Tell us the story of how you met HC :)

Posted on February 19, 2012 by admin

OK – so now that we’ve all survived the server upgrade of 2012 (sheesh!), I thought it would be fun to hear the stories of how you found HC and what keeps you here.

I feel incredibly lucky to have found a way to stay involved in this wonderful community well beyond my kiddos’ diapering years. Can you believe HC is coming up on its 8th birthday?

I’ll just say that my path towards HC started with being inspired by Theresa of Little Turtle Knits. It was because of her that I ever thought to dye my own yarn with Kool-aid, or try knitting soakers for my little ones. After my first few attempts, Kool Sheep Soakers was born. Then, after being invited to join the very first congo, Tuesday Bear, my eyes were opened to the possibility that regular people could code websites and they weren’t just some impossibly magical thing that showed up on my browser.

Fast forward 8 years and here we are, with a totally updated look, a brand spanking new server, and even our very own PR person. Pretty exciting stuff!

So how did you find HC?

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HCSupport

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:28 pm
Tell us the story of how you found HC Smile

http://hyenacart.com/features/2012/02/19/tell-us-the-story-of-how-you-met-hc/
radish

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 6:42 pm
do we post here or on the blog?
Rose

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:43 pm
I found HyenaCart in early 2006 through the cloth diapering forums at LiveJournal. I keep coming back because of the amazing products created by the amazing Mamas. There really isn't anywhere else on the web that you can find such a wide pool of talent combined with such a lovely sense of community.
HCSupport

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:23 pm

Here, and it shows up as a comment on the blog Smile Thanks!
Just Nikki

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:14 pm
I found HC in the winter of 2005. I had been sewing childrens clothing and selling them on Ebay for several years when a customer there told me about a place she thought I would love to check out. I followed her link over and snooped around HC and loved everything I saw! I created a cart and began selling here in Jan 2006. Shortly after, I had my 3rd son which also turned me into an avid cloth diapering products shopper! I have been buying and selling here ever since and this is my go to place for everything from soap to toys to pottery (now that I have no babies to diaper any longer). I cannot imagine a life without handmade!
couchhound

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:23 pm
When Universal Mama moved to HC (2006, I think) to solve their crashing problems, I followed to continue shopping. I fell in love with the variety of items, even though I was done cloth diapering dd1. Then I was so blessed to get to shop again for fluffy diapers when we had dd2. We are now out of diapers again but I love buying hand made toys, hand made clothing (for me and my kids), jewelry, pottery, yarn... you get the idea.
WoolCreator

 Posted on: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:51 pm
I found HC through Etsy mid 2007. I never felt as comfortable on Etsy, big and (for me back then) difficult to follow. So when I found HC it felt like "home". I set up my store! I don't remember how soon after I found the forums, but I know I set up shop first. It didn't take long and Tranquility Bay asked me to join them. It was my first "family" here on HC.
AnnaBanana

 Posted on: Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:16 am
I knew Karen during Hyena Cart's conceptual days, so seeing it all being manifested has been a tremendous inspiration! I'm afraid my post will be very short because I really came to HC with the other beta-WHAMs (LOL!) 8 years ago to support Karen's venture! It has been a great place over the years to sell my cloth diapers, cloth pads and clothing...So neat to see this place grow and change!
MunchkinWear

 Posted on: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:00 am
For Christmas 2006, I made my stepsister's then-8-month-old son a sweater and she was so excited about it, she told me I could sell woolies on Hyena Cart. Never having heard of woolies or Hyena Cart (LOL), I did some research, checked out Hyena Cart, and loved what I saw. I opened my cart in April 2007 and have been selling and chatting on the forums ever since. Smile
zoesbagboutique

 Posted on: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:02 am
One of my long time customers, who originally found me on eBay, told me I should sell on Hyena Cart. I had never heard of it before, so I checked it out. I kept coming back to look around, and eventually I found my web designer, Andrea Betty of Wanted, here. She did a great job for me, creating a "look" for all my "places" across the web, Etsy, my blog, my main shop. Finally I decided I would open an HC shop too. That was May 2009, I've been here ever since!
junko

 Posted on: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:18 am
Like Karen of Zoe's Bag Boutique, I was encouraged by one of my etsy customers to check out Hyena Cart. I'd never heard of it, but thought I would give it a try. I opened my own cart in April of 2007, and one month later was contacted by the WAHMs of Universal Mama who asked me to join their congo.

I have never looked back. I let my etsy lapse (and even my own HC cart), because this congo was such a good fit for me. For the past few years almost all of my online sales have come from Universal Mama and word of mouth, and I get more orders than I can even keep up with!
ZanyZebraMama

 Posted on: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:44 pm
I found HC soon after it was born, when it looked like this:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050204000402/http://hyenacart.com/forwahms.php

All the stores at the time were MAJOR hyenas - Kool Sheep Soakers, Kiwi Pie, Mosaic Moon, Baa Baa Shee Shee, Tiny Bird, Hidden Pearl Creations, Midday Faire*, Little Turtle Knits, Beccabottoms, EweBetcha, Storm in the Attic, Diamond in the Fluff, WAHMarama, Baa Baa Bottoms, etc.

I window shopped and drooled for a couple of months, then when I decided to start Zany Zebra in October 2005 I jumped in and got my own place at HC. <3
sararose

 Posted on: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:57 pm


ah.....Amy Sue you are bringing back memories! I came here in 2005 when I was pregnant with Emma. I learned about it from when I was active on Baby Names...there was a cloth diaper board but we soon got basically shoved out lol. They were pretty mainstream there. There was an awesome knitter and I cannot for the life of me remember her store name...started with an S. She made Emma the most darling pair of shorties that are gone now...lost in Hurricane Ike Sad
Umm_Abbaad

 Posted on: Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:23 am
I found out about HC through The Diaper Pin. I used to frequent their forums before I moved over to HC. Been in the stores since 2005 but didn't' know about the forums until some time later. I wasn't one of the first but it was still small when I came over, MUCH MUCH smaller than it is now. Back then there were only a handful of stores stocking each day, maybe 5-10. I think I was number 192 (if memory serves correctly). Before I updated to a multi-cart it used to have the number after my store name but it's different now. Ah memories...

eta: I was selling on eBay and while it was working out okay for me it was a hassle to list everything and all the fees and such. When I found out about HC it was just a dream. I left eBay right away and have never looked back :-) Not only is HC cheaper and easier to use but it's also much more targeted than eBay. HC ROCKS!!
ZanyZebraMama

 Posted on: Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:34 am

I remember those days, when there were so few stores stocking every day. I had to look up my store number - I was 181. I sometimes login to my old HCS by accident. I can't believe how BAD my design was back then. LOL!
Rikki

 Posted on: Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:07 pm
I came to HC in late 2006 early 2007 as a bunch of girls of pregnancy weekly got me involved in cloth diapering.... I immediately started trying to make my own and we all got together and opened a congo. I love HC. I have always kept a store here. Been inspired by so many here to continue. I finally found what I love to do thanks to so many here. I love the close knit "family" type community we have here and I feel so welcome.
srgoddess

 Posted on: Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:14 pm
I had been selling my sterling silver jewelry and pendulum sets on eBay
and other small auction sites....someone invited me to join a congo here
in 2006, and I've been selling here since. Besides buying baby and child
clothing and items, mamas also enjoy jewelry!
armywife51b

 Posted on: Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:40 pm
Years ago I started my adventure with natural parenting/living via Livejournal. I stumbled across communities for cloth diapering, cloth pads, natural birth, natural living solutions, etc. It fascinated me at first at how low cost it was to live naturally, then I became more in tune with how better I felt about myself and the Earth as well. I discovered Hyena Cart via a popular cloth diapeirng community. I immediately fell in love! Ever since I have been addicted to living handmade through WAHP. wub
JoyfulRose

 Posted on: Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:50 pm
In the summer of 2006 I started cloth diapering our 2nd son. Searching for more information, I soon came across an online diapering community and was introduced to Hyena Cart through them.

I was amazed to find a place with so many fantastic work at home moms! I'd been selling slings and cloth pads locally and through emails. I thought Hyena Cart would be a great platform for expanding my business online and was not disappointed. Smile

I've had my own shop here since August 2007 and love it! I'm proud to be a member of such an encouraging, supportive, and talented community. Thumbs up
ZooTZbaby

 Posted on: Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:34 pm
Well I am a newbie compared to most of you! I had a successful sewing business for boutique boys clothing on ebay since 2004. I loved what I did, but my little model grew up(he is 8 now!) and I started looking for other things to try.

I have always LOVED looking on hyena cart, I think sewing mamas pointed me over here. Anyway we had an unexpected surprise that made his way into the world in August 2010 and I am now a cloth diaper addict, yarn addict, you name it! I love sewing boys clothes and have recently found a lot of success here at hyena cart. I love to make custom tees to match longies!
HCSupport

 Posted on: Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:28 pm
Yay! We love newbies!!

(and all of our long-time friends as well, of course Smile )
doodlesdanz

 Posted on: Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:23 am
I was happy to find Hyena Cart early in 2006 when looking for more cloth diapering options for my then 6-month-old son and 1.5 year-old daughter. I think I was linked from a mom forum. I was so excited to find all the other amazing wahm wares available! I had no idea there were so many other "crunchy" moms like me and I fell in love.

I had been making jewelry for friends for a short while and decided to open my own HC store in April 2006. I've never looked back. Karen has always been a friend to me and each new support staff that she has added has been just as amazing.

The forums are just a super added plus for me, as I don't post much anywhere anymore. I love the friends I have found here, the loving support, and all the form options (Co-Ops, Swaps, FSOT and more!)

I LOVE HYENA CART!
~ Danz of Doodles Jewels
Cloth Canoe Mama

 Posted on: Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:53 pm
I found HC in 2005, through another board I was active on. I had been selling locally for about a year, so a bunch of mamas and I got together and sold on the Fruitful Hands congo in Sept 2006. I opened up my own store in late 2006. I was already cloth diapering and being a super duper crunchy maniac mama to my 4 yr old and 10 month old, but it was SO NICE to be able to shop with confidence here on HC. I love the sense of community here, I felt right at home Smile .
MamaMal

 Posted on: Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:40 pm
I've browsed HC for a few years but never bought anything until last. I have gotten sucked into the cloth diapering world with my newest little one and HC is amazing. I find the setup much easier to deal with and a lot less confusing than having to figure out payment like through some swap boards. I'm now trying to find some longies and soakers. Hyena Cart is turning out to be my new found addiction.
FamilyPendragon

 Posted on: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:29 pm
My sister who had a HC shop at the time introduced me to HC, cloth diapering, and woolies when we started trying to get pregnant in 2004/5ish. I learned to Tunisian and regular crochet while I was on bedrest during my first pregnancy, then created my Tunisian Longies pattern. I opened my own shop and began selling the Tunisian longies. Not satisfied with the yarn I could afford to use for such yarn hungry projects I decided to start dyeing my own yarn. Now that is what I do about 40 hours a week Smile Thank you sis and thank you HC!
CarrieMcD

 Posted on: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:54 am

Sararose - it's all her fault. I thought about cloth diapering my first daughter but decided to concentrate on breastfeeding with my first child. With Stella I decided to cloth diaper and Sara helped me... one day she asked, 'have you found Hyena Cart yet?' and it was all downhill from there. Though I lurked in the forums for a year before posting. So 2007 was when I found HC!

And she's still one of my very best friends even though I lost the majority of her woolies she let me borrow in a hurricane named Ike that flooded my house!