If you've ever been to a bull sale, campdraft, or down any street in rural Australia, chances are you've either worn or seen a Country Trucker Cap on somebody's lid, but the now famous brand came from pretty humble beginnings.
Owner Brett Hanly began making caps after discovering that there were none out there that were big enough to fit his "big head," and so he assumed that surely others must be having the same sort of trouble.
In an effort to solve his own cap quandary, Mr Hanly and his wife Bridie got to work on their first line of caps, which were soon picked up by a number of businesses, before they eventually began making their own line of branded hats.
An electrician by trade, Mr Hanly said he'd done his time working in the mines, but after pursuing his business, was now "full time capping."
"That's how the business really started, I just couldn't find a hat big enough to fit my head," he said.
"My electrical boss at the time, he wanted some and then we just went hard, and now we do a fair few around the country.
"The whole guts of it is, we were just looking for a good quality, big hat that fits big Australian heads."
After starting the business in 2019, Country Trucker caps well and truly took off and has since become a household name.
Mr Hanly said he still got a kick out of seeing people walking down the streets wearing one of his caps.
"That feeling you get traveling around the country and seeing all the all the hats we've done for clients, it never gets old," he said.
"Being overseas or being in the west and seeing your hats on people's heads, it's phenomenal how far a cap can go.
"Honestly, it brings a smile to my face every time I see one and I just go, buddy, how good is this."
Growing up in regional Queensland, Mr Hanly said it was a pleasure to see so much support for his business coming from country communities, and he also enjoyed giving back to those customers.
"That's one thing I'm pretty big on, people that support me, I try to really give that support back to them," he said.
"Whether they're from Elders or Nutrien or Ray White, or a little family stud that's got 50 hats made up and they want to crack them out and give some away at their bull sale - it's a good thing that people entrust you to give them a good product that they can proudly handout, that represents them as well."
The Hanly's are Speckle Park stud owners and keen campdrafters in amongst the chaos of running the cap business, and between events from Sydney, to Rockhampton, to Perth and Paradise Lagoons, they are always happy to sponsor and support rural events.
"I try to give back as much as I can, whether that be sponsorship in itself or supplying hats for the event, or prizes," he said.
"I'm of the opinion, if you're succeeding and you can help other people succeed, well, that's how it should be. It's the grassroots of Australia.
"I especially love giving them to the littlies. You see the look on their face when they get that hat and they just wear the hell out of it because they're proud and that's where I really try to put a lot of my focus, especially now as a young dad.
"l've always been told, the more you give, the more you get back."
A bit of a whiz on social media marketing, Country Trucker Caps have more than 97,000 followers on TikTok and often use the platform for sneaky giveaways, planting caps in random spots and seeing a bunch of fans racing out to find the freebies.
Mr Hanly said social media has been a massive tool in their success, and that building hype and creating a community was all a part of the CTC brand.
