Rivalry Game Day & The Birth of a Prototype

Written by Sam Stein | Founder, Trucker Hat Boots

When 85°F in November Became My Business Plan

Fast forward to that legendary Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game – I'm watching the big showdown, and it hits 90°F in late November! After the longest, hottest summer on record, this was my breaking point. The stadium was packed with the most authentic mix of the top 10% of folks you'll ever see: cowboys, rednecks, and folks from Dallas, all who take their football seriously decked out in school colors.

Full of school spirit and fun colors, folks were yelling toward the field in unison, a combined prayer that their team would pull through. The sweating, drinking, and revelry highlighted everything great about football tradition – and football fans.

There were two outfit combos that day, both the men and the women were in daisy dukes and cowboy boots and many of the men were in free t-shirts from their department and trucker hats. My brain registered those cowboy boots (to look cool) and trucker hats (to stay cool). And there I was, a city-slicking cowboy with a "vintage" truck and a shiny new bonafide MBA, watching everyone's feet cook like they were a brisket on the smoker.

Divine Inspiration Strikes Again

As someone perpetually at war with overheating, this felt like divine intervention. That's when my ADHD brain finally connected the dots permanently: What if cowboy boots had the breathable mesh of trucker hats?

After some hilariously failed attempts at designing and letting ChatGPT generate some truly cursed boot monsters, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I stitched together my first prototype using my nephew's old boot and some fabric scraps I found in the JoAnn's trash. (Just kidding – my girlfriend gave me a gift card there to shut up about my obsession.)

When I finally held those first mesh-panel cowboy boots, I fell in love instantly.

What Makes These Boots Different

These trucker hat-inspired boots look and feel like nothing you've worn before. While they won't help you with wranglin', snaken', rasslin', ropin' or horse playin', they will:

• Look sharp as hell when you're cruising around town

• Blend perfectly with those worn-in boot cut jeans your girlfriend keeps telling you to throw away

• Bring the fun whether you're doing keg stands on Saturday night or just living your best western life

Next week: How I attempted to convince my MBA classmates that I wasn't insane and found the perfect co-founder who believes in whimsy (and fashion that actually makes sense).