+1I absolutely agree. If you want to survive in any retail-based career, and particularly in one that is such a niche market like custom hatmaking is these days, you have to be able to give the customer what he/she wants regardless of whether or not that aligns with your own personal tastes.
The main difference I see between your artificially distressed hats and those I've seen produced by some hatters is that you combine your skills, techniques, and artistic visions, with a sense of realism. What I mean by that is that anyone with a few techniques can artificially distress a hat, but the results usually seem so random and over-done that it becomes obvious that the "wear and tear" is artificial. When you do it, the stains and such are more subtle and placed where they would be if they had been attained through years of use, so your hats don't have that "fake" look to them. I think, and hope, this gives you a bit of an edge on "the competition", and if I were ever in the market for an artificially distressed hat I'd want you to make it for me.