Cassie Abel - Founder of Wild Rye
Sun Valley, Idaho based Abel is an all-American lacrosse player, mountain-lover, avid skier and mountain biker, loyal friend, new mother, and so much more. Abel holds an economics degree from Colorado College, where she also co-captained the lacrosse team, leading the team to its first and only NCAA final-four appearance. Post college, Abel had a short stint in investment banking, served as the assistant varsity lacrosse coach at UC Berkeley, spent four years at a major marketing agency on the Visa account team before finding her forever career home in the greater outdoor and action sports industry. Abel served as the Global Communications Manager for Smith Optics before founding Wild Rye in 2015 and Women-Led Wednesday in 2018. Today, in addition to her business ventures, Abel is dedicated to welcoming more women and girls into the outdoors, elevating women in business and contributing to organizations that protect our natural world.
Wild Rye creates beautiful and technical mountain apparel for women. Based in the mountains of Sun Valley, ID, Wild Rye is committed to welcoming more women into the outdoors, building confidence and inspiring adventure through performance apparel that fits, performs and considers contemporary style. In addition to better product, Wild Rye is dedicated to changing the industry narrative from one that’s historically characterized by masculinity and focusing on summiting the tallest peaks and setting records. We’re creating a community that’s more inclusive and celebrates the journey — the snack breaks, the time with friends, overcoming obstacles and setting goals in addition to the summits and podiums. #PlayWild
Favorite motto or quote that keeps you inspired?
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Book(s) that inspire you/your company?
Shoe Dog (about the founding of Nike)
Let My People Go Surfing (about the founding of Patagonia)
Other content, music, anything that is inspiring you right now?
Lizzo and Taylor Swift. Because they're both bad-ass b*tches that say what needs to be said through their music. And it's damn fun to listen to!
Who or what was the biggest motivator for you when you started your business?
Women like me! I worked in the outdoor industry for many years before launching Wild Rye with my then partner, Katy. We'd both attended pretty close to every industry event out there and rarely saw any apparel pieces that were "for us". We're hard-charging women who demand quality product, yet have a more metropolitan style. We wanted to merge performance and style into our outdoor clothes combining premium fabrics and construction with contemporary colors, silhouettes and patterns. In addition to creating better product, we launched Wild Rye to redefine the narrative surrounding women in the outdoors. While we're both competitive individuals (I played collegiate lacrosse), being outside on our bikes and skis is not about competition - but rather about the fresh air, camaraderie, exploration, pushing our limits and trying new things. The thrills and the spills! We launched Wild Rye to welcome ALL women into the outdoors, regardless of what motivates them - celebrating the journey rather than the result.
How do you hope that your company can create a better world?
Wild Rye is dedicated to inspiring confidence and supporting women from the backcountry to the boardroom. In addition, we're dedicated to protecting the places we play. We hope to help create a world where all people and all places are equally respected, especially in the outdoors.
What has been the biggest highlight running your own company?
Being able to stand up for things I believe in. For example Women-Led Wednesday, our Masks for Mountain Towns campaign and providing real talk on the postpartum journey back to cycling.
Favorite business tools that your company uses?
Favorite business/leadership podcast?
Favorite other business/leadership resources?
What are your top three goals for your company this year? AND! How can the LWL Community support you in accomplishing them?
We have been committed to an inclusive narrative since day one, but we're actively working to increase our ethnic and size diversity in our marketing and through our ambassador team. Please help connect us with women who we can support through product and cross-promotion the outdoor spaces, specifically mountain biking and snow sports. We do our very best to support events, organizations and initiatives our community and ambassador team believe in, so while we don't have a massive paid athlete budget, we will work to add value for all our ambassadors.
Your favorite other women led businesses we should know about?
“Just start! It doesn't have to be perfect the first, second or even third go round, but if you don't at least start you'll never accomplish anything.”