What started as a joke has turned into a blessing for a small home-business owner and the Butte County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team.
Lacey Eggleston lost her brand-new home of 45 days when the Camp Fire raged through Paradise in 2018. It took the Chico native and her husband, Dustin Eggleston, another year to “land in Oroville,” where they now live and “love it” on 5 acres with their two young children, Sawyer and Isabelle, and two quarterhorses, Anne and Pluto. It’s also where Eggleston operates her small commercial embroidery shop, Eggleston Embroidery.
Because of their history, Eggleston said she and her husband have a “tendency to pay close attention when there’s a fire” anywhere nearby. On July 2, despite it being far from their home, they watched the news conference on the Thompson Fire burning in northeast Oroville. During the broadcast, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea strongly urged people to refrain from lighting fireworks including the “safe and sane” ones because of the severe fire danger. The potential for starting another incident was too high said the sheriff who very directly, in no-nonsense terms told people, “Don’t be that idiot (who starts another fire).”
“My mom called me the next day and jokingly said, ‘You have got to put that quote on a hat,’” said Eggleston. “So I did. I embroidered “Don’t Be That Idiot ~ Sheriff Honea” on a ball cap and gave it to my brother. And, just for fun, I posted a picture of it on my social media pages telling people if they wanted to order one to private message me.”
Dustin Eggleston shared the post with others, including his friend Mary Barker, a sheriff’s deputy, who, in turn, showed it to Honea, who “loved it” and invited Eggleston to come and meet him on July 4 at the Thompson Fire command center at the Thermalito Forebay.
“I had 26 of the hats made by then and took one with me for the sheriff and a few others,” said Eggleston. “Mary (Barker) took a picture of me and the sheriff both wearing the hats and posted it on social media. By that night, it just exploded. I had hundreds of messages from people wanting to buy ‘Don’t Be That Idiot’ hats.”
Eggleston had recently received a bulk shipment of 150 hats to embroider and, within four days of the social media post, she was sold out. Since the hats were flying off shelf, she ordered 500 more to fill the orders that were pouring in — not just from locals but from people as far away as Washington, Montana, New Mexico and Florida. Many of the orders were for multiple hats, with some asking could they buy them by the dozen. In order to “be fair” and keep up with orders, Eggleston instituted a maximum cap limit of five per order.
“What I kept thinking was, ‘What have I done?’” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?’ I just made the first one on a whim, as joke, and now I have this explosion in my business.”
While Eggleston’s embroidery business has grown from the “hobby business” it was when she first opened in 2022 into a “small-business business” with regular customers placing anywhere from five to 10 orders a month for anywhere from one piece to dozens of pieces, the “Don’t Be That Idiot” hats have propelled Eggleston Embroidery to the next level.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” she said. “I have new people, new businesses reaching out saying they’d love to use me for their embroidered products. It’s amazing me and my husband. We’ve always dreamed of expanding the business, and now that dream has become a reality because of the ‘Don’t Be That Idiot’ hats.”
Eggleston said she knew “right off the bat” that she would donate a portion of the proceeds from the hat sales to a local nonprofit organization — and, after meeting and talking with Honea, she chose Butte County Search and Rescue.
“I wanted to give back to the community that had taken care of us so well during and after the Camp Fire,” she said. “That was just really important to me and my husband.”
On July 16, Eggleston was able to pay her unexpected good fortune forward. She took a check for $1,000 to BCSR.
Related Articles
Savoring all the flavors at Savor | It’s Your Business
An apple cider a day … | It’s Your Business
An ‘everything’ emporium at 1330 Mangrove | It’s Your Business
‘A community for the community’ | It’s Your Business
Best in show in a new arena | It’s Your Business
“I know $1,000 doesn’t go far, but they were so thankful, so appreciative, “ said Eggleston. “It has been so amazing to see how the people of Butte County and states across the country have responded to the hats, to Sheriff Honea’s simple yet blunt statement — and how supportive everyone who has ordered has been in understanding I’m a one-woman shop working as fast as I can. Everyone who has ordered hats has basically said, ‘Don’t worry. Take your time. We know you’ll get them done as soon as you can. Don’t stress.’ People have been wonderful.”
Eggleston said she will continue to take and fill orders for the “Honea hats,” which are $25 each, as long orders continue to be placed. Though she’s planning to create a website for Eggleston Embroidery, it’s not up and running yet, so the best way to place a hat or any embroidery order with her is through the Eggleston Embroidery Facebook and Instagram pages.
Reach Kyra Gottesman at [email protected].
+ There are no comments
Add yours