The Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship has fostered some impressive start-up companies over the years. One of the current MBA start-ups is TOUGHER a woman’s workwear company. The company’s new blog describes the evolution of the concept. Check it out below or on the Wear TOUGHER blog.

During today’s 3-mile run fraught with rain, Beyonce’s anthem of female empowerment fueled an extra “umph” in my stride despite what felt like nature spitting in my eye. As the talented singer rhetorically asks, “Who runs the world? (Girls),” I thought of the nearly 400 women we have interviewed who Grow, Build, and Make. Women who similarly motivate me to work harder and leave me inspired after every conversation we have shared.

TOUGHER women run the world along with some incredible men, who are their colleagues, partners, friends, and supporters. The major difference between the two sexes, however, is that a serious oversight has long existed for women who need and want durable clothing that fits their body’s frame and protects them while they repair fences, birth calves, or grow stunning crops and flowers.

Men have had their pick of workwear brands; whereas, nearly all women we have interviewed are left to shop the men’s aisles (98%) and must modify their clothing to make them work in clunky fashion (89%). Imagine having to hack your clothes with scissors and duct tape just to make them work for your job or passion.

TOUGHER‘s mission is simple: Great workwear. Built for women. Yet, emails received from women nationwide remind us that what we represent is more than that. TOUGHER acknowledges and celebrates the importance women in skilled trades and artisanal crafts represent. What our customers create matters and deserves our attention.

Imagine a time before sports uniforms were made specifically for women and girls. A not-too-distant past where sports bras did not exist, but had to be made by 3 women sewing together two jockstraps because no such thing existed in 1977. Once apparel was produced to outfit women and girls for sports, it signaled to the world and its wearers that what they contributed to sports mattered- regardless of whether they were a professional athlete or not.

In similar fashion, designing and selling durable, comfortable apparel for women is our way of raising a glass to all women who grind it out each day and work hard with their hands.

We’re so proud of all of you and what you’re doing. Keep sending us your photos of the home projects you build, bridges you designed, or plowed acres you accomplished in a day’s work. You can send them to: weartougher@gmail.com or post to our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/weartougher/

Your apparel is in the design phase and coming. We can’t wait to see what you do in it! Here’s a toast raised to you.

–Stacey, Founder and CEO