Some businesses begin with spreadsheets and business plans. Others begin with a feeling.
For Lindsay Caminita, James Gray Hat Co. started with a simple idea that arrived almost out of nowhere — a creative spark that felt fun, fresh, and completely different from anything else around her.
And sometimes, those are the ideas worth listening to.
Today, Lindsay is better known around Hattiesburg and across South Mississippi as “The Hat Lady,” the creative force behind the wildly popular custom hat company that seems to be popping up everywhere lately — from boutiques and festivals to concerts, beach towns, and girls’ weekends across the Southeast.
On any given weekend, there’s a good chance you’ll find a crowd gathered around tables covered in ribbons, branding irons, feathers, chains, and wide-brim hats waiting to become somebody’s new favorite accessory. Women lean over trays of embellishments debating trims while country music hums in the background. Someone laughs while trying on a hat in front of a mirror. Another customer carefully chooses between a velvet ribbon or a leather band as Lindsay burns initials into the brim of a custom piece.
In the middle of it all is Lindsay — smiling, styling, layering textures, and helping customers create hats that somehow feel both fashionable and deeply personal.
But long before the hats, Lindsay was born into retail.
Raised in Hattiesburg, she grew up surrounded by entrepreneurship, style, and customer service. Her family owns Randy Price and Company, a family-owned clothing store established in 1983 in the heart of the Deep South, and Lindsay spent years working there before later joining the team at Accents, the beloved Hattiesburg fine home interiors and gift store known for its curated style and loyal following.
Retail wasn’t just something she fell into. It was part of her upbringing.
“I’ve always loved fashion, creativity, and shopping,” she shared.
Still, life has a way of reshaping people.
After she and her husband, Kyle, started their family, their world shifted in ways they never expected. Their oldest son was born with cerebral palsy, and suddenly Lindsay’s life centered around appointments, caregiving, therapies, and making sure their family had the flexibility to meet his needs.
Like many mothers, she quietly set pieces of herself aside for a season.
Through it all, Kyle remained one of her biggest supporters. An entrepreneur himself, he encouraged Lindsay to pursue the idea when hats first crossed her mind — even before she fully believed it could become something bigger.
“Hats just felt fun and different,” Lindsay said.
About a year ago, with Kyle’s encouragement and a creative vision she couldn’t shake, she launched James Gray Hat Co., naming the business after their two sons, Slaton James and Ayden Gray.
What started as a small side hustle quickly turned into something much larger.
At her very first pop-up event, Lindsay sold 70 hats in a single day.
That moment changed everything.
“I think people were looking for something personal,” she said. “Everyone can wear a hat, no matter their size or style. They’re fun. You can wear them to the beach, the lake, a concert, an event, running errands — they just add something to an outfit and let you express yourself.”
And expression is at the heart of the business.
At James Gray Hat Co., no two hats are exactly alike. Customers can build their own hats during pop-up events or online, selecting everything from ribbons and trims to feathers, chains, branding details, and accessories. Lindsay carefully layers each piece by hand, mixing textures and details until every hat feels one-of-a-kind.
Some customers want something bold and western-inspired. Others lean coastal, vintage, bohemian, or classic Southern chic. Lindsay loves the challenge of pulling together tiny details that somehow end up perfectly matching someone’s personality before they even realize it themselves.
And while the hats are undeniably stylish, Lindsay also made them practical. Each one includes a hidden elastic band inside designed to comfortably fit nearly every customer — something she intentionally prioritized from the beginning.
As the business has grown, Lindsay hasn’t built it alone. One of her closest friends, school teacher Emily Reed, has become an important part of James Gray Hat Co., helping at events and pop-ups as the business continues expanding across the region.
Inspired by South Mississippi style and the easygoing culture of coastal weekends, SEC game days, concerts, girls’ trips, and afternoons spent wandering through small-town shops, Lindsay creates hats that feel equally at home in downtown Hattiesburg, on the beaches of 30A, or at a country music festival somewhere in between.
Over the last year, James Gray Hat Co. has steadily grown across Hattiesburg and throughout the Southeast, drawing women who are looking for something creative, custom, and a little more personal than fast fashion.
But what makes the business memorable isn’t just the hats themselves.
It’s the experience.
At Lindsay’s events, strangers quickly become friends while sorting through ribbons and embellishments spread across long wooden tables. Customers swap opinions, style one another, and leave carrying something uniquely theirs. In a world that increasingly feels rushed and mass-produced, James Gray Hat Co. has created something refreshingly hands-on and personal.
What Lindsay has created feels bigger than hats.
It’s creativity mixed with conversation, confidence, storytelling, and Southern style — the kind of experience people carry home with them long after the event is over.
And judging by the crowds gathering around those hat bars lately, South Mississippi can’t seem to get enough of “The Hat Lady.”
