Meet BITTY BRAH founder, Larinna
The idea to create a better kid’s sun hat started when my son was 4 months old. I was looking for a trucker hat that had a minimalist look, playful yet classic logos and something that would stay on my son’s head. I wanted a hat that would withstand being packed in a suitcase when you went on a trip because you always need a hat when you are on vacation. There was nothing I hated more than a giant crease in the front of a trucker hat. Once that happened, the hat was rendered useless and dead to me….it just looked too terrible to wear. I wanted a hat you could throw in any bag, withstand any wear and tear and still look great as soon as you grabbed it out of a crushed suitcase and wiped off the crumbs and sand. I was looking for something that didn’t exist.
I looked for months to find this hat that I thought existed and the more I looked, the more I came to realize that no one made these hats. I wrestled with starting a company for months but just couldn’t quite seem to pull the trigger. It seemed so scary, hard and I didn’t know where to start. Every time we walked past a store with hats, I kept saying to my husband..I could make those better…I should do it. It began to eat at me until something life changing happened.
In the summer of 2017, I was a mom to an 8 month old who had lost her full time job and father-in-law to cancer all in one week. My boss laid me off even though he knew our family was in a crisis. Our family had been stretched thin with me working full time, taking care of our son mostly by myself as my husband spent his days commuting 3-4 hours a day and spending the rest of his time with his dad. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. Life was hard in so many ways yet so clear on the path forward. I decided life was too short not to do what I loved and I had to start this company. I knew that during this time off work, I could start to develop hats while I sorted out my next career move. I started designing and developing hats while my son napped. I used my tiny amount of savings I had set aside from my bonuses to fund the first batch. I spent the next 6 months sourcing content, troubleshooting how to perfect the sizing and what features I wanted to add. I essentially gave my hats away while I researched. The hardest part was still ahead of me. It took me another 6 months to locate a new factory. I had so many new features that I wanted to add and develop on my hats but no one was willing to work with me to develop hats that had never been made before. I spent months searching online for the perfect factory who could up level these hats into the dream I had in my mind. Every factory told me no and they wanted me to remove features and compromise on my design. I knew that I had to keep searching until I found my yes. Finally in 2019, I emerged with a new manufacturer who was willing to develop my hats and new designs that I knew would be a game changer for me. These hats aren’t just another trucker hat. These hats solve the issue of how to keep a hat comfortably on a kid all day. If you've ever found yourself putting on your kid's hat only to find they've ripped it off 2 seconds later or tracing your steps to find a lost hat they've ripped off? I finally solved the problem with BITTY BRAH hats.
Most importantly, thank you for trusting me to protect your little humans. I don’t take this responsibility lightly.