ADA, Okla. (KTEN) — Cindy Bowling is not your everyday math teacher. A business started in 2002 has led her to perfect custom hats.

By day, Bowling teaches math at Ada City Schools; in her spare time, she runs Dry Creek Hatters, a business she started with her husband, Mike, 20 years ago.

"We had ranched for quite a few years. We sold our cattle out and my husband's health started to go downhill," Bowling recalled. "We had to do something besides ranching. He was a lifetime cowboy, so this kind of fit right in."

While Mike Bowling passed away in 2013, Cindy has continued making hats.

After all, it's not a craft she ever thought she'd get into, but it's provided some rewarding experiences.

"People coming to get their hat, you shape it up for them and they're like, 'This is awesome! This feels so good!' You know, just making people happy," Bowling said.

There's also been some unforgettable moments, too.

"It was the Thanksgiving after Mike died and this gentleman that was Santa Claus up at the Sooner Mall called me," Bowling said. "When I measured him, his head measurement was exactly the same as Mike's. I was telling a friend about this after he left and she said, 'Well, leave it to Mike to come back as Santa Claus.'"

Cindy Bowling's part-time job of custom hat-making will become a full time gig in June when she retires from teaching.