Des Moines Parent Spotlight: Brooke Happe Owner of B.E. Happe Designs

Des Moines Parent Spotlight

by Erin Huiatt

Des Moines Parent Spotlight: Brooke Happe

Our family is a big fan of Brooke Happe and her amazing talent. Brooke is the owner of B.E. Happe Designs and handmakes amazing hats. If you follow our family on social media, you have probably seen my kiddos sporting her talent. Brooke has an amazing story and does not currently live in Des Moines. She is traveling the United States with her family! Learn more below.

Give us a little background on your family and personal life! How many kids do you have? Have you lived in Des Moines all your life?

My husband and I moved to Des Moines in 2007 for me to attend DMU for physical therapy. After graduating I got a job in Ankeny, we bought a house and set down roots. We have three kids and in June 2019 sold everything to travel the U.S.A.

What is your business, and what do you do?

I own b.e.happe designs, a handmade knit and crochet shop. I taught myself to crochet in 2015 when I started staying home with my three kids. I felt that I needed to keep my hands strong as I stepped away from my career.

Why did you become a small business owner?

I honestly had no intention to have a shop or be a small business owner. I was encouraged to open a shop in 2016 after I had made some items for others and thought that it would be a way to keep my hands strong before returning to my career as a PT when my kiddos were in school. It is incredible how much support there is for small and handmade shops, my shop has grown so much in the 3 years.

Where is your favorite place to take your children to play indoors?

Now that we are traveling we love to visit science centers and children’s museums in the various places we are staying. When we were living in Des Moines we loved the Science Center of Iowa, and when we are back in Des Moines we always stop there!

Where is your favorite place to take your children to play outdoors?

My kids love the beach, they can play in the sand for hours! When we were living in Ankeny we would visit a lot of the city parks in the area.

Parent’s day/night out. Describe your perfect parent only day/night out in Des Moines.

One of the reasons that we decided to make this living transition was to be together as a family. My husband was gone during the week for business travel. We would occasionally go out to dinner and a concert if there was something we couldn’t pass up but we spent a lot of time together on the weekends exploring the city. Perfect to us was simple .. .a meal without our kiddos snatching food off our plates and adult conversations.

What are some tips on juggling parenthood, working, and personal life?

When I was pregnant with my first we had many friends that were expecting around the same time. My husband and I both agreed that we would not compare or judge others on their parenting. What works for one family does not work for others and that’s ok. It is so easy to compare ourselves to the blog mom’s of Instagram, but they struggle just like each and every one of us.

What is your number one parenting tip?

The past four months have been an obvious change for us but even now with traveling the one thing that has stayed constant is a schedule. My kiddos still go to bed at the same time and we have the same routine. I think them knowing the routine of dinner, clean up, snack with reading and then bed helps them know what to expect. This certainly helped me when my husband was gone.