Lincoln, ND -
Little did Melissa Ahonen know, when started making hats for her son in 2010, she would be running a business two years later selling them. By word of mouth and the power of the Internet, Baby Button Tops has taken off.
From the doctor's orders...
"Our little guy, being preemie, we had to cover his head all of the time. The doctors stressed that with us," said Melissa Ahonen.
To filling orders...
"One of my friends actually showed me a picture of a cute little hat on a newborn. She said you should completely made these for Easton," said Ahonen. "So, I started making them and showed them to friends and they liked them and it just kind of grew from there."
Melissa Ahonen has grown her business, Baby Button Tops, into something she could have only dreamt about two years ago.
"As Easton, my son, grew so did the sizing styles and options," Ahonen said.
From hats to headbands, Melissa has hand sewn and sold more than 1000 pieces, some of which have been spot ten on some pretty familiar faces.
"The boys had gone to bed and I was sitting on the computer doodling around like I always do and I saw it and I kind of squealed and I am surprised the boys didn't wake up because I was excited," Ahonen said.
Last month, actress Jessica Alba was photographed with her daughter, Honor, who was wearing one of Melissa's headbands.
"Kind of shocked. Kind of "Did I really do that? "Did it make it all of the way there and did she actually like something that I made?", because they have access to anything they want. So, for her to like something that I made it was very humbling, but very exciting."
It's her involvement with the Artisan Group, a non-profit organization, which gifts celebrities, that's landed Melissa's products into the hands of some of Hollywood's most famous. Melissa has shipped her hats and headbands around the world to places through her online store.
"It was just kind of a hobby that grew and it's something that I love to do and I meet wonderful people through it so it's great."
From her basement to the top...
And to think it started with her own little super hero.
Melissa works full time, in addition to running Baby Button Tops. For Mother's Day, she'll be gifting Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Kourtney Kardashian and Hillary Duff to a name a few. In June, her hats and headbands will be sent to the MTV movie awards.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BabyButtonTops
