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“I always wanted to make a difference,” Emily Hikade, founder and CEO of luxury sleepwear and home furnishings company Petite Plume, tells Entrepreneur. “I wanted to change something. I wanted to do something that meant something.”
Image source: Courtesy of Petite Plume. Emily Hikade.
Hikade grew up in central Wisconsin and was curious about the world from a young age. She rode her bike to the library to teach herself French before high school. At 13, she convinced her parents to let her take part in a summer exchange program in the south of France – and returned home fluent.
Hikade then attended the University of Notre Dame, where she continued to study French in addition to German and international relations. When her college career came to an end, Hikade accepted a position at the White House.
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In Washington, DC, Hikade passed the Foreign Service Exam and worked in the U.S. State Department's Operations Center, where she examined the White House Situation Room up close and conducted high-stakes conversations with global leaders. Then another life-changing opportunity presented itself.
“The lights went out, people were screaming. All I could see were the faces of my three little boys.”
“I was tapped on the shoulder to go to the dark side [to the CIA]“As we say,” Hikade remembers. “I had the perfect cover because I was really a State Department official. I was actually fluent in three languages at this point. I actually took the Foreign Service exam. I could talk.
Hikade joined the CIA and expanded her language repertoire to include Russian and Arabic. She worked as an officer specializing in counterterrorism for more than ten years. However, during her time at the agency, a near-death experience would set her on a different course.
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Hikade was flying to a meeting when the plane went out of control and headed towards the water. “The lights went out, people were screaming,” says Hikade. “It was a commercial flight, a little puddle jumper as they say.”
Hikade thought of her three sons at home; Her youngest wasn't even a year old yet.
“As I braced myself for impact, all I could see were the faces of my three little boys,” Hikade said. “And I was deeply saddened that my children would grow up without a mother.”
Luckily, the pilot was able to regain control of the plane, but the crucial moment stuck with Hikade.
Hikade started thinking about what else she could do – and the answer was somewhat surprising: pajamas. When she lived in France, she saw classic button-up pajama sets while shopping at the supermarket and wanted to buy them for her sons. But she couldn't find a similar product in the United States. “Everything was focused on Hanna Andersson, that kind of tight style,” explains Hikade.
Image source: Courtesy of Petite Plume
“I knew how to negotiate. I have a higher risk tolerance than most.”
While in East Africa, Hikade decided to develop the product herself – and give entrepreneurship a chance. She calculated how many pajamas she would need to exceed her government salary (“and that number wasn’t high”). The plan was never to start a multimillion-dollar company, but to see if she could start a business.
“It was like, OK, if I sell this many pajamas, my kids will be safe,” Hikade remembers. “And I’ve lived in all these different countries. I knew how to negotiate. I have a higher risk tolerance than most.”
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Like most new entrepreneurs, Hikade had to overcome a number of challenges along the way. However, one of the first and most important events occurred during the product development phase.
Hikade wanted to make Petite Plume pajamas from 100% organic cotton, but in the US, children's pajamas must withstand a direct flame for three seconds without igniting – meaning cotton must be mixed with other materials or flame-coated – resistant chemicals.
“So we blended it with a naturally flame-retardant fiber; think of it like a pinched wool,” says Hikade. “And that allowed us to meet all of the strict Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations without using chemicals.”
“We have reached a niche.”
In addition, the company started “very cheaply,” says Hikade. Once the product was ready, Hikade set up a Shopify site and had the factory ship directly to a 3PL in the US. Officially launched in 2015, Petite Plume has been profitable from the start and has seen steady growth over the years, despite the lack of investors or large funds.
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The company has now developed into a complete lifestyle brand with eight-figure annual sales; Its products are available in nearly 500 stores nationwide, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. Additionally, Petite Plume's e-commerce business has grown 70% year-over-year, while sales so far in 2024 have increased 50% year-over-year.
“We have reached a niche,” says Hikade, explaining the brand’s continued success.
Image source: Courtesy of Petite Plume
“I'm really proud of the company we're building and [its] Core values.”
A few years ago, someone asked Hikade which was more difficult: working in an agency or being an entrepreneur? She really had to think about the question, Hikade admits. As dangerous as her time as a CIA officer was, the stress level came with a certain degree of predictability, peaking at important meetings or missions and then falling again, she explains.
When you're building a business, the daily ups and downs tend to be more unpredictable, says Hikade. She points out that your best and worst moments in business can even happen within the same 24-hour period.
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Despite the challenges of entrepreneurship, Hikade remains fully focused on business – and remains committed to building a company that improves the lives of his customers and employees.
Petite Plume offers its employees' parents the flexibility to care for their children in addition to parental leave and offers healthcare, 401ks and profit sharing. “We have adapted to the 21st century workforce,” says Hikade. “I'm really proud of the company we're building and [its] Core values.”
Hikade may have a higher tolerance for risk than most, but any aspiring entrepreneur, whether moving from counterterrorism, finance, or another field, would do well to follow her simple but essential advice: There is never a good time , starting a business or making something is a change – so you just have to do it.
“Someone said, 'You get the business cards and name the CEO and founder on them early on so it really defines who you are,'” says Hikade. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So don't wait for the perfect time because it will never come. Carpe Diem.”
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