Entrepreneurship
The chase, the win
Garth Watrous has been building things since he was fifteen years old and could not drive himself to his own shows. Fifty years of family history, two doublings of a hat brand, and a new cap line launching from scratch. Not a title. Not a strategy. The real thing.
How Garth Thinks About It
01
What it actually is
Entrepreneurship is the art of making money through opportunity. Good people, good products, good services, doing things you enjoy. But if I'm honest the money is not really what gets me up at 4am. It is the chase, right? The problem solving. Being able to win with people you actually like. That is the part nobody talks about and it is the part that keeps you going.
02
When you run out of friends and family
A lot of people think they have businesses when they actually have hobbies. I think the test is simple: when you run out of friends and family buying from you, can that business produce consistent profitable income over time? Can you build the process that makes money without you holding it up? I have watched so many brands come and go and it was almost never the product that killed them. They just stopped doing the hard work of acquisition and retention and eventually the hobby ran out of runway.
03
Hard assets belong in the mix
We are always investing in something and hard assets are very important to us. Real estate is a constant. Location, location, location, or cash flow. Those are the only two reasons to buy property, right? Do not lie to yourself about which one you are getting. And beyond real estate we mix in technology and cutting edge opportunities too, including AI. The portfolio is not one thing. It is a disciplined mix of what lasts and what is coming next.
04
The 50-year overnight success
My dad started this company out of a 1963 Chevy station wagon with twenty dollars in leather and a guy he met at a craft fair who took him under his wing. I came in at fifteen selling hats I could not even drive to, so I hired my older brother to drive me to the shows. He started skimming commission. I fired him. I was sixteen when I drove cross-country alone in a van with four or five hundred hats doing the whole festival circuit by myself. And so when someone tells me the timing is not right or the market is tough, I do not have a lot of patience for that. Business has a cycle that takes longer than you want. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
What Garth Believes
Patience is not a soft skill. It is the reason most businesses fail or succeed.
Do the right thing. Be a good human. Treat others well. That is the whole playbook.
You earn the right to lead. That means being honest, transparent, and forthcoming. Respect is built, not assumed.
Not all revenue is good revenue. Top line is vanity. Profitability is sanity.
If the goal is anything but to be the best, you will never achieve being the best. The coolest part is it is not really measurable.
I behave the same way during work as outside of work. Your team can see through the rest.
Family
Another opportunity to learn and grow
Family is one of the most challenging things in life and also one of the most rewarding. It is another opportunity to lead, to love, to connect. Learning how to pass on your beliefs to the people closest to you is one of the hardest tests there is.
Garth and Hannah have three kids across three different generations. They are raising their youngest, Hudson, in Puerto Rico now. Being an older parent means being calmer. More patient. More able to actually prioritize the things that matter. He brings Hudson along for the journey and teaches him along the way, the same way Gary brought Garth along.
The same principles that run American Hat Makers run the family. Earn the right to lead. Be honest. Be direct. Show up. It sounds simple because it is. Most people just do not do it consistently.
3
Kids, 3 generations
PR
Home base now
50+
Years building AHM
Core Values
Earn the right to lead
Do the right thing
Be a good human. Treat others well. Be direct and straightforward. It sounds simple because it is. Most people just do not do it consistently, right?
Earn trust first
You cannot manage people you have not earned the right to lead. That means being honest, transparent, and forthcoming about what is and is not working. Respect is built. Not assumed.
Make it right
I do not really care why you are not happy. I care that you are unhappy. Make it right. Whatever that is for you. The ego that fights a customer over one hat while they go tell everyone about it is just ego running your business.
What He Is Building Now
The next chapter starts from zero
American Hat Makers is 50-plus years old. Garth took full operational control in 2018 and the company doubled twice. They went from 17 to 20 percent of revenue being direct-to-consumer with zero online marketing to building real email and SMS infrastructure, same-day shipping infrastructure, and retention systems from the ground up. He learned internet marketing during the pandemic and is still learning.
Bridger is the new chapter. A cap line Garth and Hannah are building from a clean slate, designed by Dayna Lee Cornelius, the designer behind Melin. No existing audience, no prior press, no inherited reputation. Just the same standard Garth has held for his entire career: if the goal is anything but to be the best, you will never achieve being the best.
I was unemployable so I had to stick with it. That is still the honest answer for why any of this works.
1972
AHM founded
2x
Doubled under Garth
50+
Years, still building
Want to know more about the man behind the hat?
Thirty years of building, investing, and leading. All rooted in the same place.
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