Ep. 88 - Julia Ayres of Twisted X
Growing up in a military family, Julia Ayres moved all over the country and continued to grow her love of the western lifestyle no matter where she was living. This led her to get a degree in equine sciences and, ultimately, to become an honoree in the 2021 COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 Class.
Military Lifestyle
“One great thing about the military culture is that it’s such a tight knit family, similar to the western lifestyle,” says Julia. “But it was also really difficult - we moved every two years until I was seventeen.”
As an eight year-old, she even begged her parents to follow a horse trailer to find out how she can be involved in horses. That’s something she’s not sure she will ever let go and as a result it was a huge part of her life. When they lived in Montana, they would find places like Yellowstone where you could go and camp, do the local trail rides, and her parents realized, in that moment, that she wasn’t going to let the horse world to go.
“If you really want this, you are going to have to work for it,” was her dad’s advice. Julia did just that, starting with jumping horses, getting her first saddle, her first trainer and then, in high school, her first horse when they got five acres in Colorado Springs. “It was an amazing experience to grow up with the military but it was difficult.”
Having that desire for the rodeo lifestyle, the big trailers, the four to five thousand dollar horses and going to jackpots - they never knew about any of that! They weren’t in the areas that provided that kind of opportunity but Julia made the most out of it that she could.
College
Julia first started college with the goal of athletic training but she got a job helping with a trail riding group and then helping others ride their horses. Now, moving forward with that, being able to add military life mixed with love and current lifestyle of being a part of the western industry helped Julia grow and network to surround herself with people that helped create the opportunities that she never had in her life.
“I owe it to my parents for never saying, ‘That’s a pipe dream - let’s move on.’”
Fun fact, as we were recording this episode, she was just a few weeks out of expecting her baby boy!
Studying athletic training in high school, Julia was a dedicated soccer player and her life consisted of almost nothing else. Thinking she was going to college on a scholarship, everything changed when she got hurt and was medically disqualified from playing. In the process, she had spent a lot of time with her athletic trainer trying to learn how to care for her body and what she could do.
Originally, she went to Fort Lewis College for two years, full force into athletic training and then, one day, something just clicked. Being seven and a half hours away from her parents, she found herself homesick and felt like she was getting what she needed from Fort Lewis. Applying to Colorado State, she jumpstarted into CSU with a focus in the agricultural school of equine science with a focus on events and events production.
“I walked into it knowing the fact that I had such a love for the western industries and the fast pace - rodeo was my heart and soul. I was envious of the people that were able to be a part of … rodeo,” says Julia, whose parents told her she was on her own to pay for school. “I really found a niche in equine science…. more so, when you sit at a rodeo, a rodeo is a rodeo. You have the same events; you have the acts and the producers. It’s almost repetitive, but I loved the fast pace of the production side. I wanted to know how it worked, I wanted to know what it takes to put on such a huge event.”
From the National Western Stock Show to the National Finals Rodeo, it takes thousands of people who hit the ground running to make those events happen. Going through the equine science classes, Julia stuck close to the rodeo team - helping them run jackpots, setting up fundraisers, helping with local groups that would use the rodeo arena, and every other facet. Watching the production side was what she loved and what pushed her into her now career.
Mentors
With her dad as her number one mentor, Julia also gives recognition to other inspirational women in the western industries such as Judy Wagner of Montana Silversmiths. “I surround myself with a lot of great mentors… I have girlfriends that are younger than me that have truly paved the way,” says Julia, and shares that one such young spitfire mentor is Katie Armstrong from American Hat Co.
“She’s an inspiration and somebody that I really look up to as someone that is not afraid to stand out and not afraid to be different within this … male dominated industry which can be almost hard to have a voice,” says Julia. But there are also a number of men in the western industries, such as the CFO of Twisted X, Jeff Jones, who was a huge advocate for Julia when she first started with Twisted X - a moment that she really appreciates as someone who didn’t have the rodeo family to back her, but he did and was appreciative of her.
Job Breakdown
Through internships, Julia was connected with Jessica at Cinch when she was in college through a tour as a part of the Legends of Ranching sale at CSU. At the end of the year, a number of donated colts from large heritage ranches, were put up for sale, and Cinch is a big part of that program since they’re in the backyard of Cinch.
Jessica was a big advocate for Julia who was meeting people for the NFR and Julia ended up contract working with Cinch for the NFR. Julia had experience in retail but this was the western branding retail. Being in the fast paced experience, it was a touch on Julia’s roots of fast pace and travel. A young girl graduating, Julia just wanted to be a part of everything and Cinch paved that way for her.
“When I finally graduated, I was able to get hooked up with PRCA for a little bit … they needed some people … at ProCom and I had really gained a lot of knowledge and respect for rodeo. There are a lot of crazy things and it’s fast paced, but they definitely allowed me to explore my options in the form of networking, which was huge, in the industry and so I … was with Rock’n’Roll Denim for two and a half years,” says Julia. “They are such a huge brand in the industry!”
It was an amazing opportunity to see and be a part of the events, build that production and allow it to ride and be there for two and a half weeks, have fun, network with other brands, and create that roadshow family.
Twisted X
As the marketing manager and sales operations manager for Twisted X, it was great to have someone believe and invest in her so much. To have someone look at you and say, “You have a bright light and you may not have the knowledge or connections in the industry but we are going to stoke that fire and believe in you.”
Most people in the industry know about Twisted X, with 2020 being the ten year anniversary of the driving moccasin, it’s something that is unique. Additionally, Twisted X is sustainably driven and every single pair of shoes sold equates to a tree planted. Having a sustainability driven brand in the western industry is super unique.
“We care about the environment and we care about comfort,” says Julia about Twisted X as a brand. “Our CEO is such an incredible man that is driven into that culture of we want to keep it western but we want to make sure we are reaching out to other people.”
From lifestyle to work to western, Twisted X is most known for their driving mocc, they also have tennis shoes, boots, and more. Styles are constantly changing and branding is always different as trends continuously change. “We are incredibly proud of and ever since Twisted X became Twisted X after the re-branding, it became a starter for people to recognize us.”
A company that is here to stay, they have comfortable shoes that is ode to everything in the western lifestyle.