COWGIRL Empowered: Jessica Crouch

Jessica Crouch founded Heritage Brand in 2002 as a small hobby making horse tack in her home office.  The brand has since evolved into a line of luxury handbags crafted by a team of over a dozen artisans in the 10,000-square-foot building she and her husband designed and built.  

Their iconic “Marilyn Bag” was developed in March 2019 following many years of trial and error.  “After a slow takeoff, The Marilyn was taken to the NFR just as an additional product we were offering,” Jessica recalls, “Within 30 days, the bag had gone viral.  Everyone likes to say, “You guys are like an overnight success,” and it’s more like an 18-year overnight success.”

Every year, Jessica travels to Milan for Lineapelle, the International Leather Fair, to source materials for their bags from the same tanneries that provide leather for Gucci, Prada, and other high-end brands.  “It’s just amazing going over there and being infused with fashion while getting to bring a piece of that back to the US and try to stay at the forefront,” she praises.

The HB Mission is Jessica’s passion project in the business.  “We have always given back, so $50 of every handbag sold each year is saved to be donated, with the recipient being chosen by customers who have purchased during that calendar year.  Since 2021, we’ve donated $170,000 to those in critical need, and this year is going to be massive.”

Heritage Brand has also grown into a tight-knit community of support and sisterhood.  “We have a group of about 5,000 people that love our bags and they love our business, but have also grown into this crazy big family,” Jessica explains.  "They’re just fanatical about our product, but also such good friends now, which we never anticipated happening.”