Ep. 79 - Shaley Ham of West Desperado
Presented by….
Shaley Ham is a full time tax accountant from Washington, with a love for the western lifestyle who, after getting noticed for her western fashion posts, began to build her own western fashion marketing business. While most people recognize her by her Instagram and blog name, West Desperado, Shaley Ham is the curator, creative, oftentimes photographer, and more behind the brand. A member of the 2020, inaugural class of COWGIRL Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Class, we are so excited to bring you this episode from COWGIRL Magazine!
“I considered it here recently to changing it to my name,” Shaley admits at the start of the podcast as she wants people to know that she is a real person behind the brand. It can be crazy how much weight an Instagram handle, a blog, a social brand, can really just build it’s own name for itself. “I just try to push that Shaley is West Desperado and West Desperado is Shaley.”
Deep Roots With Rodeo
Growing up the daughter of 2016 National Finals Rodeo barrel racing qualifier Pam Capper, Shaley has been riding horses since before she could walk. Traveling to junior rodeo as a kid, Shaley got away from the lifestyle when she got into school. Western fashion and West Desperado pulled her back into the lifestyle, riding again, and more once she was done with college. Helping her mom at rodeos, barrel racing and rodeo was a passionate that she was able to connect with her family.
“Pendleton is, by far, my favorite [rodeo],” says Shaley, whose fiancé is a retired bareback rider. It’s a great time for them to catch up with friends and Shaley takes the entire week off of work. A close second is the Calgary Stampede where she got to warm up horses for her mom when they headed north of the border.
Fiance vs. Mom: What’s your favorite rodeo event?
”It’s hard, but I would have to say that barrel racing gives the most butterflies to watch,” says Shaley with a laugh.
Shaley’s fiancé, Nick, is a great teammate for Shaley’s influencer work, and they actually met because her sister asked her to give the farrier a check. Shaley admits that she was smitten with him from the start, and while hesitant about starting a relationship as she was heading out of state for work, Nick put in the effort and they started dating.
West Desperado started a year after she had started the account and, as a guest, bought Shaley her first DSLR camera. "He’s always helping me out whenever I need it,” says Shaley, who admits that she can get a little bit overboard so understanding Nick’s western fashion limit is something that she’s had to learn. “Even now, he helps me out tremendously with getting different photos…driving around to find spots…. he’ll go to events with me - he’s a really good sport with it!”
Bringing West Desperado to the World
“It’s funny because, when I started, influencer wasn’t even a term that people were using. You had your bloggers and people on YouTube,” says Shaley, who was inspired to start the account when she was looking for the northwest western fashion vibes. “I used to do all of my shopping at the Pendleton Roundup where I could find those cool western pieces that you can’t find in the malls.”
Finding women who were putting together neat western outfits, Shaley thought, “That’s what I wish I could dress like all the time if I could!” Shaley began putting together flat lay, pinterest-style photos of her outfits for the rodeo. Guy friends from work would tease her about styling them for concerts, etc. so she started it as its own account because she wasn’t sure her friends would want to follow it.
Originally, it was going to be “Desperado West” and so she flipped it to “West Desperado” and the rest was seemingly history! Sometimes she would share photos of her wearing outfits, most of the time it was flat lays. Gaining traction very quickly, Shaley was caught off guard.
“I was only running the page for two months before the first boutique reached out to me,” adds Shaley. From there, it naturally grew, and she’s never felt forced in the collaborations or brands that she works with. A reliance on things that are authentic has helped the most for her and to stay true with who she is.
There have definitely been ups and downs when it comes to working with brands because, when she started, there was no real guidebooks. Now there is a variety of online courses that you can take to learn more about influencing.
Challenges of Influencing
Naturally an introverted person, heading to social events like rodeos, Shaley gets to really step out of her shell to meet people. Understanding that more good will come from meeting all these new people and going against her instinctive reaction to sit in a corner and hide, West Desperado has helped her grow more as a person and make connections face to face. Being able to be confidant in her own skin is a big part of her personal growth as the account grew.
YeeHaw Original
At Shaley’s fourth NFR, she decided she wanted to start making her own NFR statement-worthy pieces that she couldn’t find in stores. For the past few years, she started modifying outfits to fit her style. In 2020, Shaley had the idea to make a pair of statement jeans off of some Pinterest-Inspiration.
“How can I make this me and western to fit the NFR?” Shaley though to herself and she thought, “Yeehaw!’ Blog letters down the paint leg, she knew they’d draw the attention. After her social media post about it, a lot of people asked where she had got them, Shaley tossed around the idea of making more pairs to sell but, for her, it’s just the time constraint of a full time job and influencing.
It had been on the background and then, late spring, she got on Instagram with a company that had posted about her same “yeehaw” jeans. It was a company that Shaley had even worked with a couple years in the past and the person behind the brand is someone that a lot of people in the industry look up too.
“Oh, those look familiar,” Shaley said, very uncomfortable as more people kept asking if it was a collaboration or partnership. Later that evening, the person who owns the brand had sent some messages over and that they had had them designed the July previously and had them in production in the late fall. While there was no proof of that timeline, it was hard for Shaley and nothing was sitting right.
Originally, she jumped on and started sharing #YeeHawOriginal posts. Addressing it publicly to people was something she knew she needed to do because a lot of people were asking her about it. However she might have felt, Shaley understood that it was important to make her statement with a clear head. After that, this large organic #YeeHawOriginal movement started so Shaley helped by sharing the paint she used, the paint she used, and so others had the resources to make their own.
“It was incredible to see the community come together and stand up for me and I can’t wait to see all the women continue to wear their #YeehawOriginal,” says Shaley.
Style Eyes at the Dallas Markets
“I don’t know how I got fit into the Dallas Style Market but I immensely thankful that they have put their trust in me to be a style guide,” says Shaley, about the Dallas Style Eyes. Named for the influencers that have the “eyes for the styles,” Shaley gets to go for all the markets, not just the western ones. As a part of her role, she picks eight top picks of her favorite items.
While it can be a little confusing where a lot of the items Shaley is sharing, she doesn’t know who will be carrying the item or when the public launch date will be. A cool part of the process is that boutiques are there shopping and Shaley can connect with these boutiques to be able to share where they will be sold.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am a trendsetter, but then when you’re there and the boutiques are taking them to sell, it’s kind of surreal!” Says Shaley. “I have never considered myself a trendsetter.”
“I don’t feel like there is a particular thing that I have worn or have done that I noticed that people started dressing like me… maybe I’m to close to my own perfect style!” Shaley definitely gives credit to a lot of women who are out there setting the style trends such as Jessie Jarvis.
Future Goals
“I have a few things that I am brainstorming, that I am hoping I can achieve in this next year,” says Shaley. “I still want to keep working with a couple of the brands that I have built bigger partnerships with. Another collection with Rock’n’Roll Denim of both jeans and tops are coming out. That was just kind of a on the whim pre-COVID happened.”
“It’s been cool that they saw the value that I brought with them in that and I hope to continue with that,” says Shaley.
Shaley also hopes to start building a bit more of a merchandise shop with a few other items that girls reach out to her through direct messaging to her for, specifically some accessorizing items. Influencer workshops in the past have worked well but with her crazy schedule, she knows that it might not happen this year. Meeting fresh faces and people wanting to emerge in the western fashion influencing industry.