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PROVO — A local mother's creative solution to a fashion challenge has sparked an international business.
When Katie Hydrick's first daughter was born, she thought it would be cute to dress her up with a bow on her head. However, headbands seemed uncomfortable and her daughter was bald, so she didn't have enough hair for clips.
It was this dilemma that led Hydrick to a niche business — inspired by her mother's use of honey to stick bows on her head as a child. Hydrick made a long-lasting, but gentle, fashion adhesive called Girlie Glue. With the glue, bows could easily stay attached to her daughter's head all day, and soon others were curious about how Hydrick did it.
“I got asked hundreds of times by people how I was getting it to stick and where they could get some, and finally I just decided someone needs to do this — if I can’t find a competitor online or anywhere, then I’m going to go for it (and start a business)," Hydrick said. "I just made it for myself and my own use, but because so many other people wanted to use it and wanted to get some, I decided to go for it.”
Girlie Glue is made with agave nectar, corn syrup and sugar and dissolves with water so it can easily be washed off at the end of the day with a baby wipe or wet wash cloth. Before Hydrick created her own adhesive, she asked friends and family members if they knew of anything that would work, but nothing would stick very long.
“I decided I could come up with something better than this, so I just started playing around with some natural ingredients from my kitchen and mixing it and heating it and getting it to the right thickness and finally found something that really worked really well," she said.
Now Girlie Glue is sold in almost 100 stores in the U.S. and internationally. The product is also available online.
Hydrick said she has received a lot of positive feedback and that people have even found other uses for the glue. She said people of all ages will use it in their hair and moms will also use it for things like costume moustaches. The glue is even sold in some pet boutiques.
“We had one mom who was really cute write to us and say she was so grateful for our product because she had a daughter with hearing aids," she said. "They would never stay in place, but now she uses just a dab of Girlie Glue to keep the hearing aids in her ears.”
It's definitely a juggling act with kids. I find myself answering emails while the kids are napping or early in the morning.
–Katie Hydrick
The mother of four said running her own business has been an amazing new experience. None of her educational background is related to business or fashion — in fact, she has a job performing ultrasounds one day a week.
However, she said she has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. When she was 12-years-old she sold dried flower arrangements to her neighbors, and when she was older she sold stained glass to local stores.
“I’ve always enjoyed it, but I've never taken on such a big project until I found something that I really felt like had a big potential, and that’s when I kind of focused in and decided to go for it,” she said.
Hydrick runs Girlie Glue with two other moms in Provo.
“It’s definitely a juggling act with kids,” she said. “I find myself answering emails while the kids are napping or early in the morning before they go to school, or late at night. The good thing is I can kind of do it on my own time, so I feel like I can still focus most of my time on my family.”
