Erica Hager: Growing a Home-based Sewing Business

Erica Hager took her home-based sewing business and grew it into a worldwide phenomenon.

Erica, who earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business from the University of Mary, took the charming baby booties she made for her own children and started selling them through Etsy and other social media channels. They took off spectacularly. Her unique children’s “Bison Booties” were even chosen to be part of the wardrobe of the network television show “Parenthood.”

Now, she’s able to share her success with others. Her entrepreneurial drive benefits a wide circle of people, such as the contract workers who help supply her product, among them stay-at-home workers, teachers, and military spouses.

While she didn’t initially foresee the direction her creativity would take her, she says she stayed open to opportunity. “This was not in the plan when I left Mary,” she says, “but everything came together like a perfect storm, with my background and my degrees from Mary.”