Born and raised in Dallas, Paul Hedrick took a job at a big firm in New York after college. “ ... [B]ut when I was there, I think like a lot of Texans, I felt that I needed to come back,” he says. He also knew he wanted to start his own company. Luckily, it soon became clear that boots were his business — and his ticket back to Texas. “I was at the time trying to build my boot collection. ... But every time I wanted to go buy boots, I was like, ‘I can’t really afford to spend $500 or $600.’ But that’s kind of how much the good boots cost. At the time I was looking for company ideas as well, and it sort of all came together at the right time, when I was having this issue.”

He wanted his boots to be the best — handcrafted from the finest leathers — but he also wanted them to be affordable. So, what’s the best way to keep costs down without sacrificing quality? Selling directly to your consumer. “I really like the idea of buying direct,” he says. “I think it’s a better brand experience. ... For me, every time I go to buy a product, I look to see if there is a cool direct brand out there. And if there’s not, I’m a little disappointed, because I know I’ll be paying for some distributor to take a cut and a retailer to take a cut. ... I’d seen a lot of these direct-consumer brands pop up in other categories that I really loved, who’d taken the direct model and started online. ... I realized we were sort of on the advent of a new brand revolution and there wasn’t anything in [the boots] category. And I felt like it was time to create one.”

So that’s what he did. Finding himself a skilled team of bootmakers to work with out of León, Mexico (deemed the Leather Capital of the World), Hedrick headed back to Texas, this time settling in Austin, and created the Tecovas collection.

He started small and stuck to the classics. His premiere line consists of just four styles, two men’s and two women’s, designed in tribute to traditional cowboy boots and ropers. Nothing flashy or over-the-top. No Swarovski crystals or fringe. With Tecovas, you get quality, handcrafted boots — at a fraction of the cost.

The Penny: Women's calfskin ankle boot with hand-stitched cording ($235).The Earl: Versatile men's roper with a sleek, simple shaft and a low heel ($245). The Cartwright: Men's traditional 12-inch cowboy boot with a hand-stitched toe and hand-corded shaft ($255). The Jaime: A classic cowgirl boot with Tecovas' signature toe-stitching and corded shaft pattern ($255).