Meet Christi Gates | Designer of customized hats

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christi Gates and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christi, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my success is the 100% support of my family and friends throughout each of the beginning steps of the creation of July Hat Company. Sarah, my daughter-in-law, is my photographer, accountant, social media manager, and the creative artist behind the July Hat Company logo. My family and friends have been my best advertisement using social media and word of mouth. We wasted no time making July Hat Co. t-shirts to get my brand out to the community and eventually the DFW area. Within nine months, three people of notoriety were owners of a July Hat Company customized hat. Those people reached thousands of their followers, which in turn boosted my followers tremendously. We hold a high standard with all of our products at July Hat Company. Personally, I feel God has opened up this door for me to create unique and creative custom hats and hatbands. I want to glorify him through my work.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I grew up in a small town, Royse City. At that time the population was 1,100. In a small town, you knew everyone. Daisy Prince was a local artist and a family friend. Daisy taught art lessons to the locals. I started my art career with Daisy when I was in 7th grade and continued throughout my years in college. Daisy taught her students many lessons in life and one of them was to take risks because there is always a way to recover. In 1979, I began my education career. Then, art was not part of the curriculum in that school district, but I managed to incorporate art into my lessons. I saw how art set students free to take risks, create and learn with their strengths. Later in my education career, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach elementary Art for 18 years and have recently retired.

July Hat Company begin in my kitchen. There have been many trials and many errors in defining my style of customizing hats. There were hats all over the house, so I cleaned out a building on our property and moved July Hat Company into it’s own space. When I’m in my hat shop creating just the right hat and hatband combination, it’s like Christmas and the suspense of opening a present.
We stand behind the July Hat Company brand and the quality we produce.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When my friend comes to visit, I would start by staying local and spending a day and a night at my house sitting by the pool, taking long walks through the neighboring parks, and staying up late catching up on our time spent apart. Rockwall has an active square just walking distance from my historic home. There are wonderful shops, live music and several delicious restaurants. Then, on to Fort Worth Stockyards to shop, tour and a night at the Hotel Drover. After that, a few days in Dallas .We would begin the first day visiting the Dallas Museum of Art. Hopefully, her visit would be during the Texas State Fair, the largest fair in the world, It is a must! Thrifting in Dallas is the best and the most adventurous of all thrifting. A short 2 hour drive to Waco and a night or two in a historic VRBO. Shopping in Waco is high on the list from junk stores to the Magnolia Market. Home is my favorite place to be, especially with my family and friends.

Website: Shopjulyhatco.com

Instagram: Julyhatco

Facebook: July Hat Co

Image Credits
Sarah Gates