Sue rocks the crowds at The South Berwick Strawberry Festival 2009

EJ Hersom/Staff photographer Attendees browse vendors' offerings Saturday during the Strawberry Festival in South Berwick, Maine.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090628/GJNEWS_01/706289874

If you look really closely down the right hand lane of the walkway, you'll see a bright blue tent among the other white canopies. If you squint with one eye closed you'll see a woman wearing a pink shirt with a light sage green Cog hat by The Little Hat Company. Well that is our infamous Susan Page meeting and greeting the people at The South Berwick Strawberry Festival.

We had a fabulous day! Sue, Cathie, and I set up the tent around 7:00am after staying up to 2:00am sewing, tagging, organizing, and packing for the next day. Procrastination? Maybe or lets just say that restructing the company and changing the direction of the huge ship Obama keeps talking about has kept us a little busy this summer. Anyways if we seemed a little tweaked it was most likely due to lack of sleep from the past few weeks.

Every adult lid Sue put on to promote our new lines of Adult hats was literally sold off her head. We have now deamed her our best and most valuable hat stand in the company. Cathie took post at check out table, she was the most efficient at cashing out and making sure we collected emails for our online newsletter. Sue and I helped keep the hats separated by sizes and helped fit little and large noggins with the proper sizes. We loved seeing old friends and making new friends in the tent. I can't wait to see pictures of everyone wearing their new lids. There was a run on Beachcomber Lids for babies, toddlers, tots, little kids, big kids and adults. We almost sold out with just a few remaining at the end of the day.

A special thank you to Mr. Morrison for purchasing us a strawberry shortcake and for the South Berwick Fire Department for grilling up the very best burgers and franks. Delicious!! What a great festival we are already looking forward to next year!

ONE More Thing!!

When starting a business, do something you love and the very best people will be attracted to what you are creating. I don't know how it works, I count my lucky stars everyday for the amazing people that are involved in LHC and also for our far reaching customers.

Listen to the advice that seems the most cornyish... it works. The principles apply to all business. There always has to be value on both side, create something you can commit to and are willing to stand behind, do something you love, be willing to say yes 99.9% of the time but know when to say no, trust your gut, it's nobody's business but yours, remember to dot your i's and cross your t's, social marketing takes a lot of time but it does pay off, someone had to create the very first ripple, never let them get you down, go to the throne not the phone, failure doesn't exist, it's only a frame of mind, sewing is not for sissy's - just ask Deb and Cathie about toggles and cording one day.

People ask me for advice on starting their businesses all the time. Really it comes down to a few things. You get out of it what you put into it, you know your business more than anyone else, and goonies never say die. Just ask me.

If you can't work with your friends then why work?

Have you ever noticed that when you get a group of friends together and you take on a task it never ends up seeming like work?

When I started Little Hat it was me. Very lonely at first and then my sister and mom would jump in and help when I got large orders or needed to have the kids somewhere. Then there came Sue and shortly after Barb. I really didn't know either of them from a hole in the wall other than they had girls in Anna's class with Mrs. Sullivan. (love her) Then came lots of people in and out of Little Hat I am very thankful for all they contributed to the company. Then Somehow Kim, Deb, and Cathie came in all at once followed by Woz and Amy. They became our main stitching team well with the exception of Woz, but now Woz cuts and does just about everything when needed. She is the hole filler for Little Hat. Then some more special people that we loved and had a great time with and then when we weren't hiring someone for the store (sales were starting to dry up) in walks Emma.

All of this to say that these people have pretty much changed my life forever for the better and I honestly can't imagine my life without them. I would give up Little Hat in a second before I gave up any of my new hatter friendships. We laugh together till we pee our pants, we cry together when one of us is hurt, and we laugh at each other when someone needs a reality check -"it's usually me". We dig down deep together when we hit rough patches with the business and believe me there have been some doozies and then we clink our glasses and toast the good times, usually at Deb's house. Frank is by far the best wine steward in South Berwick. Everyone toasts except Emma of course.

Tonight when I need a gut check I picked up the phone and called two little hatters, when I received some great news about the business I picked up the phone and called little hatters. I know I might be exaggerating what these girls mean to me but I have to tell you that I came to Little Hat from a place of being a "loner". I'm not usually a joiner and don't often like large groups. I used to feel vulnerable around women who knew to much about me...now I feel blessed. So my advice to you is find the people you can laugh, cry, and be yourself with and then either start a business with these peeps or make sure you apply where they are working.

You can't even imagine how productive you can be when you are around people you like and especially when they like you back. Life is too short not to dream big and dream things that work for your favor. You don't have to exist in an office where you just don't click, no matter how much money you make. I was there and it was nauseating. If it hadn't been though I never would have been motivated to start my own business.

Life is funny when you stop thinking about it and live it. Thank you for reading my thoughts and thank you for buying hats from The Little Hatters. And one special note to a dear friend I stopped by and saw today...you know you were truly meant to be friends when you can reconnect in an instance. I LOVE your hair by the way and I'm so very proud of how you are growing your business and creating your very own legacy for your children. Namaste my friend!!

He who must not be named -

I finally turned my sewing machine off - I know Cathie is still sewing, just received an email from her. Steve (in picture) put the dinner dishes in the washer and put the girls to bed. I have a crick in my neck from talking on the phone with Sue about who she could forward our most recent newsletter to without it being inappropriate...I said if you have said hi to them on the street send it. I'm not sure she appreciated my dedication to making sure everyone in the world knows about the Little Hat Company.

We received another online order tonight, shipping to Berwick, Maine. I love Berwick. That's two hats going to Berwick just today. Believe it or not it is another adult Beachcomber lid. Wow!! We'll have to change the name of the company soon. Anyways, we are all exhausted from getting ready for Strawberry Festival, making hats for a last minute photo shoot that Hanna has asked for images to be incorporated into the new site and I just about to go watch some t.v. and I found an email that was tucked away into a special folder in my outlook. It is from he who must not be named. I wanted to share it because it is these little pieces of inspirations that we receive every now and then that keep us inspired and in belief that we are creating a national brand right here in South Berwick, Maine.

This email was from a friends husband. WOW again she is a lucky ducky!

"I can actually say I have a tear in my eye! This is great news and I must say your tireless energy and entrepreneurial spirit is going to make big things happen. It is just amazing the things that have happened over the last year and I really hope we now get killed with orders. Congratulations!"

Just keep believing, Just keep moving in the direction of your goal, and just keep hanging around people you want your kids to be like when they grow up and nothing can go wrong in the long run.

What happens when a group of eight wears the same hat?

"Hey, Where'd you get that hat?" - we heard this question over and over as the eight team members proudly wore our Cog hats all over Washington D.C. for the Avon walf for Breast Cancer this past May. We walked with 4 new members this year and next year we plan to walk in NYC. I have to say that wearing the same hat had its positives- it kept the rain off our face, it made it easy to find others when you lagged behind or got ahead while talking, it created a great shield when you didn't feel like talking anymore, and it was a great conversation starter when you met someone new.

There are three little hatters in the picture but there is a lifelong group of friends gathered in front of the monument. On a side note my Dad carried a woman up the stairs of the monumnet more than sixty years ago on a bet from some of his Navy Friends. My Dad has been gone for a very long time but it is cool to think that he would be very proud of what The Little Hat Company has become and maybe just maybe a little proud of his daughter and team Laffalots!

Leaving Your Comfort Zone Behind...Forgetting it even exists.

What happens when five Little Hats cross numerous state lines and end up in NYC? They dress up as scarecrows, meet an MSNBC Anchor on the street, are introducted to the anchors of The Today Show, cry, laugh a lot, cry some more, ask to be in Martha Stewart's TV audience, fall asleep in the audience after being frozen to the bone, have a drink in the Russian Tea Room, stand on a roof top overlooking the skyline with some new friends, go shopping in Target (Sue & Linda) have their picture taken on the street by a woman with a huge lens, be on national tv more than once, meet the Director of The Today Show and the amazing crew behind the scenes - Brian, decide that while they love the experience of being in NYC for Halloween they love returning home to South Berwick, Maine even more. Our little hat company has taken us on many journeys outside of our comfort zone and we've decided that sometimes you have to just push forward and forget about your comfort zone, well at least for a weekend.