Linda Leary — Keeping FisheWear Groovy and Functional

Being a female angler can be difficult, not because the fish treat us any differently, but rather because it’s tough to find comfortable and properly-fitting fishing clothing. In recent years that has become less of a problem, but even when the clothes protect you from the elements they’re often drab or unflattering. That’s definitely not the case with the gear from FisheWear. I first noticed the company’s Groovy Grayling leggings when Pete and I traveled to Alaska last summer. Bear Trail Lodge had some of their colorful products in the gift shop and I became obsessed – to the point that I clicked on the website at least once a week. Eventually, Bear Trail’s owner Nanci Morris Lyon introduced me to Linda Leary, FisheWear’s owner, and I got a chance to dive into her story and find out what makes the company tick.

HPFC: Where are you from?

Linda Leary: I live in Anchorage, Alaska, but was born in Stockholm, Maine.

HPFC: Tell me a little about your childhood interests.

Linda Leary: I grew up fishing with my dad. I always liked the creative side of things, making things and was a little bit of a tomboy. Kind of a funny combination but it worked.

HPFC: How would your childhood friends describe you then and now?

Linda Leary: It’s interesting. Do you ever read back through your high school yearbooks at what your friends write about you? I am a big goal setter, I have a consulting company and do strategic planning and I did not realize that I was a goal setter back when I was a teenager. My friends wrote about that in my yearbook and you forget about those things. They wrote I was very organized and knew what I wanted to do.

HPFC: What did you study?

Linda Leary: I went to college at the University of Maine, in Orono, which is the largest state college in Maine. I studied home economics and a minor in business. Then I went on to get my masters in transport and logistics.

HPFC: What was you career path after graduation?

Linda Leary: I graduated from Orono and a week later I headed to Alaska. I was 22, heading to Alaska, no job but I had a lot of friends and my cousins from Northern Maine who were out there as the last frontier, so to speak. They came out to Alaska during the pipeline and construction days. There weren’t many jobs in Maine but there was a lot of opportunity in Alaska at the time. I went out there and lived with some cousins and friends, found a job and except for living in Washington state, in the Seattle/Tacoma area for ten years, I pretty much have been in Alaska ever since.

I was in the trucking industry for almost 30 years and was a partner in a company called Carlisle Trucking. If you ever watched the show “Ice Road Truckers,” that was our company.

HPFC: That is a very male-dominated industry. What was it like as a female in that environment?

Linda Leary: I started in customer service and then I moved into sales and I ended up running the company in the end, for the company’s last five years, before we sold the company. Something about Alaska, back in the early 80s when people were moving out here, it really wasn’t if you were a guy or a gal, it was more about who could do the job correctly. I guess I never really thought about that as I worked with oil and gas, with Alaska resource and development, construction, these were a lot of our customers.

HPFC: After the business was sold did you find other employment?

Linda Leary: Oh yeah, I was young, and my partners were older and wanted to be able to retire. I ended up working in the telecom industry for a couple of years. Then I left that job and started FisheWear, because I knew that if I didn’t do that I would regret it forever. I wrapped that up in about six weeks and got product and started to sell and just from my business background I knew I needed cash flow. So I worked full-time someplace else and had someone working for me part-time for a couple of years until it started growing and then came back to run Fishe full-time and do consulting. That is primarily what I have been doing, until three years ago I bought Women’s Fly Fishing Alaska and added the travel part as a side piece to the business.

HPFC: It’s not easy to start a clothing business, let alone any business, why women’s fishing clothing?

Linda Leary: I have a goal to fish whenever and wherever I want so why not start a business in the fishing industry that is something I am passionate about and I really love. I grew up fishing with my dad, he is a fly fisherman, he is 91 and still actively desires to fish, although he can’t really fish any longer. I am going to see him here soon and he has asked me to bring him flies, that’s what he wants. So fishing has been a big part of my life and growing up in Maine, the outdoor life, canoeing, tenting, fishing and it’s just what you did all the time. And I just wanted to find something I really loved. When talking to friends, who happen to be female guides, while we are fishing and it happen to be slow, I started quizzing them on what clothes would you want just for you. We would start brainstorming on certain items. I would take a lot of female clients and we would start talking about our fishing clothing, the color of our wading belts and so I would try to take our conversations and this is what got me inspired.

HPFC: Did you have any prior experience in apparel?

Linda Leary: My mom is basically a tailor so I grew up sewing. I didn’t do well with patterns, I did more free design things and I wasn’t afraid of that. After I left my job in telecom, the next Monday I rented space from a friend of mine, who is an industrial photographer and super-creative. I put a whiteboard up on the wall and just started brainstorming with her helping me. Other people would pop in and out visit us they would say, “Hey, what about this? What about that?” Women love to collaborate but the men had wanted to be part of it too. I just had so much encouragement from people all along the way, especially starting out. I am very lucky.

HPFC: What need does the company meet that wasn’t being filled?

Linda Leary: My focus going in was to create clothing and gear for women that was specific to them that was also functional and had fashion qualities, not just cute clothes. They are made to go right from the river or out on the ocean to dinner. I remember the first few times I went fishing I had no base layer clothing of my own so I was wearing my husband’s or my dad’s old clothing under my waders. You get back, your under clothes are ugly, you need to take them off to go to dinner because you aren’t going to go out in those, that’s for sure. I needed to create leggings that you could wear as a base layer and go right to dinner or shopping or whatever you want to do and nobody is going to say, “Those are your long johns.” Starting out, the first four products were wading belts, hats, neck tubes and leggings. The fact that I really loved art, we found some female artists that would draw fish for me and I kind of knew what I wanted. I had friends that were graphic designers and they lent me their services and it was a lot at first just to get started. I did have a vision of what I wanted, a set of products that were colorful and went together. I just knew there was a niche and because we are smaller and more nimble, we had the flexibility to try things that a larger company does not for a number of reasons. We have forged a wonderful relationship with Orvis, Xtratuf, Groove Ring and Sarabella Rods.

HPFC: You mentioned you have artist friends that help create your designs. Are any of them specifically your designs?

Linda Leary: None of the collection or the artwork is mine. My direction is what I want to see in the art and then how we apply it.

HPFC: What is your favorite product of all time?

Linda Leary: It’s hard to say, we just created a new bag, it’s a cross body that has straps on the back so you can put it on the wading belt. But I really like the leggings and all of our bags. But there are just so many things and they are just all wonderful. We have really focused on the salmon and trout world but I really think there is opportunity in the bass market. I am just super excited to figure out how bass fishing works. I just love learning and finding out new markets, it’s fun for me.

HPFC: If you bring out bass clothing and items, I will be your first customer and your spokesmodel (we both giggled).

HPFC: What is the most popular product?

Linda Leary: Anything with the grayling design on it and people also love the bags and leggings.

HPFC: What are the advantages/disadvantages of being a female-centric company in a male-dominated industry?

Linda Leary: I don’t really think about it. It’s not about a male or female brand company, it’s more about what we are offering and how we are doing it and the needs we are fulfilling. There are definitely great male leaders that are creating products for women. It’s just the key products that make others happy and what they really enjoy and what represents their personality. Think about it: When you get dressed up to go to work every day, you feel confident with the suit or outfit you put on, it makes you feel like you are put together. I think the same can be done with your fishing clothing. You have clothing on that’s comfortable, that makes you feel like you will be successful for the day, that makes a difference in your confidence and makes you think you will catch some fish today.

 HPFC: How many days a year do you get to fish?

Linda Leary: Probably 20 to 30 days, at least, in the summer, although my husband will say it’s more. I don’t do ice fishing.

HPFC: What are some of your favorite places to fish in Alaska?

Linda Leary: The Kenai River is beautiful and the Naknek River I love. My ultimate favorite is the Gash Madeira River and we fish for arctic char. It’s just amazing. If I ever found out I was dying that is where I want to go and fish for my last time.

HPFC: Is there a particular species or technique you love the most?

Linda Leary: Spey fishing is fun and I like it cause I am just learning how to do it. It’s how I caught my 30-inch rainbow. It is a long 11 to 14 foot rod and you are throwing big streamers, which create easy casts resulting in longer distances. All your casts are in front of you, kind of doing figure eights, it’s just graceful and beautiful but it takes some finesse to get that line out there.

HPFC: If you couldn’t live in Alaska, where would you live?

Linda Leary: We lived in Washington State for a long time and loved that. Maine or Washington, probably.

HPFC: Have you fished elsewhere? If so, where and for what?

Linda Leary: We fished in Mexico and that is where I caught my first roosterfish off the beach and we also fished for marlin. We have fished in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica and we traveled to Argentina where we caught brown trout and golden dorado. Can’t forget Florida where we fish for tarpon and Turks and Caicos for bonefish.

HPFC: What are some bucket list trips you still want to take?

Linda Leary: I would like to go to Mongolia for Taimen. I tend to like really warm weather so the Seychelles would be great too. We tried to go to Christmas Island but we got weathered out. We will get back there at another time.

HPFC: You operate fishing trips and classes for women. With so much else going on, why is this a focus?

Linda Leary: We have a lot of people that help us, especially in the winter months, and just this year I hired a full-time person to run that side of the business. The bigger it got I knew I had to get more help, which is great. I am actively involved and can enjoy it more not taking everything on myself.

HPFC: How do you get women to join the fun and excitement of your fishing trips?

Linda Leary: We try to build a community through social media, newsletters and our classes and then with FisheWear there are just so many gals that just want to fish and have fun. I also realized there are a lot of gals that wear FisheWear that do not even fish. But the bottom line is we just want gals to get out, enjoy the outdoors and have fun no matter what they do and they don’t have to be good at it, just get out and try. It does take people to get out there every day to grow and make your presence known.

HPFC: What is your go-to outfit?

Linda Leary: The leggings and the soft-shell skirt, the wool tops that are super comfy. We will be coming out with some new skorts that I am super excited about and they will probably be my new go-to.

Did I want another pair of leggings, YES! But after speaking to Linda I realized I NEEDED a pair of leggings, a skirt and a bag and it made me happy to know who I am supporting.

Thank you Linda Leary, can’t wait to fish with you next time we are in Alaska and I bet you know what I will be wearing.