Peekaboos®
Starting as a happy accident, Peekaboos® Ponytail Hats found their way into the world during a winter getaway in northern Wisconsin. Their founder, Danica, was trying to make a standard hole-free hat, without the use of a pattern (she rebels against the use of patterns) and wound up with a goofy, bright pink holey-hat. First, strictly for entertainment's sake, Danica tossed the hat on while tossing her hair out of its inadvertent gap... and then, it clicked. The brand name came next, an idea from her mother. So cute, so warm, and so surprising it wasn’t in the market yet.
A college student at the time, Danica held a part-time position in the UW-La Crosse campus computer labs to decrease the tuition bill. Still wearing the bright pink “oopsie’ hat into the labs each day (after all, what college student could resist such a quick fix for bedhead?), the requests to have a Peekaboos ponytail hat of their own began to pour in from fellow students and professors. She filled some of those orders, but while pursuing her Chemistry and Business degree at the time, Danica hardly found enough time away from books (and boys) to launch and maintain a company.
Shortly after graduation, she traveled extensively for her immediate post-college career. Yes, she was still sportin’ the original ponytail hat, and was still receiving hopeful order requests. With very long flight hours (prior to the days of internet or personal TV's on airplanes), bored with naps and bored with books, Danica used her downtime to brainstorm. With a fine-tipped Sharpie marker in hand, on the back of a Delta Airline napkin, she took a deep breath and sketched a logo. This is the logo still used today, at the top right corner of this page!
The seed had sprouted, but a long transition was ahead before Peekaboos® would have their first successful sales season. The conversion consisted mostly of organic growth from long uninterrupted hours, with very few unearned opportunities (except one: her first months of legal advice were provided by a patent attorney friend, at the cost of fresh-baked muffins and inexpensive bottles of wine).
Perfecting the product to a consistent, maximum quality ponytail hat required patience, resourcefulness, and dozens of overstuffed storage bins worth of rejected prototypes. The ideal product was finally achieved: a fun, smart, warm, comfortable, and stylish Peekaboos® ponytail hat (with an unrivaled handmade integrity noticeable by a first touch).
Several years later, Peekaboos® ponytail hats with their unique ponytail hole, are sold internationally online, in retail stores, and seasonally at handmade markets.
Danica
Homegrown in rural Wisconsin, Danica now resides in downtown Milwaukee. She enjoys her unbeatable family and friends, yoga, the Green Bay Packers, Thanksgiving dinners, running, and of course, her ponytail hats! Her favorite places are northern Wisconsin, New York City, and Italy. She appreciates intelligent, quality products that make sense.
Copyright 2003-2012 Peek-a-Boos Ponytail Hats: Ponytail Hat. All Rights Reserved.
