Paul Hedrick, Founder & CEO of Tecovas
Dallas born and bred, Paul Hedrick left Texas for college at Harvard and did stints in Chicago and New York City. It didn’t take too long for him to find his way back to Texas where he’s combined his business acumen, creativity and passion for place to build one of Texas’s most beloved homegrown boot (and Western clothing and accessory) brands. Today Tecovas has brick & mortar locations on South Congress and in The Domain and a dozen additional stores. We caught up with Paul for a quick chat.
Did you always plan to come back to Texas? Yes. It was a pretty major driver of my decision and made me think of doing boots specifically. I love Texas.
How did you decide to start a boot company? Four years out of school I got rejected from business school and started to think about what I want to do with my life. I felt like it was the right moment in time to take a risk and create something. The idea for Tecovas came along and I couldn’t let it go.
What do you love about Austin from an entrepreneurial perspective? I love it. It’s been so fun to meet so many entrepreneurs here. I moved here in 2014 knowing I made a choice to live in a city that had growth and energy and electricity and magnetism that I never really felt in other cities, and it’s only intensified since then.
What sets Tecovas apart? We’re a human brand and this is a long journey for us. We’re not a business model play. We’re not a direct-to-consumer internet business. We’re a brand that’s going to be around in 100 years.
What’s the goal/vision for the future? Our publicly stated mission is to become the most beloved heritage Western brand in the world. That has a few things baked into it, but the first word is beloved for a reason. We’re going to focus on creating joy for people, being human and giving people what they want.