Meet Margaret Walker Sarah Caruth | Co Founders Fraulein Boot Company

We had the good fortune of connecting with Margaret Walker Sarah Caruth and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Margaret Walker, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We literally thought the word needed cuter boots! It was Sarah’s idea and Margaret agreed with the “aha moment.” We’d both worn vintage cowboy boots for years never finding a pair as cute as our older ones, but sometimes vintage meant too banged up or terribly uncomfortable. Our boots are the most comfortable shoe you can grab from your closet. Your grandkids will fight over them – they are most certainly heirloom quality.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The idea for our cowboy boot business was born during COVID. We wanted cuter boots. Vintage style, timeless, comfortable, to wear to football games, rodeos, shopping trips, concerts and carpool. We are sisters with an authentic, unique style that embodies our brand. Cowboy boots have been on our feet since we were little girls. Our hero was Crystal Gayle. We saw her at the Houston rodeo with hair to her waist twirling around with sparkles and boots. We had stars in our eyes. One of our favorite family trips was to Whispering Wind’s dude ranch in Bandera, Tx. Our parents were entertaining friends from Scotland and wanted to show them a cowboy experience of Texas in the 80s. They took us to an iconic honky-tonk, Arkey Blues’ Silver Dollar Saloon. Walking in the door, you head directly down some rickety old stairs with smoke in the air and the smell of pork ribs in a crock pot, this dark musty joint was like nothing we’d ever seen. The sawdust on the floor begged us to ask why? The answer was in the two steps and the boots sliding across the floor. Just like they don’t make honky-tonks like Arkey Blues anymore, we feel like they don’t make cowboy boots like they used to. We named our boot line, Fraulein Boots, as an homage to our late father and a tribute to honky tonk nostalgia. Our business is online, in select stores across the nation and at pop-ups. Our biggest sale of the year is at the annual Fall, Winter and Spring shows in Round Top, Texas.
Our great price point, heirloom quality, comfort and vintage inspired designs make us unlike other boot companies. We received national media recogition in Vanity Fair magazine last summer that was a pinch me moment. One exciting day, we posted a halloween photo where Sarah was dressed as Dolly Parton and Margaret was dressed as Crystal Gayle, in our boots, of course. We tagged both of them (our heros) and Crystal Gayle responded by instant messenger giving us the most beautiful pep talk! We’ve also got some pretty notable musicians wearing our boots; Elizabeth Cook, Margo Price, Carly Pearce and Emily Strayer (The Chicks).
Business-wise, we are not afraid to ask A LOT of questions and hire people who know better than we do if there is something we don’t know how to do. One friend when we were getting quotes for our website, said, “you’ve got more time than money right now, you can do it yourself” and we did. We would call Shopify support daily and spend countless hours on the phone until we got it done and now we know exactly how to navigate it.
Being a two woman team has been a challenge. We’ve tried to say “yes” to as many opportunities as possible and all the yeses can really wear you out. We’ve learned to pace ourselves and definitely ask for help; physically (lots of boot lugging), mentally (inventory, tax, marketing), spiritually (pray for us, yall!)
We’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way. Like, don’t drive a suburban 10 hours from Memphis in 4 wheel drive. And never listen to audio books that include time travel or your sister will get really grumpy. Bring snacks, hangry is for real. Our mantra is work hard and be nice to people. If you follow this rule all kind of doors will open and your heart will fill with joy. If we ever feel overwhelmed or too tired, we pinch ourselves and remember we GET to sell cowboy boots for a living and that is really awesome. We also have a chance to spread a little joy everywhere we go and to everyone we encounter and that makes us proud and fulfilled.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our late father’s favorite song was Fraulein written by Lawton Williams and sung by Bobby Helms 1957. We named our company “Fraulein Boot Company” as an homage to him. Our father only wore cowboy boots, running shoes (he was an ultra marathoner) and flip flops. The unsung hero in the story of both of our lives, though, is our mom, Betty Fortinberry Gerlach. When our father passed away he was 46 years old. Margaret was 17 and Sarah 14. Our mother did such a good job of letting us know everything was going to be ok. We all leaned greatly, totally on our Christian faith. We learned to appreciate the precious years we did have with our father and not lament the ones we did not. She taught us that joy is a choice and how to make lemonade out of lemons. She raised us knowing that anything we set our minds to is possible. We still call her 20 times a day for advice. When we said we wanted to start a cowboy boot company – she said “go get ’em girls.” She helps us daily and we call her the 77 year old unpaid intern.

Website: https://frauleinboots.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frauleinboots/

Facebook: facebook/frauleinboots/

Image Credits
Wendy Bowman Butler Daisy in truck and daisy in dirt Taylor Hoover