At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. Today we chat with Michael Rands, VP of Finance. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

How long have you been with Filson: 5 Years

What do you do on a typical work day: Work with all departments to make sure they have what they need to keep Filson moving.  Coordinate between departments to help things move smoothly and of course watch the finances.

What makes working at Filson different than other places: The desire to make Filson and its products the best in the industry helps unify the team, which makes it a fun place to work.  You don’t have to have a mission statement when everyone’s mission is to make the best product possible and make customers happy.

What is your favorite product: The 1.5″ double belt (style 63215) because its incredibly burly and quite frankly over built.  Just wearing makes you feel rugged.  The Highlander boots are a close second.

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear: There isn’t one story that stands out but I can’t begin to tell you how many days and miles I’ve slogged through mud and snow in my highlander boots.  I love them – always comfortable and always dry.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?  I love the mountains.  Whether its skiing, hiking, cycling, or climbing – the Cascades are a tough place to beat.  Nothing better than being able to be alpine climbing or back country skiing within an hour of leaving the office.

At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. Today we chat with one of our newest employees,  Engineer Assistant, Theresa (Terry) Olson. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

How long have you been with Filson:

Terry Olson, Filson Engineer Assistant

4.5 months

What do you do on a typical work day:

I work with operators on problems they are having sewing garments.  That can range from what they may see as an issue with a pattern to a question about how to sew something together. I also work with Pattern makers on how they can make the patterns so they can best be sewn by the operators.   I am sort of an in-between person between the production workers and the designers. I also work on the technical documents that are necessary for production.  I rarely sit at my desk – I am usually out on the floor, measuring something or cutting things up.

What makes working at Filson different than other places: 

This place is constantly in motion. I NEVER am at a loss for what to do.  In a way it is like my previous career as a public defender.  I have different people coming at me (operators, pattern makers, cutters . . . just like my clients, prosecutors, judges) and I try to find a way to get everybody to find a place where they can meet. It may mean the pattern needs to change or the operators have to learn a new skill. I try to find the place where that can be done while achieving the objective to keep Filson goods high quality and delivered on time.

What is your favorite product:

So far, the oil cloth denim. I have my eye on the jacket we are getting ready to bring to production because one of them will end up in my closet!

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear: 

Many years ago I was dating a guy who had a Filson jacket. He was a big fan of the Austin Powers movies and he had been given a mini-me doll as a gift. I came down here and asked for some extra fabric and Filson was nice enough to give me some. I made a mini version of a Filson jacket for Mini me. It is so good it is creepy. When my boyfriend was not around and just the doll was, it was like a mini clone of him.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?

Outside, I ride my bike. I am on a bike racing team and I ride all over the place.

What’s coming up at Filson that you’re excited about: 

Continuing to assist in the process of designing and manufacturing things in the USA.  My apparel design background is mostly in overseas production and it is great to have the folks who are making what we design yards away. But there are also unique problems that come with that.

Thanks, Terry!

At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. Today we chat with Brad Beatty, Assistant Store Manager of our Seattle Flagship. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

Brad Beatty, Asst Store Manager

How long have you been with Filson:

10 years

What do you do on a typical work day: 

I try to ensure that the customers that visit the Flagship Store, many of whom have made a special effort to make that visit, have the best possible experience.

What makes working at Filson different than other places:

The people who work at Filson.  Many started answering the phones in Customer Service and are now in management positions.  They truly know the product and the customer.

Brad Beatty, Asst Store Manager

What is your favorite product:

Hard to narrow down.  Merino wool base layers have to be right up there.  The original Wonder Fabric!

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear: 

On December 1, 2012, my friend and I were driving over Snoqualmie Pass to go upland bird hunting in Central Washington.  We hit a patch of black ice and were involved in a serious roll over accident.  Luckily we, (and the dogs!) were not seriously injured, but we were forced to be outside for hours in the 17 degree conditions waiting for the tow truck and cleaning up the aftermath.  I was head to toe in my Filson hunting gear, starting with those wool base layers, as was my friend, and was comfortable the entire time.  Worrying about hypothermia, which was a definite possibility, was not an additional stress we needed at that time.

Brad Beatty, Asst Store Manager

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?

Anything outdoors!  Fly fishing, both fresh and saltwater, is my #1 passion, but I also enjoy upland bird hunting, turkey hunting, hiking and snowshoeing.  My arsenal of Filson gear serves me well in all those pursuits.

What’s coming up at Filson that you’re excited about: 

Expanded Extra Long product selection!  (I am 6’6”.)

Thank you, Brad!

Filson Marketing Team

At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. Today we chat with Amy Terai, our Marketing Manager. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

How long have you been with Filson:

8 years

What do you do on a typical work day:

Well, after I…

“Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen Pour myself a cup of ambition

And yawn and stretch and try to come to life

Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumping

Out on the street the traffic starts jumping
With folks like me on the job from nine to five” –Dolly (my personal favorite)

I usually spend most of the day communicating the good “Filson word” to our PR and Social teams, generate marketing assets to support all our sales channels and keep up to date with all our partners. I also laugh a lot and have fun working with my fellow Filsonites.

What makes working at Filson different than other places:

It’s inspiring to be a part of a brand that shares such strong connections with our customers. Our customers are Filson loyalists and are constantly sharing their amazing stories with us. It’s one big Filson family: passionate customers and passionate co-workers that respect the rich heritage of Filson.

What is your favorite product:

I can’t pick one, so I’ll give you my top five:

Women’s Elliott Bay Jacket: perfect for Seattle rainy day dog walks and tough enough for an outer shell when upland hunting

Women’s Shelter Cloth Brush Pants: no barb wire fence or nasty burr can penetrate these pants

Rugged Twill Tote Bag: great work bag that holds an iPad, magazines, lunch and purse and only gets better with use

Women’s Mackinaw Vest: versatile piece that you can easily layer under a jacket when it’s cold but is stylish enough to wear around town

Rugged Twill Medium Duffle: great travel bag for business trips or a weekend get-away where you have to pack a lot of gear

Amy Dove Hunt 2012

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear:

I’m pulling this one from my brag book… I was a bit nervous and intimidated to go on my first Mourning Dove hunt. People kept telling me that they are hard to hit since they are small, fast and turn quickly in flight. My hunting partner is pretty much a master shooter and generally doesn’t miss a target. He thought he had dropped a dove in the field and went to retrieve it. When he got close, he discovered the bird wasn’t dead and it took flight. He tried to take another shot but missed. As he was rapidly reloading, I saw the bird crossing in my direction and pulled the trigger and dropped it! I was shocked and my hunting partner was equally shocked and impressed since I was 65 yards away from the bird. It was a proud moment when I was able to back a master shooter in the field and fill my Tin Cloth Shooting Bag’s game pocket with a hard to hit Mourning Dove.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?

There are some many wonderful recreational activities to do in the Pacific Northwest. Some of my favorite activities are mushroom picking with my dad in the mountains and shoot sporting clays at Seattle Skeet and Trap.

What’s coming up at Filson that you’re excited about (volunteer day, product, etc):
I’m super excited to hunt with Scott Linden in Utah this fall and float the Grande Ronde River and learn how to fish for Steelhead with the incredible fly fisher-woman, Judith O’Keefe.

At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. Today we chat with Nathan Gray, our Portland Store Manager. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

Nathan Gray, Portland Store Manager

How long have you been with Filson:

I’ve worked for Filson for 5 years. I’ve been a customer for about 15 years. I used to spend so much time in the Seattle flagship store trading fishing and hunting stories that David Perry, the Seattle sto

re manager, suggested I just go to work for Filson. About a year later, burnt out in the commission sales world, I asked David for a job. Working for Fils

on has been a great experience so far. It’s amazing how cool it is to go to work when you’re passionate about the products and the company.

What do you do on a typical work day:

Managing a retail store involves some book-keeping and office work, teaching and coaching, as well as visual merchandising and inventory management. But the most rewarding part is being able to help our customers find the perfect product for their needs. The location of our Portland store brings in many customers who are not familiar with the Filson brand, and it’s always fun to be an ambassador for Filson, introducing new customers to our brand.

What makes working at Filson different than other places:

Filson operates with the same values and commitment to quality that we started with back in the Gold Rush. Integrity and doing things right are still important. It’s great to have my personal values reflected in Filson products, and in the way that Filson operates.

What is your favorite product:

I have several favorite products for different tasks. For upland hunting, it’s my Single Tin Pants. My Small Field Bag gets used everyday, but I’d have to say my Jac-Shirt is the most versatile garment I own.

Nathan Gray’s GSP Mahli

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear:

It was the last day of the pheasant hunting season in Washington, and my GSP was 7 months old. I’d driven about 5 hours and the snow was coming down hard. Mahli hadn’t hunted pheasants in the snow before, and completely lost any semblance of control. For 5 hours she chased every peasant in the county to the horizon, and I don’t think I ever raised my shotgun. When we got back to the truck I had about 3 inches of snow piled up on my Insulated Packer Hat and on the shoulders of my Shelter Cloth Upland Jacket, but I was dry and comfortable. The grin on Mahli’s face told me that bird hunting is more about the great times in the field with your buddy than it is about shooting birds.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?

There’s no place I’d rather be than walking in eastern Oregon or Washington behind a great pointing dog. It used to be that fly-fishing was the activity that I most looked forward to, but now that takes back seat to the upland season each fall.

What’s coming up at Filson that you’re excited about (volunteer day, product, etc):

I’m very excited to see the re-issue of our Forestry Cloth Cruiser this fall. We’ve had so many customers ask about them over the years, so hopefully we can make a lot of people happy.

Anything additional you want to add before we sign off?

I always hear stories about Filson products being handed down from one generation to the next. It’s pretty neat to see that in practice with my father wearing my deceased great uncle’s Mackinaw Cruiser.

Thanks, Nathan!

At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. First up, our VP of Marketing, Harold Egler. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

Harold Egler, Filson VP of Marketing

How long have you been with Filson?

I have been an employee for 4 years, but I have been a Filson customer since the 80’s when I moved to Seattle from the mid-West.   When I first visited a Filson store, I thought I died and went to heaven.  Finally, I found a company that produced products for my lifestyle and they were totally unique.   The more I researched the company, the more I learned about its rich past and heritage.  As I discovered more products and began using them, I realized what true quality was.  I will always be a Filson customer.

What do you do on a typical work day?

I work with all things marketing – the look and feel of the brand, the cadence of our customer communication, and with our Customer Care team.  I love what I do because every day is different around here.

What makes working at Filson different than other places?

Filson is a company that suits my lifestyle and my belief system – I like and use what we produce. I think I understand our customers and what makes them excited, and I take great pride in our product quality and our heritage.  Filson is also the smallest company I have worked for and I love the diversity it requires in what I do each and every day.

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear?

I have a 120 foot long Laurel hedge that is almost 20 feet high.  In the summer it grows a foot a day (OK, so I might be exaggerating a bit, but it is a chore to keep under control.) My favorite memory in Filson gear is the year I tackled the hedge in my Filson  single tin pants.  I felt like superman – no fear from my industrial hedge trimmer, no nasty scraps or gouges from the unruly branches.  I singlehandedly cut the entire hedge in one day.  I almost died, but I did it thanks to my ‘coat of armor’ !  I still use the tin pants for this semi-annual chore, but I pace myself secure in the knowledge that these pants are tougher than that hedge.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?

I am an avid steelhead fisherman – I do a lot more fishing than catching, but the scenery, the sounds, and smells are amazing.  It is my Zen pursuit.

What’s coming up at Filson that you’re most excited about?

We are re-doing our fishing line in Spring 2013 – I cannot wait!

Now the hard stuff. What is your favorite product?

Tough question!  I would have to say that I love our Mackinaw Cruiser.  It is a real workhorse and still unique after being patented almost 100 years ago.  I am a big fan of our #257 briefcase (I’ve owned one for 20 years and it looks better today than it did when I bought it).  I love our tin packer hat, but don’t wear them that often

Anything additional you want to add before we sign off?

Wanna make someone happy?  Give them a Filson gift.  You’ll see firsthand why our customers love us.

Thanks, Harry!