Hats off to successful entrepreneur Alex Samuels
The creative and passionate owner of Rustler Hat Co. in Nashville was selected as the 2025 Young Alumna of the Year.
Whether it’s the volleyball court in Allen Arena or a high-end, custom hat store in the Gulch neighborhood, Alex (Kelly) Samuels (BBA ’11) loves working with a team.
The former All-American and ASUN Conference Hall of Fame Lipscomb volleyball has a team of her own now at the popular and successful Rustler Hat Co., where customers can customize their hat with one-on-one help from a Rustler team member.
Samuels, Lipscomb’s 2025 Young Alumna of the Year, pioneered the concept in Nashville’s hopping Gulch district, opening her shop in 2021 as a way to become more of a community builder in Nashville, the city that the Kansas City, Missouri, native now calls home.
“I had worked at commercial real estate at a company in Brentwood for 10 years, and I was looking for something to be more a part of our community,” said Samuels, noting that most of her real estate developments at that time were outside of Tennessee. “I wanted to do something that brought me into Nashville.”
On a vacation with her husband, Cooper, the couple walked into a hat store and began to imagine how it could be better, especially how purchasing a hat could become a more communal, personalized and engaging experience.
Samuels sees everyone from bachelorettes to corporate executives, from tourists to today’s volleyball Bison teammates visit her store to enjoy premium hats and unique accessories.
Rustler brings its signature experience to private and off-sites events around the city in its events division, and has worked with more than half of the companies on the Fortune 500 list. Additional merchandise is available through an online shop.
“We have built a community and a team around people who can create an experience, so when you walk in, you're not just leaving with a hat, you're leaving with a full experience, meeting people from Nashville and just having fun,” said Samuels.
Sounds something like what the Kansas City native experienced when she came to Lipscomb for college.
“I had never heard of Lipscomb,” Samuels said. “But Coach (Brandon) Rosenthal recruited me hard and sold the volleyball program and the education I would receive here — and I'm so thankful Lipscomb essentially found me.
“The life lesson for me personally, and for what I do now, took place on the volleyball court with being a teammate,” she said. “A lot of things that athletes do to be successful, like putting in the extra hours, and just being a good teammate is so important to owning a business, because now I have 30 teammates. Even though I'm the owner, I remember that we're all doing the same thing.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree, Samuels completed an MBA at Appalachian State University, coached volleyball there for a time and spent some time in Australia before settling back in Nashville for her commercial real estate career.
Today Samuels is still in contact with Lipscomb and volleyball team members, attending all the team’s games and relishing the opportunity to work with other Lipscomb alumni in Nashville.
“You don't just go to Lipscomb, leave Lipscomb, and then go on to some deserted island. You always have the connections back there, and that's been such a blessing for me,” she said.
In fact, in 2026 a Lipscomb connection paid off for her as Lipscomb volleyball coach Rosenthal retired from coaching and now works with Samuels as the COO of Rustler’s. He and Samuels will work together to explore possibilities to bring Rustler’s immersive and personal experience to other states and to grow the shop’s online presence.
“It’s cool to watch an idea come to life,” said Samuels. “When I was working for someone else, I honestly loved it, but at the end of the day, it was their dream. This is my dream, my vision and it's fun to have an idea and be able to execute it.”
She hopes she can serve as a mentor and inspiration for the young people who work for her and for students at Lipscomb to “follow their passion and follow their dreams,” she said.
The Young Alumnus of the Year Award is designed to recognize established and future leaders among Lipscomb’s young alumni. Alumni selected for this honor are recognized for their demonstrated leadership capability, a commitment to service of others and commitment to the mission of Lipscomb University.
