Meet Dixie Berger | Designer and Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dixie Berger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dixie, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Kirby and I both grew up in small Wyoming towns: Kirby in Saratoga, and I grew up in Huntley, and we both grew up on ranches. We were around cattle and had chores from an early age. My family had a dairy for a while and we had to learn how to work, we didn’t have a choice! In ag life, there is always work to do, animals don’t ever stop eating or needing milked, or having babies. One of the biggest impacts is learning that you quit when the job is done, not when the clock strikes 5 or 6 or whatever. Even when we were kids, when work started, it ended when things were done, not when we got tired. A lot of times we could be so far away from the truck, it didn’t matter if you were sick or starving, you couldn’t quit till you were back at the truck anyway. We have carried these habits over into adulthood and we really love to work. Besides learning to work at an early age, we learned the feeling of accomplishing something difficult. We are thankful that our parents gave us the opportunity and taught us how to work hard, and the value and satisfaction that comes along with that. This has helped us work through some tough situations where it would be easy to give up. We just put our heads down and work through it because that is what we were taught to do. Now, we teach our kids these same habits and values.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We have created a revolution in leather accessories! Everything we make is interchangeable and multifunctional. You can buy a handbag from Pure Dixie, and take the strap off and wear it as a belt. You can buy a mini purse or a hat and swap out the interchangeable patch on the front. The idea started when we were at a wholesale market. We sold belts and wanted to be bigger had no experience in the industry and didn’t know what to do, we were lost. We sat down in a busy hallway and prayed for guidance. Later that day, as we were showing our belts to a lady who is now a good friend, she threw one of our decorative belts over her shoulder to pick up another one, my husband, Kirby, and I looked at each other thinking, that would look great as a purse strap! On the way home, we started thinking of a cell phone purse that could fasten to the front of your bag so you wouldnt have to dig for you phone and cards. Eventually we came out with the Dixie Fix and eventually interchangeable patches. Now we offer 4 main pieces: the belt, the handbag, the mini, and the patch. With all of our options, there are literally tens of thousands of combinations, but we offer them all in a small tradeshow booth, and also sell online. We give God the glory for this idea and continue to seek His guidance in the business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The National Western Stock Show in Denver is a great place to take the family to see animals, rodeos and some great western vendor booths. We have joined the tradeshow and represent our brand in January in the Hall of Education. We are so excited to meet everyone who comes in to see us!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate this to my mom and grandma who helped me learn to sew when I was younger. Later, I took sewing in 4H and modeled what I made at the county and state level. They were the ones who taught me the skill, showed me how to work through difficult projects and were also a big part of the foundations of my faith. The sewing we do now is different, on leather, and we don’t make everything in house, but the ability to design and guide the production process effectively comes from the fundamentals of sewing construction from when I was young. I feel like I have had a big advantage as a designer having the background of this sewing and construction as a young girl. Thank you mom (Judy Daily) and grandma (Gertie Sedman)!

Website: puredixie.com

Instagram: @puredixie

Facebook: @puredixie

Other: TikTok: @pure_dixie

Image Credits
@bonafidecowboy @therancherswifesphotography Fayth Photos