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Conversations with the Inspiring Sarah Haske

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Haske.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2010 my past boyfriend Ryan got sick with cancer and died a year and a half later. With Ryan’s death, I told myself, “I will never do anything I don’t want again”. The passing of Ryan is what led me to my sewing machine. I needed to create & I desperately needed an outlet for my grief. I found a used blank hat at a local thrift store and that became my canvas to create on.

It took me four years to really figure out how I was going to make it by selling just hats. In the meantime, I lived and worked in a hostel in Costa Rica. During these four years, I continued to sew & sell hats. I did a lot of soul searching and knew that it was time for me to move back to the states and really start this business. I moved to Boulder, CO. It had been five years since Ryan passed and the statement I said “I will never do anything I don’t want again” was burning so deeply in my soul! This was truly the right time to act, it’s all or nothing! While I was living in Boulder CO, I was paying exorbitant amounts of rent money for just a bedroom in a house with four other guys. I realized that I needed my own home and studio to keep my passion going without spending crazy amounts of money for a home and studio space.

I had some friends that started & ran a nonprofit organization called “Bus to Show”. Bus to show is to keep drunk drivers off the road, help eliminate the amount of cars driving/parking at shows around Colorado, but allowing people to still have fun and be safe. This is where I first heard of skoolie/bus life. At this time, I realized that the platform of a school bus is exactly what I needed for a home and studio. To top it off I’m a gypsy at heart and the bus has wheels which enables me to move wherever my heart desires. Lucy is my dream machine – my 40ft school bus that I bought and named Lucy. One of the founders of “Bus to Show”, Charles Kern, is the bus guru guy. He converts school buses into tiny homes and other spaces. Charlie was my “main man” on the build of Lucy with another friend named Ben, who did all the custom woodwork and cabinets within the bus. I did the entire demo of Lucy myself and then hired Charles and Ben to help with the build!

Side note: Myself, Charlie, and Ben filmed a TV show with HGTV “Tiny House, Big Living” Season 3 Episode 12 “Tiny Bus Workshop”. You can watch the six-month demo in less than 22 minutes!!

I remember when I first bought Lucy, I was in the bar toasting with my friends that I bought a 40’ school bus. I’ve never even driven a bus at that point, but it didn’t stop me! I didn’t know A SINGLE thing about school buses and now I know A LOT and also drive one like a pro! Lucy was the perfect stepping stone for HEC Studio, I need this space for my business to grow into what it is now.

Lucy is fully off-grid pulling 1800 watts of power through her six solar panels that line the roof of the bus (also with a rooftop deck up there too)! All hats are sewn and made with solar power thus making a sustainable product too!! Lucy also has a 100-gallon water tank (lasts about two weeks, with careful usage) composting toilet, full shower, full kitchen (stove, sink, and fridge) and plenty of working and living space!!

It’s been four years of working & living out of Lucy. I recently bought a house with my soul mate Ian Buchanan which has even further catapulted HEC Studio into a very successful hat business.

 My work for the year consists of sewing hundreds to now thousands of one-of-a-kind hats all winter long. During the summer months, we hit the road in Lucy and sell hats at summertime festivals. My festival circuit can be anything from a whitewater competition, beer festival, music festivals, to a yoga retreat, fine art shows, craft shows, all women artists shows, pop-up shows, and whatever my heart desires and what HEC Studio feels good about attending. I also have a website where you can buy my hats and/or custom order my hats. A big part of my business is custom orders and wholesale clients. A part of my business that I never knew would be a part of it is going into schools and talking to students about being an entrepreneurial artist while living a different lifestyle (tiny living). There was honestly something missing in my business. I love creating all day, but something wasn’t fully satisfying me. Then a school invited me to come in and talk to kids about being an entrepreneur artist and that’s when it all clicked. This is not just about making hats, this is also an empowerment piece!! You too can do anything you set your mind to! I love sharing my story & drive with others to demonstrate how hard work and a dream can come true. Even if life has given you a bunch of lemons, make a tasty sweet lemonade out of it, cause we all have hard times – it’s how you deal with adversity!

I’m a pretty busy boss sewing lady, basically. HEC Studios motto is “Do what you love” and I can honestly say I do that every day and it shows in my work too!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges was not having a business background. I went to school for Kitchen & Bath design, not Accounting or anything “business” like. Over time I have learned things like QuickBooks, but I have also learned that if you can hire someone else to do something you’re not that proficient at -it is very well worth your time and money!

Also, Social Media can be a challenge, as you’re trying to engage and find new clients always. It’s also keeping in mind that Instagram does not show your worth and just because I don’t have 10k followers doesn’t mean I’m not successful. Without Instagram, my business would be pretty none existent, people follow me because it’s a lifestyle that they too would like to live, but that means you need to be showing them your life always. It’s a very time-consuming part of my day.

Now that I am a successful businesswoman- I realize that I let myself get in my own way of thinking I’m not valid, worthy, making enough money, have enough followers on IG, impacting the world enough, and being the successful businesswomen I want to be.

 That’s not the truth, I am a very successful businesswomen and I’m totally making it. I would suggest to other women entrepreneurs to not let yourself get in your way, don’t let programming trick you into thinking you’re not doing good enough, because you are!

What should we know about HEC Studio (High.Elevation,Creations.)? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I make custom one-of-a-kind trucker hats. No two hats are alike. There may be a similar design, but as far as the combination of fabric color and hat color, no two will be alike. My most popular design is a unique version of the Colorado state flag. A lot of my fabric is vintage, recycled, reused, and from around the world. Everything is sewn in Lucy which is my 40ft school bus that I converted into my tiny home and studio. There are six solar panels that line the roof of the bus, thus everything is made with solar power making it sustainable fashion too! My type of sewing is an “Appliqué” technique where you layer fabric over other fabric to create a 3D scene. It’s a dying art like quilting. I’m honestly most known for being the “hat lady in the bus”. Again I am unique in that everything is sewn in Lucy and it’s on the trend of “slow fashion”. Everything is handmade, with solar power, and not mass-produced!

Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
I’ve felt like a lone wolf a lot of my journey. I didn’t know a lot of women doing the same thing I was, and I felt very alone with no one to understand how I felt in my business. Now that I have found my lady boss tribe on IG, they have been a really huge source of inspiration to me. I can look to these women for support, love, business talk, artists’ writer’s block, and sisterhood. We are in a makers movement where shopping small does matter and we are paving the way for future women entrepreneurs!

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Anna Sees Photography

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