Conversations with the Inspiring Alisha Kurtz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alisha Kurtz.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Our story. This always seems to be the most difficult question. Woolies came to be in quite the round about way. The story isn’t simple, but it’s as perfect as can be.

Woolies Quality Clothier is a true embodiment of the lifestyle I live day in and day out: a reflection of my roots. While I have been able to grow Woolies into a successful online boutique over the past ten years, I definitely didn’t ever intend to take this to where it is at now when I started.

In 2009, I returned to Salt Lake City, Utah – my hometown – to attend Graduate School at Westminster College. I had previously moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to work in the PR & Marketing Department for the American Paint Horse Association. A career I had spent high school and college working toward. As any mountain gal knows, the mountains were calling so I returned to them. A few months after returning to Utah, I realized how much I missed the different fashions that were abundant at all the horse event trade shows in Fort Worth. With that, I took a few hundred dollars I had in savings and decided to start my own small shop – a simple avenue to be able to bring the styles I love to Utah and my personal closet. I started out small, mainly selling off Facebook and at a few small expos. Fast forward a few months later, I spontaneously purchased a competitive reining horse and quickly hit the show circuit. (I grew up showing horses from six years old through college.) Bullseye (my horse) and I were quite successful, and we began cris-crossing the Southwest showing competitively. Balancing Graduate school, a full-time career, a competitive horse showing schedule, my side hustle, and a long distance relationship became too much to handle. So, as any dreamer would do, I left my career behind and focused on everything else for a couple of years.

In 2013, my then boyfriend (now husband) and I relocated to his hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. At this time, I had planned to leave the boutique world in the dust as I wanted to put my Master’s dregree to work. I just couldn’t kick it. I found myself spending all my spare time scouring clothing vendors for the next best look. A few months before Andy and I got married in 2015, he told me to quit my full-time job so I could focus solely on Woolies. I haven’t looked back since.

Has it been a smooth road?
I want to meet the person who has built a business from the ground up and says it was a smooth road. The biggest piece of advice I could give to anyone is truly to do your own thing. Don’t think about what your biggest competition is doing – don’t even follow them on social media. Find what you’re passionate about and run with it. Most importantly, be nice! Be nice to your customers/clients. Be nice to your mentors. Be nice to your competition. Being nice will take you further than anything else.

Please tell us about Woolies Quality Clothiers.
Crazy enough, I do it all. Woolies is a one-woman show. While most days I feel like I have accomplished nothing because I’m juggling a hundred projects as well as a 2.5-year-old, but I am so dang proud of what I have built from the ground. While I have no formal business schooling, my husband is a business genius who helps me as I need. My background comes in the form of website development, social media management, email marketing…all of which are key to the success of any business these days. When I’m not doing one of those things, I can be found shipping every order, doing taxes, paying bills, communicating with vendors, taking product photos, and pulling my hair out.

I believe I am most proud of the collections I build every season. Over the past few years, I discovered a missing piece in the marketplace and worked to feel that void. We focus on offering classic pieces that transcend multiple occasions from the working ranch, to the mountain town, to a good brunch with the ladies, and everywhere in between. Comfort, fit and quality are key, as well as offering classic styles to women of all sizes and backgrounds.

Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
Wow! This is quite the loaded question. I have been fortunate enough to cross the paths of so many inspirational women in my line of work and life path. It may be cliche, but mom is definitely at the top of the list. I have watched her juggle a marriage, a family, a career, a million extracurricular activities as her children grew, vacation planning, being a grandma, friendships, volunteer work, and so much more. She has done all of this flawlessly. She stays up late working so she can spend her waking hours enjoying life with those she loves most. She works remotely she can take her work wherever she needs to be. She is a saint, and everyone who has met her would say the same.

She has been instrumental in getting business off the ground. She helped me with so much of the early business steps in the very beginning. She has spent countless of hours traveling from trade show to trade show with me so I never had to drive alone. She always kept me fed and uplifted. To put it shortly, she is the best.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wearwoolies.com
• Email: wooliesclothing@gmail.com
• Instagram: wearwoolies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wooliesqualityclothier/

Image Credit:
Brooke Welch, Carrie Prince, Kristin Esper

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