This Is Us



The Twisted Hippo aims to provide one-on-one customer service, high quality and comfortable merch & simple natural wooden products.

 

Your Support . . .
 

Your purchase is not a purchase to a big box company – each purchase makes a huge difference to our family. It allows me to have flexible hours so I can attend school functions, sport events and just be there for the kids. It helps provide new shoes to every growing feet of the boys. It provides family trips for some much-needed downtime. It allows for flexibility like when the kids are sick or leaves their trombone at one school when they have a competition at another. True story. 

How Our Journey Started . . .

 

Our story starts in 2015 when I wanted to take our family to Disney World. I wanted a vacation and wanted a way to fund it. At that time, I focused just on adult tees and was known as TN Sweet Tee – combining my love for southern sweet tea with tees.

I expanded into babies and kids and opened a second business under TN Sweet Pea offering custom and monogram on high quality boutique clothing.

We went to Disney World in the fall and 9 months later welcomed a new addition to the family! The Disney magic changed our world. I made the choice to stay home, be there when my oldest got off the bus and was able to work around the new baby's schedule --- the one where he didn't sleep too much and nursed all the time.

I decided to dip my foot in craft fairs and festivals and decided the festival life was a great way for me to meet one on one with my customers, meet other vendors and build a name in our community. I wanted to go to the next level with the business and invested in a direct to garment printing, providing high quality printing on high quality merchandise. It was this time that I combined the two brands into one, creating The Twisted Hippo. I wanted to set myself apart from the sublimation and vinyl world and a new name is just what I needed.

I get asked “how did we come up with the name?” Honestly, we sat around one night and went back and forth on fun creative names . .. . I wanted a name that people would remember. A name that when someone needed printed tees, they would say “hey, let's call The Twisted Hippo”. And thus, our brand was born. We almost became the Laughing Giraffe but I think The Twisted Hippo is a much better fit.

In 2020, I expanded into wood products by investing in a small laser machine. The Impossibly Possible Puzzle was our first product and it grows from there.  in 2021 I upgraded to a professional laser and oh, the possibilities are endless.

I also expanded into 4 brick and mortar stores in 2020, but in 2022 had to close them due to a move to Louisiana. I'm hoping to get back into the brick and mortar venture but marketplaces for vendors aren't really a thing in Louisiana yet. 

 

Our Work Force . . .

 

Running a business has its challenges, especially running one with 2 boys in tow. It's a life – work balance that we are learning each day. Between Band Concerts, XC meets, Play Doh & Painting, we make it work. It takes team parenting and a great understanding from our boys. The youngest likes to come hang out at festivals and sell his rock paintings or drawings. They both see myself and my partner build our businesses and they learn what it takes to not quit, learn lessons, study hard and keep growing. 

 

The business is constantly expanding as we learn the many different products we can build with the tools we have on hand. We always are open for new adventures, so feel free to reach out.