THE JOURNEY

Small Town Kids. We are truly the definition of what that means. Populations less than 3,000. We hauled hay after school and went fishin’ on the weekends. Nothing was more exciting than a Friday night campfire, and not one of us ever drank from a bad water hose. Our brand encompasses the fortitude of the American DREAM. Three guys, same values, ONE VISON. Iron Oak was BORN.

We’ve known each other forever.  We all grew up in small towns less than 20 minutes from each other. We all have DREAMS. Similar dreams, and that drive to do something different, that entrepreneurial spirit, is what has led us to where we are today.  We took our Friday night memories and our passion for hard work, and put it all on the line to create something that could put Texas Apparel on the map.

Idea, after idea nothing really gave us that "Spaghetti Noodle Feeling…” You know that feeling? When you throw a noodle against the wall and it’s supposed to stick? Well…nothing ever really stuck. It was because, metaphorically, we were not quite done... so just like our close friend Jack Daniels knew, we understood that not everything in this world is ready to be created with the speed of today. Our brand is kind of like a good double barrel whiskey that had to sit and age for a while. We tried a few things, but it never gave us the clarity that we were all looking for. Until one day, it did. Let’s create a Texas themed polo with western designs inspired by Cowboys and Texas landscapes.

We know Texas is almost a country in itself and there is a lot of culture throughout this great state. Some people like that barbed wire surrounding the acres they worked so hard to call their own. But, for some, picket fences and wrap-around porches signify HOME. Texas means different things to different folks. We wanted to create designs that spoke to that. One design may not be for everybody, but every design is for somebody.

With this idea came even more clarity. Now we were speaking OUR language. The small town kid’s language. The country boy’s language, and everything started to fall in line. It is a tough world that we live in, and navigating that world can be even tougher. We weren’t handed a compass on how to be successful, but we just kept feeling the stars align and every road we chose seemed to be the right one. We unselfishly had to ask for help in areas we didn’t have experience in. But one thing was for certain, we knew that we had to be DIFFERENT. The horses we ride around here aren’t the kind with peripheral blinders on. We know there is competition and as a business, we needed our creative side to mix well with sustainability… so naturally, like any good Texan would do, we thought… “Let’s throw a pearl snap on these darn things!” It gave us that DIFFERENCE. That calling card. That Texas feel that we were missing. And just as certain as the bluebonnets arrive in early spring, our Texas Brand was finally out of the dirt.

Our spaghetti finally stuck to the wall, and our whiskey was ready to be tasted. Come with us on this journey to becoming an HONEST OUTLAW and always remember to “leave YOUR mark, whatever that means.”

Written by Iron Oak Co-Founders