Hooey

Q:  HOW DID YOU LAUNCH THE HOOEY BRAND?

"I grew up in a small Texas town with a passion for rodeo and football.  I was lucky enough to enjoy all the fun you can have being raised in the country...from fishing to hunting to ATV's...we even rode our horses to Dairy Queen on the weekends.  I stopped rodeoing in my teens but never lost my enthusiasm for the sport.

When I was in my early twenties, I was in construction and my job gave me the opportunity to build hospitals on the west coast.  I had never been to California, so it was all completely new to me.  The more I became acquainted with the surf culture, the more I realized how much surfers are like cowboys.  I really appreciated that same singular passion for doing what you love. 

Fast forward a few years later, when I came back to Texas and started roping competitively again...I realized that many in western and rural culture, especially young kids, were wearing those same same surf and skate brands I had discovered in California. 

That's when the light bulb went on that there was a disconnect within western. Western kids didn't have access to a progressive brand that represented their interests.  I knew they were proud.  I knew they were passionate.  So I felt confident we could build an action sports style of brand that celebrates the western athlete and western culture.

That western connection with surf and action sports may seem more obvious now.  But you have to remember this timeframe was pre-social media when we were living in a much more disconnected world."