After years of running an oil and gas company, I always get asked how I got into the hat business.
This is a passion I shared with my daughter, Lydia. She was a light to so many people and gave herself and her time to support and help others in their struggles, even as she was fiercely fighting her own. We lost her to an accidental overdose, due to fentanyl, on July 24th 2020. She was 23 years old.
To help process my grief, I was looking for a creative outlet that would honor the things Lydia loved. We both loved hats, connecting with people and lifting them up. One day, I went to a hat band bar and created my own trim kit and fell in love with the process. It was a calm in the storm of losing Lydia. Everywhere I went people commented on it and it would spark wonderful conversation that would lead to a greater connection.
That first hat turned into the next, and the next, and then Animo Hat Company was born. Animo means to ‘encourage others’ and I hope that you feel a little of that when you wear our hats.