Some businesses start with a business plan. And some simply start with a genuine passion for a place, a product, and the people around it. TN Hat, the headwear brand founded by Franklin's Hillary and Jason Demeo, is a love letter to Tennessee. We sat down with the Demeos to talk about how it all started, what goes into every hat they make, and why Tennessee will always be worth wearing.
Tell us a little about yourselves.
JD: I’m Jason, most people just call me Jase. I grew up in Pittsburgh and then spent twenty years in Florida. My wife, Hillary, grew up outside of Cincinnati in a farming community, so Tennessee instantly felt like home to her.
We actually met on our very first day of college over 20 years ago, at Southeastern University. We both studied Business in our undergrad, and I have a Master in Ministerial Leadership while Hillary has a Master in Organizational Leadership.
We’ve been building things side by side for a long time now. We’re serial entrepreneurs. We ran a human-centered design firm together for years, and then about seven years ago I made the leap into being a full-time visual artist while Hillary built out a luxury short-term rental brand.
We moved to Tennessee three years ago. It was really about community, surrounding ourselves around big dreamers, and finding somewhere we felt good raising a family. It felt like home a lot faster than either of us expected.
How did TN Hat come to be?
JD: I wanted a great hat to wear here. But I didn’t feel like I’d earned a cowboy hat yet, and there wasn’t really an iconic hat that represented Tennessee the way other hats do. I remember seeing people on stage wearing LA and NY hats and just thinking, 'What is the hat in Tennessee for creatives?'
So we decided to make one ourselves. I threw my first art show in Franklin as a Tennessean, and I ran a hundred hats as kind of a test run. They sold out. And it wasn’t just that people bought them; it was how they reacted to them. That reaction is what told us we were onto something real.
We realized we weren’t just making a hat. We were creating a symbol people could wear to express their love for Tennessee and the creative spirit that’s always been part of this state. It was a sense of belonging.
What drew you specifically to headwear?
JD: I’ve just always loved hats. I’m kind of obsessive about how one fits and feels on. But beyond that personal thing, a hat is one of the most visible places to wear something you’re proud of. People see it before almost anything else.
Men, women, it doesn’t matter. Everyone can wear The TN Hat and make it their own. That felt important. We didn’t want this to be a product that only spoke to one type of person, but to everyone who loves this place.
Walk us through the creative process behind a new hat.
JD: For me, it really starts with instinct more than a formula. The colorways, the hat profiles, the names, the logo details, most of that comes from what I’m personally drawn to first. Then I start thinking about whether other people would get excited wearing it too, whether it’s something that makes them feel like they belong.
HD: As I help expand the brand with Jase, I love hearing from our community for what they want next. They love to give us new ideas.
What do you think drives the enormous growth in the custom hat market?
JD: I think fashion in general has become a way for people to show what they believe in and where they feel like they belong. A hat is small, but it says a lot about you. It’s a signal to other people about who you’re rocking with and what matters to you.
So people aren’t just buying a hat anymore; they’re buying into something bigger than the product itself. And Tennessee has a really strong identity to offer right now. We all belong to something bigger than ourselves.
What has the response from the Middle Tennessee community been like?
JD: Honestly, overwhelming. Both in how people connect with the hat emotionally and in the sales themselves. I can’t even count how many times someone has come up to me and said it’s their favorite hat they own now, or that it looks like it’s been around for a hundred years already, or that they bought five more just to give away to family and friends.
We’re really grateful for how people have embraced it. It’s meant a lot more to us than I think people realize.
You recently secured a deal with the Tennessee Titans. How did that happen?
JD: That one actually came from the Titans reaching out to us. They saw the alignment. We were both building brands meant to represent the entire state of Tennessee, and there was clearly momentum behind what we were doing. So they approached us about working together.
They’ve been genuinely great partners through the whole thing. We worked out a way for both of us to use the TN mark, and we have created the Field Pass collection of TN hats and products to sell in their team shop. It felt like a natural fit given what we’re both trying to build.
How do you two divide responsibilities running the business together?
JD: Hillary is really the movement builder of the two of us. She’s the CEO in every sense. She keeps the team and the business moving forward with strategy and execution day to day. Constantly looking for new partners, wholesale opportunities and brand-building moments. She loves meeting new people and spreading the brand.
I’m the CCO, so I’m focused on making sure the brand stays true to itself and that every product we put out is high quality, culturally relevant, and just looks right.
Since this is our fourth business we have built together we have a few reps under our belt. We had to learn to create space in the team for each of our skills. We are both very passionate individuals and are at our best when I own the creative lane and Hillary develops. It’s very life-giving for us to collaborate and expand on each other’s ideas. We have a lot of mutual respect.
Where is TN Hat headed from here?
JD: New styles, new collaborations, a bigger vision, it’s all happening. We want to get this hat into every corner of the state, and we’re actively looking to team up with other brands and people who are shaping Tennessee culture right now.
We’ve launched a “Wanted” campaign aiming to get icons like Dolly Parton in the hat. All the songwriters behind Morgan Wallen’s “TN” are wearing it. Now we just need to get it on Morgan. Hopefully, we see it on Nate Bargatze and Theo Von too. It’s going to happen; we just know it. The collaborations we’ve already done have been incredible, and honestly we’re just getting started. Less than 1 year old!!
We’re really excited about all of the new drops we have in the future, including a performance line and a lot more products that continue celebrating Tennessee in fresh ways…tennis and golf, a premium line. Be looking out for them before they sell out.
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"We realized we weren’t just making a hat. We were creating a symbol people could wear to express their love for Tennessee and the creative spirit that’s always been part of this state."