Save Your Ears: UA Senior Creates Hats for Easy Mask Wearing
A University of Alabama student has created a unique way for Tuscaloosa residents to wear their masks.
Challie Johnson, a senior finance major from Hartselle, Alabama, created a baseball cap with a hook on each side of the hat to allow people to attach their masks to the hat itself rather than hanging them on their ears.
Johnson said the idea came when her mom, who is a teacher, was having issues with her students keeping the mask on and not touching it.
"I started making kid-sized baseball caps and selling those on Etsy but then when I came to college, I kind of focused more on like the adult-sized caps, because we're having the same problems too like it's kind of annoying [to wear] for a really long time," Johnson said.
The cap not only makes wearing a mask more comfortable to wear but it is easier to remove it temporarily when someone is eating or drinking. Johnson said that if someone unhooks the mask from one side the mask will dangle off the other hook so that the person does not have to touch the front of the mask.
Johnson, who has been selling baseball caps on Etsy since 2017, said she learned to sew from her mother and grandmother and has always been passionate about business as her father operates a small business of his own.
"Well, I've always been interested in entrepreneurship," Johnson said. "I just liked doing things differently. I do have part-time jobs and stuff too, but to me, it was just really fun to have a business where it's more hands-on and I'm dealing directly with the customers. I really enjoy it."
To buy a hat or some of Johnson's other products, check out her website here.