We were lucky to catch up with Kristie Shaw recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kristie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
I first launched The Hat Hive solely with my ready to wear collection which consists of several different styles of hats and fascinators, available in a variety of colors. Once my ready to wear line had taken off, I knew that in order to continue providing a desirable product for my current clients as well as attract potential clients, I would need to extend my product line. I saw the need for custom hat and fascinator options for clients, where they could customize their hats with pops of color to coordinate with a particular outfit. At this time I was still working out of my spare bedroom, which then took over the garage, and then the kitchen table. I knew before I could launch my custom line, I needed more space! All the doubts ran through my head. “Can I afford a work studio”? “How can I still be present for my two young children if I’m not physically there”? “Where will I store all of my snacks”? One day while out running errands, I saw a for rent sign for an office space. I thought, “Why not”, so I called the number and someone came right over for a showing. It was twice as big as the space I had been working in, and I saw all the possibilities. At the time I didn’t have a strategy, or all of the answers on how I was going to make it work, but I knew I would figure it out along the way. I just needed to trust myself and take the big leap in the direction I wanted to go. So, right then and there I said, “I’ll take it”. I now had the space I needed for creating. The next step was just that: creating! I dove head first into millinery and hat designing, taking online courses from milliners from across the globe. I spent hours upon hours of trial and error, perfecting my skill and techniques with new fabrics and embellishments. I began offering my custom line. This provided my clients with a one of a kind, exclusive, bespoke item to pair with their own fashion sense. After my first year of launching my custom line, my books were full for The Kentucky Derby! I was turning away custom orders, and even though I was working 18 hour days, 7 days a week, I didn’t have any time to squeeze clients in prior to Derby weekend. It was painful turning away clients. So, I asked myself where I could continue to serve those who weren’t able to order a custom hat in time, yet wanted something with a little more style. That’s when I brought the Designer Collection to life! This collection consists of high end, fashionable hats and fascinators that have a lot of color and detail, yet aren’t fully custom. These pieces can be purchased in a time crunch, are ready to ship, and don’t require the turn around time of a custom piece. Then came 2020. It was challenging when the world shut down right before my busiest season of the year. I had a studio full of hats and supplies with zero orders coming in. I tried to make the best of this quiet time to really dive into my creative energy. In hindsight, it was the rest I needed to reset my focus on different aspects of my business. When The Kentucky Derby 2021 rolled around, I had several new designs to offer my clients and reached record sales that year in my business. That Cute Little Shop in Louisville started carrying my pieces in spring of 2022, displaying my pieces right in Louisville, Kentucky and selling out for Derby.
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’ve always been an entrepreneur and creative at heart. When I created The Hat Hive, those two worlds collided! I started The Hat Hive as a hobby, wanting to provide tea party themed hats and fascinators. I began marketing on Etsy, and within my first year in business, I started receiving a huge influx of orders in early spring, which were requested by my customers for The Kentucky Derby. It still makes me laugh, because at that point, I didn’t even know when The Kentucky Derby was!!!! I quickly educated myself and took a crash course on The Kentucky Derby to get me through that first year. When my first Derby season was over, I looked at my sales and realized what an opportunity I had for growth! I was just getting started and saw the potential to flip this from a hobby into a full time (or overtime) business.
The Hat Hive offers ready to wear, designer, and custom hats and fascinators with a focus on Kentucky Derby fashion. The Kentucky Derby can be a family affair, so we also offer fascinators for infants, toddlers, and “littles”, ages 5 and older. We haven’t forgotten the gents either. Our clients love our men’s reversible derby bow ties.
After launching my ready to wear collection, I received several requests from clients for customized pieces to coordinate with their outfits. Knowing how fashion and The Kentucky Derby go hand in hand, this was an option I definitely wanted to offer my clients. After launching my custom line, my business jumped to shipping 80-100 pieces a day during Derby season. I began working 7 days a week, sometimes pulling all-nighters, to get all of my orders out in time.
Within a year of working on my custom designs, my Hats were then carried in Louisville boutiques. That was such an amazing stepping stone for me, not only professionally, but personally. My vision was taking a monumental leap forward. All of those late nights at my studio were colliding with my hopes of having a presence in Louisville. My custom line quickly grew momentum and has become my most sought after product with several clients returning to The Hat Hive year after year. I love the rare opportunity I have as a creator and getting to know my clients. Together we review their Derby attire and create their perfect piece to match their own personal style, providing a fun and interactive experience as they see their custom piece come to life from fabric swatch to the final product. For many clients, this process can seem overwhelming at first. For many, The Kentucky Derby is a bucket list, once in a lifetime experience, and they don’t know where to begin. I guide first time clients through the process of choosing a hat or fascinator, and the colors, styles, and hat trends to implement for their ultimate Kentucky Derby fashion experience.
My business name was inspired by my grandmother, Bee. She was such an inspiration for creativity, hard work, and all things fancy. Her influence in my life was special, and because of that, I named my daughter after her: Peyton Bee. Because of these two important ladies in my life, I incorporate the “hidden jeweled Bee” into all of my designer and custom pieces to reflect my brand along with what the bee symbolizes: productivity, dedication, growth, beauty, family, and love. The jeweled Bee is my signature mark, and when seen, people know it’s a designer or custom piece from The Hat Hive.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I always try to think as my clients would. What problems do they need solved? How would they search for my services? Which social media platform are they most likely using? What type of experience would I expect if I was the consumer? Changing my perspective from a seller to a consumer gave me insight on how to reach and how to serve my clients.
Word of mouth has always been an effective way to grow my clientele. My goal is to provide not only high quality hats and fascinators, but also VIP customer service for each individual client. Building trust with clients is essential in the bespoke industry. In welcoming the conversation of their specific needs, I have the opportunity to not only meet their expectations, but exceed them. When I create a wonderful experience, clients will share that with others. Word of mouth is very powerful. With customer service as the main focus of my business, we now have over 3700 5-star reviews from happy customers.
It’s all in the details. When clients are purchasing a hat from me, it’s most likely for a special event in their lives where my hats are their biggest fashion piece. Keeping in mind they will take and share several photos while showcasing my artwork, most likely on social media where they’ll hopefully tag me and share my business with their social network. It’s so important for me to ensure that my clients experience with my products and services are memorable that they feel confident in sharing my business with others. I want my clients experience to be unique, so I take pride in putting my own personal touch and talent into every single piece that I create. When a client purchases their piece from The Hat Hive, they know it was created with them and their own personal style in mind.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I started The Hat Hive to provide supplemental income so I could stay home with my oldest son and maintain my own schedule. I was simply looking for some “fun money”. After my first Kentucky Derby season in the spring of 2016, I looked at my sales and was blown away with my numbers and realized I had an amazing opportunity to really make this grow. I also found that I loved what I was doing. I still look back and laugh because when I started my business I didn’t even know when The Kentucky Derby was, and now my business revolves around it. I placed my main focus on creating new inventory. I know if I could offer more fashionable hats I could attract more clientele and more sales. After building up new inventory and expanding my collections, I switched my focus to optimizing online marketing. I knew I needed to put my products where my clients would find them. I learned quickly in my business journey that I needed to save my time for what I do best, creating hats, I outsourced other specialists to help me in the areas of my business where I lacked. They each used their expertise and focused their time to create and maintain my online presence. This gave me a lot of momentum with sales as I had now placed myself where my customers were looking for my products outside of Etsy. After I grew my social media team, I had my biggest increase in sales in 2022. I credit my jump in sales to increasing my online marketing combined with launching my custom hat collection, which my clients love! They love having the option to have their very own custom piece to showcase their personal style.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.TheHatHive.com
- Instagram: @TheHatHive
- Facebook: TheHatHive
- Other: Pinterest: The Hat Hive
Image Credits
Charity Rebekah Photography & Heart Take The Wheel