Bootstrapping a Brand: The Tecovas Journey

Western wear is having a moment – and so is the upstart Western brand Tecovas. Founder Paul Hedrick is a Texan who realized that cowboy boots were either too expensive or too cheap, so he decided to create a premium brand with an attainable price. He traveled repeatedly to the cowboy boot capital of the world – León, Mexico – to obsess over every detail, and later he expanded his DTC business to make a surprising bet on brick-and-mortar stores. Today, beyond boots, Tecovas sells jeans, shirts, dresses, hats, and bags, and this year, the company expects to do more than $300 million in sales.

This episode was produced by Alex Cheng with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant with research help from Iman Maani. Our engineers were Patrick Murray and Robert Rodriguez.

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