We were lucky to catch up with Lindsey Byers recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsey , appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

When I first started this company I sought out the blanks to print the bandanas on. I was left uninspired by the available bandana blanks. They all felt stiff and the colors were very generic. I decided that the best way forward was to purchase white bandanas that were made in the USA and dye them myself. I did this for three years. As the company grew, I was sometimes dyeing, washing and ironing 1,000 bandanas per month. I realized this was not sustainable for me, and now I purchase pre-dyed fabric in fabulous colors and have the bandanas manufactured in the USA. This way I am able to achieve both the hand-feel and aesthetic I am looking for..

Lindsey , 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?

As a serial entrepreneur I started Bandana of the Month Club in January 2019 with 20 subscribers, while also running a spice company and my own catering company. I had participated in subscription boxes with the spice company and didn’t like how they took advantage of small businesses. I decided to create my own subscription box that actually supported individuals and businesses in a real way. After thinking it over for a few days, I had a eureka moment of bandanas. An environmentalist in degree and heart, I have always loved bandanas and their functionality and versatility. I consider myself a creative person, but not artistic, so it has been a dream to work with artists that I enjoy to create these functional art bandanas.

I am constantly working to improve my business and the goods that we produce. It is important to me to create a durable good, that also looks great!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

When I started Bandana of the Month Club, it was one of five side-hustles that I had going. All the side hustles equaled enough to not actually have a “real job”. When I actually got my first salaried position, I had to give up every side hustle but Bandana of the Month Club. In addition to running BOTMC, I was worked as a from scratch, organic lunch lady in Arkansas for 6-12 graders. We were serving up dishes like congee, bibimbap, dosas, nicoise salad and the like. My mornings started at 4:30 AM and ended at 9:00 PM to get everything done. When COVID hit, we sold out of almost all of our inventory and our membership rocketed to 700 subscribers/month. All of a sudden I had two full time jobs in addition to another side hustle selling vintage glassware I had picked up along the way.

With COVID, any sort of social life was out the window, so I spent almost all of my free time working. When we finally got through the distance learning school year of making meals for all of our students and their families, I decided to focus on Bandana of the Month Club solely. I am now steadily at about 300 subscribers/month, which is a lot more manageable for one person. I had a daughter in June and even though I wasn’t able to take any sort of maternity leave, I don’t feel pressured because I don’t have a looming maternity leave date ending and I can set my own daily schedule.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

I originally bought a stock product and modified it to meet my needs. I eventually turned to having my own products manufactured. It was a lot of work finding the right materials and manufacturer, which meant a lot of hours on the computer, ordering samples and having prototypes made.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bandanaofthemonth.club
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bandanaofthemonthclub