“I got you covered,” is what a 12 year old Sam Wyatt says to the people who stop to buy one of his caps. Collecting vintage patches with his father, along with wanting to help cancer patients, got Sam stared in the business. Wyatt’s Garage was founded out of true altruism and the love for the collecting of vintage patches.
TV Talk With Amy got a chance to chat with the young philanthropist to learn more about his endeavor.
How old are you and what grade are you in?
I am 12 years old and in sixth grade.
What is Wyatt’s Garage all about?
I collect vintage automotive, music, motorcycle and retro cool looking vintage patches. I am able to “age down” baseball caps to give it a more vintage look so that the caps look old enough and fitting the patches. For every hat I sell, I donate a new and sterilized baseball cap or sweater cap to a pediatric cancer treatment hospital. I also raise money through the hats, other sales I do in the neighborhood and donations to my website to purchase smart tablets for the kids going through their cancer treatments.
Where did you get the name Wyatt’s Garage?
My dad and I go to automotive swap meets together and we look around to find all these cool old auto patches. My dad started making a few cool baseball hats with them. Then I came up with the idea of making them myself and selling them and donating one to each child who was going through a cancer treatment.
What made you start this organization?
I love collecting old things and helping others, especially kids and animals.
Why baseball caps?
The patches looked cool on a baseball cap.
What makes it special than the other hats out there?
They are rare patches on hats that you can’t find in any hat store. They are hand distressed to look old and cool. And most important, a Wyatt’s Garage new (sterilized) hat is donated to a child who is going through chemotherapy. Also, some of the money is put to buy Amazon Fire Tablets for the kids too.
Everyone has probably said, you are too young to start a company, let alone make it all about a company of giving, what motivated you to get into the “business of giving”?
My motivation came from my Mom and Dad. I have an ice cream cart and every summer I, along with my brother, would sell ice cream to my friends and other people in my neighborhood to make money. My parents always said that I needed to give half of my earnings to charity. When I would sell lemons that I picked from our trees, they made me donate half. I also have done a lot of work through our temple helping foster children and homeless people. It just seemed like the right thing to do when I came up with the idea of making the hats into a business.
What is the most rewarding part of giving?
The reward for me is the knowing that I’m able to help someone.
How old is your company? And thru the years what would you consider the best achievement that you as a CEO and your company have accomplished thus far?
I started Wyatt’s Garage in 2016 when I was eleven.
I think when the hurricane hit Texas and Puerto Rico last year, my mom and I stayed up late for a couple of nights making hats to help the people in Texas and Puerto Rico. I don’t know how much money we raised but it was a couple thousand at least for each. That was exciting and pretty cool to be able to help out. Puerto Rico still needs a lot more help. My mom and I are talking about how to still help some more.
What advice would you like to share to young people like you who would like to start their own business?
That’s a hard question. If it wasn’t for my parents, I couldn’t have done this on my own. I had an idea and they helped me make it real.
What can we look forward to with Wyatt’s Garage?
I’m working on some vintage patch jackets and shirts………. we will see.
Sam is only twelve, his company is still in its infantile stage and yet it has accomplished a lot. So yes, he does lead by example and constantly have the backs of those who are in need.
A hat on man is like a dot over an “i.” A hat tops everything off, figuratively and literally. A hat is man’s way to make a statement. Buying a cap and from Sam Wyatt and wearing it is making a statement.
You can find out the latest on Wyatt’s Garage on Twitter @WyattsGarage