We recently connected with Kayla Moles and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Bluebird Hats was built from a hobby. During my freshman year at the University of Utah in 2013, my next door dorm-mate asked if I wanted to learn how to crochet with her. At first, I was horrible. I really thought I should quit my hobby all together because nothing I made looked remotely wearable. After finally making a hat that didn’t look like a sad attempt at a knit cone, I finally could wear a beanie that I was proud of. Friends in Salt Lake City started to notice my work and asked how they could buy one, and after posting on Instagram and Facebook about my new hobby and work I had created, people from my home town (Hood River, OR), also began reaching out to see if they could also purchase my beanies. Within a couple of months, I was making/shipping/delivering hats every week. It became my “side-hustle” that pushed me to change majors from Exercise and Sports Science to Business/Operations Management. I knew I had a little business on my hands and had so much fun designing new beanies throughout college as well as making a little cash. I have always been a very creative person, and it was the outlet I needed to balance me through my business courses. Little did I know, my “creative outlet” would carry me 10 years later to my full time gig. I never expected that!

I have always had a passion for entrepreneurship and business. Instead of of playing “house” when I was a kid, I opted for playing “business.” I made up an entire business called “Bob’s Freeway,” where similar to Costco, you could buy food, have a membership, and also eat on site. I had detailed menus, spreadsheets of customer info, and even “hired” my friends to help work on my business. We would spend hours answering fake phone calls and talk to our customers about their various needs/requests/problems. You could say, I was born to be a businesswoman!

Kayla, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2013, I discovered a new hobby crocheting beanies in my dorm room for friends and family. Before long, I was running around campus at the University of Utah delivering numerous hat orders.

Today, each and every beanie is still made by me using a manual flatbed knitting machine (I upgraded my hat making process to produce hire quality beanies at a faster pace). As my company grows, I plan to also build a small team of women around me starting this Spring to make hats. While it will be tough, I plan to continue to make all beanies in Hood River, OR. Producing in the USA is priority, as well as being close to the production process. I want to ensure that my quality remains the same, and that my beanies are ethically produced with fair wages. My goal is to empower as many women as possible through Bluebird by providing jobs to women seeking an achievable and feasible life/work balance.

Best known as a “hug for your head,” my beanies are the warmest thing your head will ever encounter. After a rigorous design process, The Bluebird Beanie was perfected in 2019 and now each offers a double-layered knit beanie, with an exterior of 100% organic wool and an interior of 100% soft acrylic, alleviating any itch. My finalized design offers the benefits of the natural wool properties but gives the comfort of soft acrylic on the skin.

Bluebird Hats is a product and lifestyle that merges an urban and active lifestyle inspired by the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to create high quality specialty beanies that feel and function as good as they look. It’s easy to imagine Bluebird Beanies dressed down and worn in the mountains, but they are designed equally as well to be worn dressed up for city nights.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I am in the process of this right now, so it feels very relevant to discuss. Throughout the year of 2022, I hit a point where I could take Bluebird Hats one of two ways: expand in people, productions, sales, or quit completely. I was finally getting a lot of recognition (more frequent opportunities arose, and I had gone viral on Instagram/Tiktok a few times). After 10 years of making hats and pushing hard for recognition, once success started knocking on my door, I actually had the thought about quitting altogether. Seems ironic, right? The main reason being is because I knew I couldn’t actually be successful longterm unless I made some major shifts.

I was pushed to the point where the growing pains had reached a peak, and I could no longer sustain my current operations. I realized that if I wanted to continue with Bluebird Hats, it was time to give up some control of my business, start outsourcing my work, and ask for help in many aspects of the business. I have truly been proud of me one-woman-show for so long, and the thought of anyone else doing any of it has scared me for many years (as to why I delayed it). Being afraid of failure has certainly set me back and kept me in my “safe zone.” Someone recently told me “most small business owners don’t realize this, but many businesses fail right at the cusp of great success because they don’t want to take the next step, This is where they get stuck,,,but this is the point of great potential. When you get going, it may feel like things are stagnant for a bit, but suddenly it clicks, and you’re moving forward faster than ever.” So basically, things may suck a little while training people to make my hats/help operate my business, but once my hats are being made to perfection without ME behind the machine will be the point that things start accelerating forward.

In summary, my word for 2023 is “Courage.” This year I am going to take the leap, move my past my fears of failure and limiting beliefs, and pivot in my business for the first time. I am going to trust that with my expansion in people, it will allow me to focus on other aspects of the business that I enjoy most (marketing and social media), and growing Bluebird Hats to be a globally recognized brand. I am very excited for 2023.

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

In my opinion, building a loyal social media following is absolutely key to any business. It’s not even about the numbers, it’s about building a community of people who want to see your success, journey, and milestones, and cheer you on along the way. For one: it builds trust in you and your product, and an emotional attachment to your brand. When I first started posting, I really wanted to be the “cool brand.” Everything was aesthetically pleasing to the core, and it if wasn’t perfect, it wouldn’t be caught on my page. I spent hours perfectly my content so no shred of human imperfection could be seen. I hid my production process because I was afraid that people would either copy it, or think that because I was using a flatbed knitting machine to make my hats instead of hand-crocheting, they wouldn’t want to purchase them. Let me tell you, I was dead wrong!

Being authentic, human, and bringing my customers along for the journey and behind-the-scenes has been the best thing for growing my social media accounts and maintaining loyal customers. I see faces on my page that have been there since 2013 (who have stuck around to buy hats and also see my journey). Their support means more than they ever will know. My main advice to anyone starting to build their brand through social media is: Be human. Post often. Don’t over-analyze what you post. You will naturally develop your style/aesthetic, but don’t make that all of your focus in the beginning. Too many influencers and brands get caught up in “how their photos look on the feed,” rather than being authentic and posting what they want to post.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bluebirdhats.com
• Instagram: @bluebird.hats
• Facebook: @bluebirdhats
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylavanhoose

Image Credits
Bluebird Hats Kitts & Co.