Letter From our Founder - February 2021

Letter from Our Founder 

My name is Jeremy Dougherty, and I am the founder of Maroon Bell Outdoor. When I began working on Maroon Bell in the Spring of 2016 my goal, albeit idealistic, was to build a company that would last a hundred years. In order to do this, we needed products that could withstand the test of time. My vision was not to sell someone the same pair of gloves a hundred times; but rather, sell a hundred people, one pair of gloves, one time.

When I was a little kid our family would visit my great grandparents, Grandma Toady and Pop. They were some of the toughest folks America had to offer. Pop once told me that during the Great Depression he took a job sweeping the streets from Denver to Englewood (20 miles), for a nickel a day. He boxed at the 20^th St. Rec Center in Denver, shoveled rail lines, repaired furniture and invested in real estate. They owned a farm and had cows, chickens, pigs and horses. During these visits I would walk around their 1940’s, ranch style house in Lakewood, exploring the shop, looking in the backyard, and wondering about old pictures on the walls.  

One of my most vivid memories were of Pop’s leather gloves, resting on his work bench. These gloves were a reflection of Pop’s 95-year-old hands.  Wrinkled with years of stories, battered and stained with success and failure. Patched and used again and again, to build a family, a career, a country. Pop’s gloves seemed to grow stronger with the years. The more projects he completed, holes he dug, yards he mowed and roofs fixed, the better the story became. These gloves were stitched into Pop’s history, the pages in his book. That was how apparel was built in those days. Created for a lifetime.  This is the vision for Maroon Bell Outdoor. To create apparel that tells the story of your life. To create designs you will always have.

Thanks again for following us, working with us and hearing our stories. We would love to hear your story too. Just respond by emailing JeremyDougherty@MaroonBell.Com.