#47: Sarah Calhoun - Work Pants, a Music Festival, and Small-Town Montana

Sarah Calhoun is the founder of Red Ants Pants, a women’s workwear company based in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. A former outdoor instructor and trail-crew leader, she launched the business in 2006 after years of working in pants that didn’t fit. She also founded the Red Ants Pants Music Festival and leads the Red Ants Pants Foundation, which supports women’s leadership and rural communities.In this conversation, Sarah traces the path from sewing backpacks to touring the country with an Airstream for pants parties and launching a music festival in a cow pasture. We talk about choosing small-town Montana, learning the business as she went, and why handing over the company’s day-to-day leadership felt like a relief. She also explains the less glamorous side of festival production: buying up toilet paper across three counties. I also learned that a lonely male llama may start pooping in a perfect circle.Subscribe to Longfire for more stories worth gathering around.Chapters:00:00 Rapid Fire: Books, Music, and Liam Neeson02:53 A Farm Childhood and a Few Facts About Llamas06:03 From Trail Crews to Women’s Workwear08:20 Learning to Build a Business From Scratch12:01 An Old Saddle Shop in White Sulphur Springs15:27 Loans, Manufacturing, and Mentors19:48 Tour de Pants: Taking the Business on the Road22:13 A Music Festival in a Cow Pasture27:14 Making It Better, Not Bigger28:20 Hiring a CEO and Bringing In Investors32:57 Work Skills, Girls’ Leadership, and the Foundation35:35 Life Behind the ShopSubscribe to Longfire for more stories worth gathering around.Show linksWatch Longfire on YouTubeListen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyFollow Longfire on InstagramGuest linksRed Ants PantsRed Ants Pants Music FestivalRed Ants Pants FoundationRed Ants Pants on InstagramThe Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoThis House of Sky by Ivan Doig