My Big Idea: 2True Headbands
Besides being a student and athlete, I am also a small business owner, and entrepreneurship is one of my biggest passions!
My business, 2True Headbands, has had a huge influence on my career path and my time in college. Over the past year, 2True has gained some notoriety within the University, and the opportunities and connections which have arisen from this attention have had a huge impact on 2True’s growth.
Me with my sewing machine.
To know the full story, you have to go all the way back to when little 8-year-old Maggie would sell lemonade and handmade jewelry at the end of her driveway (in a cul-de-sac, I might add) under the name “Maggie’s Marvels”. “Maggie’s Marvels” was the start of my entrepreneurial activities, and throughout my childhood I continued to come up with somewhat illogical ideas to make money, like hosting dancing events in my garage and inviting the neighbors, and writing a book, to name a few. While my childhood ideas didn’t ever turn a profit, these failures fortunately didn’t dampen my entrepreneurial spirit.
In 2011, when I was 13, a family friend told me about the platform Etsy.com. Etsy is a platform where you can create an online store and sell handmade items. Etsy is super popular now, but in 2011 it was essentially brand new. I made a shop called “Mknitts” where I listed some handknit fingerless gloves. Over the course of the next 6 months I proceeded to sell exactly five pairs, which sold for $15 and each pair took approximately three days to make.
Without knowing the rest of the story, it may seem like Mknitts was just another failed business venture. In reality, it was the launching pad for my current business—2True Headbands. Six months after starting Mknitts, I became obsessed with wearing those wide fabric headbands you could find at Target at the time. It didn’t take me long to figure out how to make them myself, and being who I am, I immediately started an Etsy shop, took a few pictures of my mom and sister wearing them, and listed them for sale.
I still remember the moment when I checked my email and saw that I had my first order, not for one, but EIGHT headbands. I immediately ran upstairs to tell my mom, grinning from ear to ear! That’s when I knew that I had something I could work with.
Once I knew 2True had potential, I started to put a ton of time and energy into expanding my product lines and into marketing on Etsy. I also started doing research on what it would take to sell my headbands in person. In November of 2011 I signed up for my first craft show, a small indoor show in my hometown. I threw together a few homemade racks out of PVC pipes, spent days sewing headbands, and ended up making $150 for the day.
Me selling headbands in 2012 at one of my first craft shows ever (above). Since 2012, I’ve worked hard to increase the professionalism of my display (below)
I spent the next five years doing a few shows a year, selling online, and gradually evolving my business. I added new product lines, developed logos and branding, and started doing craft shows every weekend during the summers, eventually making around $700 a show. In 2014, 2True’s online revenue was over $10,000. When I graduated high school in May of 2016, I packed up my sewing machine and took my business with me. Would I be able to juggle the stress of being a student, athlete, and business owner? Only time would tell.
To be continued...
-Maggie
