Red Ants Pants: A girl thing

Tag : Ski Pants

A former Outward Bound staff member who also worked peeling logsand grooming ski trails, Calhoun never found functional andcomfortable work pants.
"The spring of 2004, I was in California working on a trail crewdoing wildfire recovery work," said Calhoun. "I was working with alot of other women and realized I wasn't the only one with thischallenge."
Women complained of awkward fitting waistlines, wear in the kneesand seats and overall uncomfortable fits.
Today Calhoun's company, Red Ants Pants, is about to celebrate itssecond year in business. Based in 1911-era storefront in WhiteSulphur Springs, the company sells work pants for women, in twostyles  straight and curvy  in 70 sizes.
A chance meeting in a Bozeman coffee shop deserves as much creditfor bringing Red Ants Pants from the idea stage to a legitimatebusiness, she says.
The mentor she met there, Richard Siberell, insists that whatCalhoun lacks in business experience she more than makes up for inpassion, work ethic and knowledge of her target market.
"She saw a gap in the market and created a truly credible product,"he said. "I'd love to hire her, she'd make an incredible employee,but I wouldn't dare take her away from her company."
Siberell is a 30- year veteran of the garment industry. Hisexperience includes with work with several small companies, as wellas Patagonia clothing.
In the fall of 2004, Calhoun had moved to Bozeman with the conceptof creating a women's work wear business percolating in her head.She was in a coffee shop reading a book about starting a businesswhen she caught the attention of Siberell.
"I was there doing some work while waiting for my daughter to getout of dance class," he said.
When another customer struck up a conversation with Calhoun,Siberell overhead her plans.
"I handed her my card and told her to give me a call," he said.
A couple of weeks later, she did.
Siberell guided her through the details of the garment productionprocess and alerted her about stumbling blocks. He introduced herto contacts including pattern makers, fabric suppliers and otherindustry insiders.
"I learned pretty quickly, this is not an easy business," Calhounsaid.
The design process took almost nine months, with Calhoun going backand forth with her pattern maker in California.
Calhoun had to let go of her original intent to make a work wearproduct for women that cost no more than $40.
"I found out you can't even get the pants sewn for that," she said.
Al Deibert of the Montana Manufacturing Center assisted withsetting a price. Red Ants Pants cost $119.
"Sarah is one of those entrepreneurs who are passionate about theirproducts and those people tend to want to give their productsaway," he said. "In the end, it doesn't help the business or theuser because the business isn't sustainable. She is willing to takeadvice from people in the industry with experience, even when thatadvice seems counterintuitive."
Calhoun soaked up the lessons offered by industry insiders, but RedAnts Pants is strongly influenced by her personality.
The named, Red Ants Pants, "just popped in my head and I liked thering of it," Calhoun said. She was sold after learning that in antcolonies, the females do most of work.
She picked White Sulphur Springs for her headquarters because "Imissed living in the authentic side of Montana," Calhoun said.
"She's got a laser focus when it comes to her business and I thinkliving in a smaller town is allowing her to do that," Deibert said.
The Internet is a great equalizer when it comes to geography in thebusiness world and 80 percent of Red Ants Pant sales take place viathe Web.
The company's marketing plan so far includes a commercial onYouTube, the user video-submitted online site, productdemonstrations at house parties and booths at outdoor events andshows.
Customer feedback is encouraged, with gimmicks such as the Red AntsChallenge. Seamstresses place a single Red Ants on each pair ofpants in a unique location. Find another customer with a pair withan ant sewn in the same place, submit a photo to the company andwin a free T-shirt.
Now that she's up and running, Calhoun gets calls from young,would-be entrepreneurs looking for advice.
"I feel a little silly talking to them because I've made my fairshare of mistakes," she said.
But she's more than happy to share her limited experience.
"If you are thinking about going into business, read as much as youcan," she said. "There are a lot of free resources out there totake advantage of."
For those not fortunate enough to bump into an expert in theirpotential industry in a coffee shop, Calhoun suggests seeking outexperienced mentors.
"So much of business and manufacturing is networking," she said.
For example, Calhoun wanted to have her product made in the UnitedStates. Through connections Siberell helped her make, she foundsmall mother-daughter operated company in Seattle thatmanufacturers Red Ants Pants products.
"You can't just Google in 'American labor' and find that sort ofresource," she said.
Sometimes, a success in business boils down to gut instinct,Calhoun said. Or luck.
A promotional poster at the Red Ants Pants store in White SulphurSprings store shows women wearing brown, tan and blue prototypes.However, right now the only color available it brown.
"I bought $45,000 worth of chocolate brown fabric and then foundout that chocolate brown was the new black in the fashion world,"Calhoun said.