Stories of the Brand & Lifestyle of the Company: Quarter 1 Recap from FC's CEO

Hey FC Fans, I’ll be writing quarterly recaps of the company to give you guys an inside look at what’s happening. Please comment and ask additional questions. I truly enjoy connecting with you guys.

January

I started 2015 with a most amazing journey with my girlfriend driving to California. We were able to surf all along the coast of Southern California from Rincon in Ventura to Blacks Beach in San Diego, where we met some of the Path Outfitters crew. As for the mountain biking side of things, we visited and rode in Sedona, AZ for some amazing single track.

Post road trip, we wanted to create a space for other travelers to stay when coming through the Ozarks. Our landlord, Frank Sharp, had always dreamt of having a hostel in Fayetteville, stemming from his European backpacking journeys from his 20s. With inspiration from his experience, he built us a rad area at the Smokehouse to host friends & athletes passing through Fayetteville. For the first couple of months of 2015 we got to host some of our Dreamers & Drifters and show them what the Ozarks are all about. Fun times were had and all were glad they made the extended pit stop.

On a trip out to the Buffalo River with the Dreamer & Drifter crew, we found a red heeler dog. We named her Olive and she’s now a part of the growing pack of dogs at the Smokehouse, and the best mountain bike riding companion.

February

We added FC Fly Fisher, Jamie Rouse, as an athlete. Ever since we added him to the team he'd been talking about hitting the White River by Greers Ferry dam in the winter for fishing. When the Army Corps of Engineers runs the dam, small fish called shad come through, and trout come up the river for feasting. It was 20 degrees and our hands were numb, but the amount of trout we pulled in made it all worth the experience.

In February Fayettechill was awarded one of 100 companies to tell the story of their entrepreneurship in the country. They flew in TIME Magazine and National Geographic contributor, Saul Schwarz to get the story of the company. Check it out here.

Later in the month we released FC's most amazing media piece to date, "FC in America," led by this talented team.

We were able to show what the brand represents through highlighting the Ozarks and FC athletes. Check it out:

Mid-February, we released our Spring/Summer collection. We moved all of our unisex t-shirts to organic cotton/recycled polyester blends or 100% organic cotton. Building a clean product that leaves less of an impact than conventional materials has been a major goal in moving the company forward. You’ll see continued steps that make our products eco-conscious by using organic cotton, recycled materials like polyester and bamboo, along with sourcing from Blue Sign Certified Dye Houses, and Fair Labor Certified Factories.

We also released our first womens' top line, 100% made in the USA. Alison Fox, a designer from Santa Barbara, CA, helped coach our team in releasing this product category.

February marked the finish of our Fall/Winter '15 Collection and what a line it is! We’ve added so much to our outerwear line and it really shows how the brand is progressing in product categories. I’m stoked with how the team put together to take ideas to market. At FC we design every product from the ground up and according to a flow chart in our design office, it takes over 100 steps to go from product idea to market release. We aren’t buying blanks and slapping our logos on products. We make our clothing wearable art by working with artists from around the world. We understand where our materials come from and take pride in building a quality product.

When the company started in 2009 I had no clue how clothing manufacturing worked and we’ve learned along the way and finally got to the pinnacle of showing an outdoor apparel brand.

We were accepted in the Venture Out category of outdoor retailer in Salt Lake City to show our coming Spring/Summer '16 in August. It’s going to be our first national showing for FC and we're working our asses off to show the brand in it’s best form of branding and products.

March

To showcase our Spring Summer '15 collection we picked Big Bend National Park as our setting. We brought FC employees and our Dreamer & Drifter crew to showcase the Mountain culture of Texas. Living in Dallas as a kid I made frequent trips down to SE Texas for family trips and I feel this was the start for my enjoyment of mountain-culture and activities. It was rad seeing my life come full circle: from a kid to bringing my employees and friends to experience the memories I had.

This spring I really got int into stand up paddle boarding down the Ozark rivers. It’s such a badass way of experiencing white water rivers and meshes well with my passion for surfing. When the singletrack is muddy and the rivers are washed out for Fly-Fishing you can find me on Buffalo River, Mulberry River, & Siloam Springs Whitewater Park. When the water is calm I’m able to bring my new pup, Olive, to cruise on the front of the board while paddling. The sport is so new and growing and I highly recommend checking it out as a new way to explore the rivers.

Lastly for Q1, we finished our initial construction stages of basecamp. It’s been a dream starting a store that showcases the culture and attitude of FC. We were lucky that Frank Sharp let us use many of the pieces of equipment from the Smokehouse in the store to keep the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse tradition alive and well for years to come.

If you’ve read this much, you're definitely a super fan and I can’t thank you guys enough for making the above stories happen.

Mo Elliott - Founder/CEO