is truly a nightmare at times and very lonely… meeting my customers in our stores and on the street has been life changing. Every encounter means more than the last. I want my / our fans to know that I still text my family group chat when I see customers wearing beachkrew in public and that I am truly thankful. Every time I go through a tough patch or my mental health takes a toll, I remind myself that my story can impact my customers, that there’s so many of us good people who just need to know their not alone to face their challenges head on. I’ve made so many decisions that I’m “too young to make” but I’ve never let age get in the way of the gifts Gods given me. It’s so much bigger then me, and I can only hope I continue to show up the way this community needs me and hire individuals who want the same for our tribe. I am most proud of the way I handle my team, but showing them I am not perfect & don’t know all the answers, but I’ll always have their back and be the leader they know has the best for them and the community in mind. I truly want to be a mentor for young girls who are just like I was at that age: looking for purpose.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When the business was a year old, and I just went through my first Summer season selling my apparel out of a smoothie shop in the Jersey shore (Ocean City NJ)… I knew the dark / cold Fall and Winter season was approaching the north east, and as the owner of a beach brand I knew this couldn’t do! Thanks to family and friends, I had visited the city of Charleston, SC multiple times and fell in love. In November 2022, I decided to pack up and move down for the “off-season” with my car full of personal belongings and my parents car full of inventory and supplies. My Dad and I ran excel spreadsheets of what we felt I could bring down / leave at home in the make-shift beachkrew headquarters aka my parents basement. So, from Nov – January I packed and shipped orders and transferred inventory in and out of my apartment in SC and my parents helped me out big time also packing and shipping in NJ. Then, I got the opportunity to tour a very small retail space downtown CHS, and took the leap. I opened a small “pop up” retail shop and hired a few College of Charleston girls to help me run shop. This was technically our first retail location! Opened February 25, 2023. However, also in January I found out the retail space I applied for in Ocean City, NJ where the brand really flourished from, was mine! So, only a month after opening CHS shop, I began traveling back and forth to get our OCNJ location ready and we opened that May 13, 2023. I have been truly blown away by the pieces falling into place in both cities. I have an incredible team of young women with multiple different talents, experiences, and skill sets. They work together incredibly and we learn everyday. Being in warm weather year round and a place that encompasses the lifestyle I build my brand around has been very inspiring and motivating for me as the owner of a growing coastal brand.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Building an audience on social media is one of the most challenging aspects to a business. We all know the power social media has, and on its many platforms. In the beginning, I was following a lot of random people from all over the country in my spare time to grow awareness and traffic to the brand. Instagram tried to block my account many times for they thought I was a robot. However, I was doing this because I saw how people were reacting so well to our content, which looking back is almost laughable compared to where we are now with content, but it showed me that people were understanding and catching on the vibe. From there, I also did giveaways with larger brands and went to pop up vendor events to get the brand out there. Things really changed when I started focusing on TikTok. I had heard so many stories of brands blowing up on there, so began researching the algorithm. I was creating and posting 3-5 video every for months on end. Then a video took off in OCNJ, and fans flooded the smoothie shop where I was selling beachkrew. Since then, we’ve continued posting on TikTok and IG daily, and tapping into paid marketing, which is a real feat! I’m so thankful for my social media team who works so hard at this. We’re really trying to focus on product & displaying it well!
Contact Info:
- Website: shopbeachkrew.com
- Instagram: @shopbeachkrew