We caught up with the creator behind Keanies to learn how a love for snowboarding, crafting, and community turned into a locally rooted fleece beanie brand. What started as a creative outlet during injury recovery has grown into a community-driven business focused on affordable, fun, handmade hats for locals and adventurers alike.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Kayla grew up surrounded by rolling hills, lakes, and the Ozarks, a place that still holds a special spot in her heart. But it wasn’t until her senior year of high school, during a first visit to Snow Creek, that everything shifted.
“I ended up breaking my wrist, but had such a thrill I went back the next weekend, and every weekend following until closing date.”
By graduation, she was hooked. Not long after, she packed up and headed west to Colorado, chasing snow, mountains, and the kind of lifestyle that keeps you outside year-round. Today, she’s a snowboard coach with Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (SSWSC), an instructor on the mountain, and someone who can usually be found riding park, weaving through trees on a powder day, or even… yes…charging moguls.
Last summer, an ACL surgery forced Kayla into an unfamiliar role: sitting still. With outdoor activity off the table, friends invited her over to hand-sew fleece hats just to pass the time. What started as something casual quickly turned into something more.
“…when I find a new activity I enjoy, I hyper focus on it as if nothing else matters, and so I did just that. I became obsessed with making fleece hats.”
A trip back home to Kansas City around Thanksgiving sealed it. One stop at Joann’s turned into a cart full of fleece patterns, so many, in fact, that she had to bring an extra suitcase back to Colorado.
“At that point I had no other choice than to start selling fleece hats with the amount of fabric I owned.”
Keanies technically existed before that moment, mostly as an inside joke among friends. Kayla used to crochet simple, sometimes silly, beanies and give them to friends. They would wear their “Keanies” on camping trips and post them online for fun. But with piles of fabric, a growing skillset, and encouragement from her community, Keanies officially became a real brand. She launched an Etsy shop, leaned into Instagram, and kept sewing.
A year later and,
“…here I am writing this blog post about Keanies, wholesaling to retailers, and doing custom bulk orders for companies. Never did I think this could turn into my real full time job.”
Keanies is steadily growing into something that once felt just like a fun idea with friends. During the busy holiday season, Kayla spends up to 12 hours a day sewing up to 30 hats.
“It definitely gets exhausting and frustrating,” she admits, “until I think about how I GET to do this rather than HAVE TO do it. That’s when I become very grateful for all the opportunities that have been presented to me that have brought me to where I am today.”
Keanies’ style is rooted in action sports, think park rat energy, bold patterns, and streetwear influence….but its audience is broader than that. While snowboarders and skiers were the original inspiration, many customers simply love a warm, well-made fleece beanie. The goal has always stayed the same: keep prices affordable, stay local-focused, and build something that feels welcoming. Beyond hats, Kayla is all about connection. She’s hosted rail jams with giveaways, pop ups at farmer’s markets, and consistently shows up to events that bring people together. To her, Keanies isn’t just a product it’s a way to create community through something simple.
Keanies continues to evolve. Kayla’s currently prototyping hoodies and sweatshirts made from recycled scrap fleece left over from her hats, a project she’s rolling out slowly, one piece at a time. Each hoodie will be released weekly through the @keaniessteamboat Instagram, first come, first serve.
Her dream? To keep building something meaningful without losing what made it special in the first place.
“Keanies is for the locals,” she says. “offering affordable fleece beanies to make the people happy.”
You can check her out on Instagram, Etsy, and her website, all linked in this post. Or, if you’re lucky, head to Steamboat Springs and catch her shredding the park.
