Susan Maddox founded The Best Hat Store with the goal of creating Fort Worth’s go-to destination for Western hatwear. (Photo by Crystal Wise)
From Mayor Mattie Parker to business leaders like Elaine Agather and M2G Ventures co-founders Jessica Miller Essl and Susan Miller, Fort Worth’s top decision-makers include a powerful group of trailblazing women. In honor of Women’s History Month, we spoke with four pioneering business owners about what fuels their entrepreneurial spirit and the women who have inspired them.
Susan Maddox, The Best Hat Store
This month, The Best Hat Store celebrates 30 years of selling hand-shaped straw and felt cowboy hats. As the name suggests, Susan Maddox founded the business with the goal of creating Fort Worth’s go-to destination for Western hatwear.
“From the beginning, we wanted to be the top destination for people to come to the stockyards,” she tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “After a lot of dedication and hard work, I think we accomplished that goal. It is truly a joy to watch people’s faces when they leave with a brand new hat, and they’re satisfied.”
The Best Hat Store has become a destination in its own right, drawing discerning shoppers flying in from California and road-trippers from across the Lone Star State. Maddox says the store attracts everyone from first-time buyers to ranchers replacing well-worn hats. The Stockyards has a strong and supportive community of women business owners who “champion and encourage” one another. Maddox says Fort Worth has been an incredible city to raise a family, adding that she is especially proud of her two adult daughters, Mercedes and Treasure…