Meet Garrison Doctor of RepYourWater in Erie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Garrison Doctor.

Garrison, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by fish and fishing. I do not have any direct family members who fish, but somehow I always “had the bug”. When I got my hands on my first fly rod at ten years old, my passion was sealed. The aesthetic, the flies, the mechanics of the cast and the gorgeous places trout live here in Colorado, I loved it all. The other pursuit that has been a constant passion in my life is making art. Fine art became my major in college and my primary professional focus.

RepYourWater was started as a combination of these two passions. With the help and partnership of my wife Corinne, I started working on some initial designs and we began to figure out how to produce a few hats and start the brand-building process. Today we run a Fly Fishing apparel company with products ranging from hats, tees, performance sun hoodies, merino wool socks, flannel shirts and camp mugs. We truly believe in and live our motto – Fish. Explore. Conserve.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a really fun road, but I certainly would not describe it as smooth. I would also argue that smooth roads can be a bit boring. I much prefer a two-track with some rocks to navigate! We definitely hit a few “rocks” we had to navigate along the way, from sourcing issues to growing pains. We are still a very small company with only three full-time employees including myself and my wife and co-founder Corinne, so we all have to “wear many hats”. This makes it challenging for any of us to have the bandwidth for all of our roles.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
RepYourWater is an apparel brand dedicated to providing uniquely designed, top quality gear for anglers, outdoorsmen and hunters while increasing support of local conservation and inspiring exploration. We specialize in regional logo wear (hats, tees, stickers, etc), lifestyle accessories (mugs, glasses, belts, ties, etc) and outerwear with a sustainable story (hoodies, flannels, etc). I do all of our design in house, so all of our products are unique, authentic and speak to the wild places we love to explore. Conservation and sustainability are huge pieces of our company and set us apart.

We donate 3% of sales to our conservation partners which have are regionally segmented. To date, those donations are over $220,000.00. We are very proud of the support we have been able to give these non-profit conservation partners that include, chapters of Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust and the Wild Steelhead Coalition to name a few. Many of our new products have a sustainability story, from flannels that are ethically made from Bio Cotton to mid-weight hoodies made from Recycled Polyester and Upcycled Cotton. We look forward to growing these product lines as we continue our journey down our two-track road!

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I remember very clearly the first time I ever saw a fly fisherman catching trout on a high mountain lake. I was camping with my dad and of course, brought my trusty little spinning rod and a couple of lures, but the trout in this gin-clear lake had no interest. The fly fisherman was casting a small dry fly made mostly of feathers that imitated a small insect on the surface of the water and he was catching fish after fish! That was the moment when I ran to my dad and told him I needed a fly rod.

Pricing:

• The Last Frontier Flannel, Ethically made from Bio Cotton, four colors available – $78
• Recycled and Upcycled mid-wieght hoodies – $55
• Colorado Trutta Hat – $27

Contact Info:

• Address: 2546 S. Main Street
  Unit B & C
  Erie CO 80516
• Website: www.repyourwater.com
• Phone: 303.717.0267
• Email: customerservice@repyourwater.com
• Instagram: @repyourwater
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/RepYourWater/
• Twitter: @repyourwater

Image Credit:
For every photo other than the hat single photo and the flannel shirt product photo please credit Joshua Duplechain.

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