Cowgirl and brand owner Courtenay DeHoff takes a look at the diverse array of cowboys that graced the denim carpet at the 2025 Western Heritage Awards.
“Cowboys inspire you to the point that you want to be one.”
Those words, spoken by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum shortly before the best-selling country music duo was honored at the 64th annual Western Heritage Awards, stopped me in my tracks. They perfectly sum up what I’ve felt for years.
Because here’s the truth: Being a cowboy — or a cowgirl — isn’t just an occupation. It’s a mindset. A way of life. A quiet code you carry with you no matter where you go.
That line hit me straight in the heart, because I’ve lived both sides of that truth. I grew up as the fifth generation on my family’s ranch. Riding, roping, and ranching were very much a part of my day-to-day life during my upbringing, but after college, I pursued a career in television that took me far from the land, animals, and people I grew up alongside.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum doesn’t just preserve history — it tells a powerful, ever-evolving story of what it truly means to live the cowboy way. Walking its halls during the Western Heritage Awards, sometimes described as the Emmys of the West, you feel it in every exhibit and exchange.
I had to leave the traditional cowboy lifestyle behind to realize something important: Being a cowboy is something inside you, not just a set of skills. Living the cowboy way isn’t about what you wear, where you live, or even what you ride. It’s about how you live.
At the event, I took to the denim carpet to ask a few of the attendees what the word cowboy meant to them. One woman told me, “It means showing up for your people no matter what. Being dependable. Being strong, even when life gets messy.” Another simply said, “It means never giving up.” The responses were nothing short of inspiring and empowering — and a beautiful reminder that the spirit of the West lives in people from all walks of life.
At the awards, I saw cowboys who ride horses for hours a day, and cowboys who walk the catwalks at fashion shows in Paris. I chatted with cowgirls who were born into the lifestyle, and others who bought their first pair of boots and boldly stepped into it. All of them were equally worthy of the cowboy — or cowgirl — title.
That’s the beauty of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum — it makes space for all of it. It reminds us that the Western way of life isn’t frozen in time. It’s alive, transforming, and full of grit, grace, and unexpected stories.
I’ve built my brand, Fancy Lady Cowgirl, around that very idea: that the cowgirl spirit doesn’t belong in a box. She can wear boots or heels, run cattle or companies, raise kids or raise hell. It’s a reminder that you’re allowed to be bold, soft, strong, vulnerable — and that your story matters, whether it starts on a backroad or a big city street.
The Western way of life isn’t going anywhere — but it is evolving. And maybe that’s the most cowboy thing of all: holding tight to tradition while riding headlong into change, unafraid to blaze your own trail.
Perhaps Ronnie Dunn said it best during Brooks & Dunn’s Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech when he looked out into the crowd and boldly declared:
“Every truly great cowboy is someone we wish we were, somebody we’ll probably never be, and somebody we desperately need to believe we really are.”
That’s the heart of it. Being a cowboy or cowgirl isn’t about perfection. It’s about belief. It’s about showing up when things get hard, living with purpose, and carrying yourself with quiet strength no matter where life takes you. It’s a spirit that lives in boardrooms, on backroads, under bright lights, and in the dirt. And once it’s in you, it never leaves.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Gigi Elyse/Jensen Sutta/One Two Seven Co
