Nursing student turns interest in Western fashion into small hat business

TAYLOR BELTZ, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Jun. 21—Taylor Jackson has always had a creative streak, but now she has figured out how to turn that passion into a business.

TNJ Hats & Designs sells custom-made Western-style hats for any occasion. Jackson can also customize hats that customers already own.

"I've always grown up around Aiken, and I love Western fashion," Jackson said. "I think it's awesome."

While visiting places like Tennessee, Jackson noticed that this style of hat was hard to find in Aiken. This led her to learning how to make them herself.

"I love those hats," she said. "I think they're so cool, but we don't have anywhere in Aiken that makes them. I would see them online on like Etsy or I think some places in Nashville, but I was like, 'They are so expensive.'"

Jackson opened a Facebook page on May 22 to start selling her hats while also attending nursing school. She also has an Instagram page dedicated to her hat business.

The response has been more positive than she ever expected.

"Right now, I've sold every hat I've made so far," Jackson said. "I think it's one of those things that the more I make the more it will grow. I just came up with the idea and started everything literally three weeks ago."

She starts every hat by sketching the design on her iPad before sketching it onto the hat with pencil or Sharpie.

Then she'll bring out the wood burning tool to burn the design onto the hat. Based on customer request, she will also add additional accessories that she also makes herself.

"I had one lady, she wanted her, she just got married, so she wanted her last name on the hat, and she told me what kind of flowers she liked and just stuff like that," Jackson said. "And then I drew it up and made sure she liked it."

She prices each hat based on how long it takes her to make it and the cost of all the materials, Jackson said.

In the future, Jackson just wants to be able to continue making hats after finishing nursing school.

"The goal is to one day, OK, I'm a nurse, I'm working three 12-hour shifts. I want to have something outside of my regular day-to-day job that I love doing, that I can also make money off of," she said. "I want to be able to walk around Aiken and see somebody with a hat and be like 'Oh, I made that.'"