Deana Michonski

After years of frustration with headbands constantly slipping out of her hair as she exercised, fitness instructor Donna Browning set out to solve one of many women's largest workout woes once and for all by creating the ultimate non-slip fashionable fitness headband in 2007. After some experimentation on a friend’s sewing machine, Donna settled on a combination that features a velvet underside, to gently grip the hair without creasing or pulling, an elastic closure, to make the bands tightly fit all head shapes and sizes, and a decorative ribbon upper, to add a fun and stylish flare to the products. Donna named this product a "Sweaty Band"​, and, by early 2008, officially began selling through a website. Soon after, Self Magazine, The ATP Tour, The Today Show, gave the brand recognition which skyrocketed sales and placed the brand at the forefront of its industry. Sales steadily grew from then on, and the product line expanded to over 900 different styles of bands sold online, at large marathon expos, and in retail locations. Today, Sweaty Bands employs over 100 people and operates out of their 30,000 square foot warehouse headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. The accessory's 2500+ global retailers include Nordstrom, Dick's Sporting Goods, Anthropologie, and Lady Foot Locker, and the brand has recently been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, InStyle, Shape, and Fitness Magazine. In 2013, Founder and CEO Donna Browning was recognized by Ernst & Young as the top Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year for her region. Throughout all of this exceptional growth, Sweaty Bands has remained committed to American manufacturing, with 100% of products still hand sewn domestically.