Designing Woman

Honing a steely determination from a young age, Hamm earned a reputation for achievement with her high-voltage personality and fund-raising sales techniques. "I was competitive in everything I did," she says, "whether it was sports or selling chocolate bars."

When she was in high school, from 1990 to 1994, Hamm put her lifelong hobby to work by sewing clothing for her friends and herself. "[Originally,] I didn't think I'd make a career out of it," she says. "I just really enjoyed sewing." Her friends were so crazy about her designs, however, that she sensed there was a market for them.

When it was time to bring her business idea to life in 1996, she started with a simple line of accessories to keep fabric costs low. She shopped the line of accessories to several Los Angeles area Marriott Hotel gift shops and boutiques and met with success.

With a warm reception from Marriott, Hamm set her sights on Nordstrom and several smaller companies--and after her initial contact commenced a relentless campaign of follow-up phone calls. "I called and called and called," she says. She was surprised--and thrilled--by the single response she received three weeks after the mailing. It was Nordstrom calling, and with that magic call, Hamm sensed she was on her way.

"I finally got an appointment with the accessories buyer, and I went in and showed her my stuff," she recalls. Hamm gave the buyer prices on the merchandise, but "when she asked me how long it would take to turn around an order of 2,000 pieces, I didn't know."

She asked the buyer if she could get back to her with a time frame, but it was too late to make a favorable impression. After telling Hamm her price points were too high, the buyer showed her the door. "I just couldn't answer [her questions] quickly enough," Hamm admits.

Being forced back to the drawing board wasn't intimidating for this entrepreneur. "You can't take rejection personally," Hamm says. "All I knew was that I wanted to get into Nordstrom. I wanted to get into a major chain. So I just kept my eyes on that vision. I wasn't going to take no for an answer the next time."

From February to April 1997, Hamm regrouped, fine-tuned her goals and researched the market thoroughly. Because she still lived at home with her parents in Irvine, California, Hamm was able to pump every dime she made working at her day job into her budding enterprise, funding her fledgling company with the paychecks she earned as a front desk clerk at the Nikko Hotel in Beverly Hills.

A few months after her failed attempt to sell to Nordstrom, Hamm was determined to try again. She chose a manufacturing contractor she knew could handle the large orders the store would demand. Using her friends as models, Hamm took photographs of her hair scrunchies, scarves and bags and created a bare-bones brochure she photocopied at Kinko's. She mailed Nordstrom her brochure along with a request to show them her latest accessories line.

Within a week, Hamm scored a second appointment--with a different buyer. This time, she told the buyer she'd gone into production. "When she asked me where I had [my designs] manufactured, I could tell her. I also told her my prices were much more competitive," recalls Hamm. Nordstrom gave her a second chance.

This article was originally published in the January 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Designing Woman.