Fitness Instructor Creates a Sweat-Proof Headband A workout frustration led fitness instructor Donna Browning to create Sweaty Bands.

Frustrated by the plain elastic headbands that kept slipping out of her hair during workouts, fitness instructor Donna Browning embarked on a quest to create one that would stay put. She borrowed a sewing machine and, after stitching up several combinations of materials, discovered that velvet-lined ribbon and elastic could hold its own.

Browning, who lives in Cincinnati, started making the bands as gifts and selling them out of her bag at the gym."The reaction of the women wearing them was amazing," she says."They said not only did they not slip, they made them feel more polished and pulled together. That made me think, I've got to share these with the world."

In 2008, Browning and her husband, Doug, launched Sweaty Bands, selling her creations online for $15 to $18 each. Soon after, a blog post from Self magazine sparked a jump in sales. Sweaty Bands now employs a staff of about 100, and the Brownings expect to sell 250,000 headbands this year.