Dirty Jane - Online Retailer for Extreme Women

Canadian mountain biker Anka shares her story about finding mountain biking and the inception of Dirty Jane, THE online retail location for females action sports needs...

SHINE:  What got you into mountain biking?

DIRTYJANE:  I (Anka) moved from east coast to west coast after university and found myself living on the edge of the North Shore Mountains in North Vancouver, British Columbia. I kept seeing women all geared up and riding big beefy bikes. I had never seen anything like it before and I wanted in. I joined a women’s local group ride for beginners and never looked back. Now every weekend trip I take involves best buddies and bikes! 

SHINE:  What IS Dirty Jane?

DIRTYJANE:  Dirty Jane is THE online retailer for girls in action sports looking for gear and apparel specifically for them! We outfit from head to toe and from soft goods to hard goods  - lots of great brands and all in one place. We are focusing our efforts on building out the product mix for mountain biking – that is our favorite sport and what we are personally most passionate about. Plus our industry connections are deepest in cycling so it was a no-brainer to start there. In the near future though we do intend to build out several other action sports (Moto, Kitesurfing, Paddle sports, you name it … we are excited about what is to come next!)

Dirty Jane’s products are currently available to the USA only and we hope to grow into other countries in the future.  Moe, my husband and dirty-jane.com co-founder is American and a Canadian Permanent Resident. I am Canadian and will be soon applying for my green card so I can work in the USA. We both currently live in Squamish, BC the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada.

the web store is open for business!

SHINE: Where did you get the idea to open an online store?

DIRTYJANE:  I was standing in a line up for the gondola at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park on a sunny and very busy weekend. There were almost as many women in line as there were men!   You could easily see that most women where wearing the exact same gear – not a ton of options out there in gear for girls. I started to ask women about it and I heard over and over how frustrated they felt walking into a store to see, almost as an afterthought, one little rack of women’s gear in a sea of men’s products. I, like most other girls out there, want to look good when I ride. So Dirty Jane was born.

As we researched we found out that there are many companies out there who are making plans to step it up and either grow their women’s line or create a new women’s line for those that don’t have them yet. Yah!! We don’t need to compete … we need to help get the products to women. This was also an opportunity to use the Dirty Jane brand to help support women in the sport, making it more visible and encouraging others to get involved. I want to see more chicks do rad stuff – it is inspiring.

 An online store also offers way more flexibility in where I am physically located as we have the opportunity to partner with our vendors and costumers from any location. The vendors handle warehousing and shipping, so we don’t have to. It offers us the opportunity to travel, bike, stay at a campground, etc. So long as there is an Internet connection and I have my laptop I can “open shop” and work. If you want greater freedom and flexibility in your life you have to go out and create it for yourself.

SHINE:  How did you get along before you started this rad store for extreme ladies? (career wise and acquiring apparel/equipment for your sports)

DIRTYJANE:  Anka has a background in urban planning, community development and health and wellness.  Being a multi-sport outdoor enthusiast, building the Dirty Jane shop just made sense.

Moe is a retired professional mountain biker with awesome sponsors and deep connections in the industry, as well as years of sports marketing and sales experience. Moe loves bikes, motos, cars … basically anything that goes fast!

SHINE:  How did you start it?

DIRTYJANE:  We talked to as many people as possible about the idea – men, women, mountain bikers, non-mountain bikers, online business guru’s … we learned as much as we could about what was possible and how to grow this business. We practiced (and still do) dreaming BIG!! We sit often with markers and large flipchart paper and brainstorm the big dreams and then map out what we need to do to get there (today, next week and next month). We both work full time jobs and building Dirty Jane alongside our other work, yet still we manage to squeeze rides in as often as we can!

SHINE:  Any advice for other female entrepreneurs?

DIRTYJANE:  Know your why. Any business is made up of a million little tasks that fill your day that may not seem very appealing. The big picture (heck even the middle picture) is SUPER COOL and it keeps me excited about what I am doing. When I get to spend my day at a bike show meeting new people in the industry or travel to a new destination and work on the road I am reminded of why I chose to do this. I made an awesome decision when I decided to start Dirty Jane. I am so excited to see where we take this.

Anka getting rad on some slick rock

Moe shreddin'
photo credit: Jimi Mac @ Mountain Bike Action Magazine