October 29, 2024 • 28 mins
Natasha Woodworth, the inspiring founder of Curious Creatures, joins us to share how she's transforming the mountain bike apparel industry with a unique blend of sustainability and style. 💜
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristen (00:00):
Natasha Woodworth is the founder of Curious Creatures
, a mountain bike apparelcompany that's taking the trails
by storm.
I've been testing a pair of hersundog pants and am obsessed.
They are fabulous.
In this interview, we dive intowhat sets her brand apart from
others in this space and whatmakes good mountain bike
(00:21):
clothing, not just forperformance, but also for style
and comfort.
Natasha shares how herbackground at Patagonia has
shaped her approach to designand sustainability, and how
Bozeman, montana's rugged, trainand tight-knit community
continues to inspire hercreations.
Plus, we get real aboutbalancing it all as a new mom
(00:44):
and the CEO of a company.
Whether you're curious aboutthe perfect gear or about
navigating life as a designer inthe bike industry, you'll enjoy
this interview Real quick.
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Natasha, thank you so much forbeing here and I've got to tell
you before we get started I havebeen testing out your sun dog
pants and I really, really likethem.
I test out a lot of bikeclothing and I don't know why,
(01:46):
but I was kind of skepticalbefore I got them and they are
my favorite pants now.
I like, want to wear them allthe time I told my husband these
are more comfortable than mysweatpants.
Natasha (01:55):
These are great, so nice.
I love to hear that I'm a bigfan of those.
Kristen (02:02):
Why did you start Curious Creatures?
And obviously there was like alot of mountain bike apparel
already out there.
What sets you apart?
Natasha (02:13):
Yeah, it was kind of a great timing with a lot of
different things going on in ourlives, but I had always wanted
to start my own brand and I'vebeen just really inspired by the
mountain biking community ingeneral, just like seeing it
grow and seeing so many of myfriends getting into it.
(02:34):
Um, and then you know, from alldifferent levels and um
perspectives of like lots ofbeginners getting into it or
people that are starting to raceand be very competitive, um, so
just been like pretty inspiredby seeing that um and also
feeling like there was a lot,just like a little bit of a hole
(02:57):
in the market, especially onthe women's side, with some
clothes that were reallytechnically designed, like.
My background is in productdesign and, um, I work on a lot
of used to work on a lot of likesuper technical stuff where I
would often be forced or askedto make things look really
technical, and I felt like whatI was actually seeing with
people around me where theydidn't want to necessarily like
(03:20):
look super technical all thetime, but wanted the performance
, the performance side, um, butwanted their clothing to just
feel a little bit more likeregular clothing or um mostly
that they could feel likethemselves too, like I heard
that a lot with people that were, um, either new to biking or
(03:40):
had been doing it for a longtime.
They always felt like they werelike putting on this like
costume or like something thatwas just like not them, and I do
feel like clothes are such agreat avenue for expression and
like creativity in that way, soI wanted to make clothes that
people felt like it was just anextension of like their regular
(04:03):
closet, but had that reallytechnical and construction and
fabric and stuff like that.
Kristen (04:10):
That is something I really like, because it
sometimes seems like ridiculousthat we have to have this entire
regular life wardrobe and thisentire bike wardrobe, and it's
nice to have pieces, that kindof transition between the two,
and it's nice to have pieces,that kind of transition between
the two.
Natasha (04:30):
Yeah, and it was like, yeah, inspired off a lot of
trips that I did with my husband, whether it's like bike packing
or you know, you're likebringing one pair of pants and
then you might want to go out toa restaurant later, um, things
like that, and just like workingon that small kit of these
things that could work for somany, uh, different applications
.
Or like where you live.
I mean, obviously you bike alot, but you probably do a lot
(04:51):
of other things in the mountainstoo and um, building versatile
product is also really excitingto me, so it was nice to be able
to do that for live, for yourcreatures you see curious
creatures being solely amountain bike apparel, or you
see yourself branching out fromthere yeah, I mean, I really
(05:13):
wanted to build a mountain bikebrand and, um, I think there are
a lot of like outdoor brandsthat are making mountain bike
stuff, or there's lots ofmountain bike stuff being made
with within brands that caremore about maybe like road
cycling or care more about othertypes of cycling.
So I did feel like I was reallyexcited for curious creatures to
(05:34):
really be about mountain bikingand that really special
experience of being on a bike,which is so fun and makes you
feel like you're a little kidagain, but then you're also in
these really remote beautifulplaces and um, experiencing
wilderness in a way that is sodifferent than maybe like road
riding and stuff like that.
Um, so that that's a longanswer of.
(05:56):
I do really want it to berooted in mountain biking, but
I've been really pleasantlysurprised in a lot of these
events we go to and when we'reselling things, how people are
like like, oh yeah, I boughtthese for mountain biking, I
took them on a 10 day river tripand things like that, and
that's also something that'sreally exciting to me because it
means you get to make lessstuff in the world.
(06:16):
If you can make like one pairof pants, that works really well
for lots of mountain activities.
That's really a win and greatfor the environment and great
for just like not producing morestuff.
Kristen (06:30):
Yes, so you have a background at Patagonia, which
is obviously well known forsustainability efforts.
What have you taken from thatto Curious Creatures?
Natasha (06:41):
Yeah, I mean, that's like it was the craziest
master's education insustainability that I could
possibly ask for is so nice.
I mean, the way they approachdesign from the beginning is, uh
, through the lens ofsustainability and
responsibility.
So even things likerepairability is thought about
(07:04):
at the beginning of the designof the garment, which is
something that I think about nowtoo, at Curious Creatures blue
(07:29):
sign approved and meet thesecertain standards for
responsible practices, becausethe mills where they actually
make the fabric is the biggestcarbon impact actually of the
whole product, which is kind ofcrazy.
You know a lot of people arelike, oh, you're shipping it and
you're doing all these things,and that's true, but on the
piece of the pie, the actualbiggest carbon impact is just
actually weaving the fabric um.
(07:51):
So really being cognizant ofusing good fabrics and good mill
partners and I tried to use um100 polyester in a lot of our
stretch fabrics um, so that theycould be recyclable at end of
life, because usually when youmake a really stretchy fabric,
you add spandex and then it'slike a?
Um, a blend of two fabrics, twomaterials, and then that makes
(08:13):
it so you can't recycle it um,but all, most all of our fabrics
in the bottom, except for oneshort have, uh, no, spandex in
it so that you can actuallyrecycle it at end of life, which
is cool, but yeah, I mean, Icould go on and on.
There's so many things thatthat place taught me and it like
, honestly, I was there for 10years and I started as an
(08:36):
assistant designer, and soeverything I've learned about
how to be a designer has reallybeen from them and I'm just
super grateful for thateducation.
It's been awesome.
Kristen (08:50):
A lot of the other apparel brands in this space
created by women are like WildRye and Shredley.
They have focused on women'sspecific apparel.
Why have you chosen to createlike a unisex brand?
Natasha (09:07):
Yeah, that's also a good question.
It's probably a little bit um,even my whole career I've I
started as um, the only woman'sdesigner on the technical team
and it was all men and they werelike so excited to bring me on,
because they were like, oh, youcan have a woman's perspective
and it's great because I can.
(09:28):
But I also feel like if you area good designer and you design
good product, I think that youshould be able to do both if you
want to.
And, um, yeah, I've alwaysliked, enjoyed working on men's
stuff.
Um, I definitely focused onwomen's in the launch collection
.
I had a lot of guys that I ridewith or in my community that
(09:52):
were like what the heck, I wantsome men's stuff, and so I'm
just happy to service bothgenders and, um, I also really
like kind of the overlapsometimes.
Like I was just at anall-women's event and a couple
women bought the men's pantsbecause they were so tall and,
(10:12):
um, they liked the longer inseam, and I think there's something
kind of cool about having justdifferent fits for different
bodies outside of gender.
Um, yeah, that's kind of howI'm approaching some of the
gender stuff, because, while Ido think it's super important To
listen to women's needs andbuild women's specific product.
Kristen (10:35):
It's kind of nice to build it for, yeah, different
body types, different wellshifting speaking of different
body types, the outdoor industryis notorious for creating very
small clothing and not beingterribly size inclusive.
What have you done to try toaddress that?
Natasha (10:57):
yeah.
So we actually um didn't do itsuper well in our launch season.
We went up to size 14, whichwas, I thought, big enough and,
um, when you're super small andyou're kind of only have so much
funds to buy product, that justkind of made sense for us.
But I really quickly it waslike so it was a mistake to not
(11:20):
go up to, um, the bigger sizes.
So I think it was like maybeeight months later or something,
we were able to place anotherorder with the factory and we
went up to size 18 and 22 insome sizes, so in some style.
So we did try to get better atit and it's still like such a
(11:42):
learning.
I think I worked with Ashleywho started Cosmic Dirt.
She did a little consulting forus on just how to build
inclusive product, because it'snot as simple as just being like
, okay, add this amount, x,amount of inches everywhere,
cause then you could end up withthese like crazy parachute
pants that are like really bigat the ankles and tight at the
(12:03):
waist or I don't know.
So it is still like definitelya learning and I think it's a
super valid call out and I wouldget you know messages on
Instagram from folks that werelike I want to try your stuff,
but I'm a size 16.
And that was like such a bummer, like oh gosh.
Kristen (12:21):
So I'm happy we got to make some more oh gosh, so I'm
happy we got to make some more.
Yeah, you mentioned earliertrying to design clothes that
aren't too technical but arestill functional.
What, in your opinion, makes apair of mountain bike clothing
functional?
Like what?
What do you, what makes youfeel good and what have you
tried to include in your designs?
Natasha (12:44):
and what have you tried to include in your designs?
Yeah, um, I think for mountainbiking it's a lot of.
Well, I'll kind of start at thetop.
So one thing I'm like prettyobsessed with is just the
comfort like around your waist,because you're kind of bent over
and you're like always comingup and down, so your waist
circumference is like actuallychanging quite often.
So if you have like a reallystatic waistband, it could just
(13:09):
dig in after a long time.
And especially if you have likea zipper and a fly and all this
extra bulk down there, that canbe like pretty uncomfy.
So I am always trying to thinkabout that, to think about that
and then always articulated forpedaling, um, just around the
(13:29):
knees and even like some of thehip crease and stuff can be like
kicked forward a little bit sothat it's, um, really meant for
that like bent position.
And then I think pockets likeespecially for women that get
like these tiny crazy pockets,but having having enough pockets
to put your snacks and yourphone and things like that is
(13:50):
really important.
But yeah, I'm trying to think.
What else I think I'm trying toalways build it quite technical
and performance driven and thenjust some of the like.
Design lines and aesthetic canbe just a little bit more casual
, even if it just means likeinstead of a really harsh angle,
(14:11):
it can be like a little bit ofa curve or something that looks
a little bit more um, it justlike looks a little less
technical, but it's not actuallyimpeding on any of the
functionality.
Kristen (14:29):
That makes sense.
It does.
Yes, that was actually a verygood description, because I have
no design background whatsoeverand as you talked I could think
like oh, those pants, those arehow those are.
Like that, facing in is verycomfortable, the pedaling motion
.
I don't ever feel restricted.
So what does curious creaturesmean?
It's kind of an unusual name.
Natasha (14:47):
Yeah, it is funny and that's actually a good way to
talk about your first questionwhen you're like why did you
start it?
But I think the name is a goodway to talk about why I started
it because I wanted to reallycelebrate that curiosity aspect
of being on your bike, that youknow, seeing new places or being
(15:08):
with new people, making newrelationships, whether it's
traveling on your bike and alittle bit moving it away from
maybe some of the more like racefocused stuff out there.
And then the creatures part isjust that feeling of when you're
back, when you're out on yourbike, you're out in nature and
you can kind of return back tobeing a creature in nature, um,
(15:32):
and I think when we connect to,yeah, that like creature part of
us, we can respect andappreciate the nature we're
around and hopefully work toprotect it and um, things like
that.
Kristen (15:45):
But yeah, I love that.
Yeah, you are a background withmountain biking.
How did you get started?
Natasha (15:52):
Yeah, um, let me think.
So I was actually a ski racer,a competitive ski racer, and I
did that for a long time andthen even, um, professionally
over in Europe and stuff.
But I I mean like all skiracers would just like
constantly have knee surgeries.
So I think I had like a coupleyears in a row where I would
(16:15):
just get a knee surgery everyspring.
They'd go in and like fix myACL or like clean things up, and
biking was, um, the best rehaband it was like just so good for
us.
And there would always be like acouple of us that were hurt,
but instead of like getting backto running or skiing right away
, biking was one of the firstthings that we could do, and so
(16:38):
I always liked it for thatreason.
And then I worked on it alittle bit at Patagonia,
actually, when they launchedtheir mountain bike line, which
was probably like 10 years agonow, and that kind of got me
back into it where I was like,oh, maybe I'll actually buy a
new mountain bike and it's beenfun since then.
(16:59):
And then my parents actuallylive in Eastbrook, vermont.
Oh, I've been there.
Kristen (17:04):
It's fabulous yeah.
Natasha (17:05):
Yeah, yeah, nice.
But yeah, it's a good.
It's an amazing back to thatcommunity aspect of biking, like
they've just built so manytrails and it's really helped
that town and the people thatlive there and it's been cool to
watch.
Kristen (17:21):
Yeah, and for people listening who don't know, that's
like the kingdom trails thatare there.
Yeah, how long ago were youthere?
Oh, it would have been in 2018,I think.
So it's been quite a while now.
I'm sure it's gotten evenbetter, but, yeah, I had a
fabulous time there.
I'm from the West.
And so that's totally differentfor me.
Natasha (17:43):
Yeah.
It's so green and so beautifulyeah, slippery, all these like
roots and stuff, yeah you livein bozeman now.
Kristen (17:52):
Is that correct?
Why did you choose bozeman?
Natasha (17:57):
um, I had a couple good friends that lived here and so
I'd always visit a couple timesa year, um, and yeah, it's just
been really nice.
Access to the mountains, it haslots of young families and
stuff like that.
Like it's not super, um, it hasall the things, but it's not
(18:21):
like a doesn't feel so much likea resort town, like there's
lots of um, regular people, allkinds of people that live here.
Um, but yeah, it's been great.
It was a couple of us actuallyall moved here at the same time,
so we just had good communityhere and yeah, it's been really
(18:42):
nice.
I still love skiing too, sothat was like a big part of it
was just being in winter and nowit's like starting to feel like
fall again and I really like it.
Kristen (18:53):
What?
What part of your competitiveskiing background have you
applied to mountain biking?
Natasha (18:58):
Oh my gosh, mom, I'm not that good at mountain biking
.
Maybe falling Okay, like fallall the time, and sometimes
people will be like whoa, and Ithink it's because I grew up
just like falling a lot or likeknowing how to fall and stuff,
and so you're kind of like, oh,it's like no big deal when.
Sometimes I think if you're notused to falling and didn't grow
(19:20):
up falling, it can reallyrattle you yeah, why mountain
bike apparel rather than skiapparel?
oh, I know a lot of people askme this, but I think the answer
or I know the answer is I justfeel like there's so much good
ski stuff out there and Iactually worked on a lot of ski
(19:41):
stuff at Patagonia and I do feel, like everyone, there's a lot
of people making really goodstuff and and there are people
making really good mountain bikestuff too, but I just felt like
my perspective in mountainbiking was maybe a little bit,
um, not already out there.
Okay, that makes sense, it does, yeah in bozeman.
Kristen (20:05):
What are your favorite trails?
Natasha (20:07):
yeah, we have like we're lucky we're at the bottom
of highlight, which is the bignational forest, and um, there's
like a really quick after workloop called leverage.
That's very popular, but it'snice because we can ride from
our house.
But we do like going to Big Skyand riding there.
There's lots of good trails andthen Bang tail is also a great
(20:30):
one, kind of like a longer day.
But I haven't done that since Ihad my daughter and I need to
go do it.
So that's on the list.
I'm like, oh, it's been a longtime.
How old is your daughter?
She is 10 months.
Kristen (20:43):
Okay, so obviously very busy right now.
Natasha (20:48):
Yeah, how like I mean.
Kristen (20:49):
I'm sure, like many women listening right now have
time constraints, mom's jobs.
How do you find time to balanceit all and still get out on
your bike or get out on yourskis as well?
Natasha (21:03):
Oh my gosh, I don't know, I don't know I do.
I feel like I'm just coming upfor air with some of that stuff
now, like, um, I think when shewas first born it was hard to
get out and we would ski andtake turns and stuff like ski in
the resort.
But I love backcountry skiingnow and that's been kind of hard
(21:23):
to get back to.
But, um, yeah, I feel like thepast couple of months I'm
finally in the zone where I'mlike, okay, I do have time to go
out on my bike and, um, I'm notgood at it, so I'm not going to
say, but I have heard somegreat advice from friends that
are um more about just likesaying no to certain things and
(21:45):
just saying no to a little bitmore.
And especially if you're peoplelike us that really value our
active time and like beingoutside, you know that's really
high on the priority list and tonot feel bad about it.
I listened to a good podcast onhidden brain about time and I
really enjoyed it because shewas kind of saying like, write
(22:09):
out, write everything down thatyou do for a week and kind of
rate it Like how happy does itmake you, how does it make you
and then if you look at some ofthat stuff, yeah then you don't
have to feel bad.
If you're like, okay, I spenttwo hours riding my bike but it
was like a nine.
Or I got coffee with my friendand it was a nine, um versus.
(22:33):
Then you know to like kind ofprotect those things in your
time management, if that makessense it absolutely does.
Kristen (22:40):
I think I do that similar thing, but maybe not as
formal yeah, yeah, but no, it'ssuper hard and I'm not.
Natasha (22:48):
I'm she's my first kid, so I'm very new to it all.
Yeah, it does get easier.
Kristen (22:54):
You're in the hardest part right now, for sure.
Yeah, do you have kids?
I do.
I have a.
He just turned 12 this lastweek, so yeah, and so now he's
loves mountain biking and it'sskiing and he's like very easy
to get out with.
Natasha (23:07):
So, oh, awesome, like all the hard work you do when
they're young pays off yeah,well, I should ask you, you
should give me the advice, oh,oh, I don't know, I still
struggle with the timemanagement part, but yeah, but
it does get easier.
Kristen (23:23):
Um, what have I not asked you that you would like
people to know?
Natasha (23:28):
Oh gosh, I can't really think of anything.
Um, I mean just a little bitabout our team is really small,
like um, and I would like tojust say like thank you to Anna,
who's really kind of my firstemployee, and she just started a
couple hours here and there andnow she's like going to all
(23:51):
these mountain bike events anddoing such a good job and, um,
yeah, I think like some we'rekind of at this weird point
where it looks maybe it likelooks bigger than it is, but
it's really just me and her andthen like a couple of
contractors that will, that arefriends, that help for projects
here and there.
(24:11):
But yeah, I just feel likethat's something that I didn't
really expect in starting abusiness.
Feel like that's something thatI didn't really expect in
starting a business.
Like I was so excited to makeproducts the way I wanted to,
and what's been really nice andreally rewarding is like meeting
all these different people towork with and how great they've
all been and how supportive,even just like the Bozeman
(24:33):
community has been, and that'sbeen just like a really nice um
bonus yeah, I love that.
Kristen (24:40):
Where do you know yet what events you'll be at in the
coming year?
Natasha (24:45):
um, I don't know, we just finished um Rome Fest and
Brit Fest, which were so fun,and Anna got to go to the south,
which was like pretty coolbecause we haven't really had a
presence there at all, yeah, andthen it kind of like slows down
a little bit over the winter.
So, if you have anyrecommendations because I do
(25:07):
love going to the event, it'sreally fun because you know,
it's just like I said, such asmall team and we're working
down here in our basement andgoing to the events when people
can try stuff on and be like, ohwow, like I really like these
or I can never find shorts thatfit me, and that's been super
nice and rewarding.
Kristen (25:27):
I have three final questions for you, but before
that, where can people comelearn more about your brand?
Natasha (25:34):
Yeah, so our website is wearecuriouscreaturescom and
check out our product there.
We have an Instagram that'salso wearecuriouscreatures.
We're not in any wholesaleaccounts yet, so buying stuff
online is still the only way,but we do have free shipping and
(25:58):
returns if you need to findyour right size and stuff like
that.
Kristen (26:02):
Very good.
Final three questions.
The first one is what bike orbikes do you ride?
Natasha (26:08):
Oh, I have a Santa Cruz 5010 and it's actually pretty
old.
Like somebody was making fun ofme the other day and I was like
oh no, but I love it.
I'm just like so comfortable onit I almost I don't want to
upgrade.
I have to like relearn, butyeah, yeah, great.
Kristen (26:27):
It's also that sustainability piece right.
You've got to ride your bikefor a while, yeah.
Natasha (26:33):
And I do have a gravel bike too, actually.
And what's that?
That's a specialized crux, okay.
Kristen (26:42):
Second question is where is your favorite place?
You've ever ridden yourmountain bike.
Natasha (26:46):
I think we went to Oaxaca and did some bikepacking
there and I had a really goodtime because I think bikepacking
like especially the little loopwe did it was a good combo of
like grinding it out on theuphill and then fun downhill.
That was actual like realsingle track, and so it had like
(27:07):
a little bit of that adventurepart, but then some actual good
riding too and we could likeeven ditch our bags for a day
and rode a lot of the singletrack.
So I think that was a prettyfun trip.
And then when you got just rodefrom town too, which was really
cool, and then you finish andyou can like go get a margarita,
(27:28):
it's the best.
Kristen (27:31):
Final question is what is your favorite thing about
riding your bike?
Natasha (27:36):
Oh, definitely just that feeling of like, feeling
like a little kid or a littlecreature.
Um, it's just.
It's really different thananything else, and I suppose you
get it in skiing a little bittoo.
But something about bikes it'slike that's why they're called
those freedom machines orsomething there's it just like
pulls something in your heart.
(27:56):
That's a bit of like freedom,exploration and like
youthfulness or something I justkeep coming back to, that of
like that feeling of being achild again.
Kristen (28:12):
Love to ask you a favor .
If you enjoyed this episode,can you please go ahead and
share it?
You can do that by sharing iton your Instagram stories or
just letting a friend know aboutit.
The more that you help us getthe word out, the more women we
reach, the better quality ofguests we get on the show.
So it's a team effort and Ireally really appreciate you.
(28:36):
Until next time, happy writing.
Natasha Woodworth is the founder of Curious Creatures
, a mountain bike apparelcompany that's taking the trails
by storm.
I've been testing a pair of hersundog pants and am obsessed.
They are fabulous.
In this interview, we dive intowhat sets her brand apart from
others in this space and whatmakes good mountain bike
(00:21):
clothing, not just forperformance, but also for style
and comfort.
Natasha shares how herbackground at Patagonia has
shaped her approach to designand sustainability, and how
Bozeman, montana's rugged, trainand tight-knit community
continues to inspire hercreations.
Plus, we get real aboutbalancing it all as a new mom
(00:44):
and the CEO of a company.
Whether you're curious aboutthe perfect gear or about
navigating life as a designer inthe bike industry, you'll enjoy
this interview Real quick.
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Head to femcyclistcom to getstarted today.
Natasha, thank you so much forbeing here and I've got to tell
you before we get started I havebeen testing out your sun dog
pants and I really, really likethem.
I test out a lot of bikeclothing and I don't know why,
(01:46):
but I was kind of skepticalbefore I got them and they are
my favorite pants now.
I like, want to wear them allthe time I told my husband these
are more comfortable than mysweatpants.
Natasha (01:55):
These are great, so nice.
I love to hear that I'm a bigfan of those.
Kristen (02:02):
Why did you start Curious Creatures?
And obviously there was like alot of mountain bike apparel
already out there.
What sets you apart?
Natasha (02:13):
Yeah, it was kind of a great timing with a lot of
different things going on in ourlives, but I had always wanted
to start my own brand and I'vebeen just really inspired by the
mountain biking community ingeneral, just like seeing it
grow and seeing so many of myfriends getting into it.
(02:34):
Um, and then you know, from alldifferent levels and um
perspectives of like lots ofbeginners getting into it or
people that are starting to raceand be very competitive, um, so
just been like pretty inspiredby seeing that um and also
feeling like there was a lot,just like a little bit of a hole
(02:57):
in the market, especially onthe women's side, with some
clothes that were reallytechnically designed, like.
My background is in productdesign and, um, I work on a lot
of used to work on a lot of likesuper technical stuff where I
would often be forced or askedto make things look really
technical, and I felt like whatI was actually seeing with
people around me where theydidn't want to necessarily like
(03:20):
look super technical all thetime, but wanted the performance
, the performance side, um, butwanted their clothing to just
feel a little bit more likeregular clothing or um mostly
that they could feel likethemselves too, like I heard
that a lot with people that were, um, either new to biking or
(03:40):
had been doing it for a longtime.
They always felt like they werelike putting on this like
costume or like something thatwas just like not them, and I do
feel like clothes are such agreat avenue for expression and
like creativity in that way, soI wanted to make clothes that
people felt like it was just anextension of like their regular
(04:03):
closet, but had that reallytechnical and construction and
fabric and stuff like that.
Kristen (04:10):
That is something I really like, because it
sometimes seems like ridiculousthat we have to have this entire
regular life wardrobe and thisentire bike wardrobe, and it's
nice to have pieces, that kindof transition between the two,
and it's nice to have pieces,that kind of transition between
the two.
Natasha (04:30):
Yeah, and it was like, yeah, inspired off a lot of
trips that I did with my husband, whether it's like bike packing
or you know, you're likebringing one pair of pants and
then you might want to go out toa restaurant later, um, things
like that, and just like workingon that small kit of these
things that could work for somany, uh, different applications
.
Or like where you live.
I mean, obviously you bike alot, but you probably do a lot
(04:51):
of other things in the mountainstoo and um, building versatile
product is also really excitingto me, so it was nice to be able
to do that for live, for yourcreatures you see curious
creatures being solely amountain bike apparel, or you
see yourself branching out fromthere yeah, I mean, I really
(05:13):
wanted to build a mountain bikebrand and, um, I think there are
a lot of like outdoor brandsthat are making mountain bike
stuff, or there's lots ofmountain bike stuff being made
with within brands that caremore about maybe like road
cycling or care more about othertypes of cycling.
So I did feel like I was reallyexcited for curious creatures to
(05:34):
really be about mountain bikingand that really special
experience of being on a bike,which is so fun and makes you
feel like you're a little kidagain, but then you're also in
these really remote beautifulplaces and um, experiencing
wilderness in a way that is sodifferent than maybe like road
riding and stuff like that.
Um, so that that's a longanswer of.
(05:56):
I do really want it to berooted in mountain biking, but
I've been really pleasantlysurprised in a lot of these
events we go to and when we'reselling things, how people are
like like, oh yeah, I boughtthese for mountain biking, I
took them on a 10 day river tripand things like that, and
that's also something that'sreally exciting to me because it
means you get to make lessstuff in the world.
(06:16):
If you can make like one pairof pants, that works really well
for lots of mountain activities.
That's really a win and greatfor the environment and great
for just like not producing morestuff.
Kristen (06:30):
Yes, so you have a background at Patagonia, which
is obviously well known forsustainability efforts.
What have you taken from thatto Curious Creatures?
Natasha (06:41):
Yeah, I mean, that's like it was the craziest
master's education insustainability that I could
possibly ask for is so nice.
I mean, the way they approachdesign from the beginning is, uh
, through the lens ofsustainability and
responsibility.
So even things likerepairability is thought about
(07:04):
at the beginning of the designof the garment, which is
something that I think about nowtoo, at Curious Creatures blue
(07:29):
sign approved and meet thesecertain standards for
responsible practices, becausethe mills where they actually
make the fabric is the biggestcarbon impact actually of the
whole product, which is kind ofcrazy.
You know a lot of people arelike, oh, you're shipping it and
you're doing all these things,and that's true, but on the
piece of the pie, the actualbiggest carbon impact is just
actually weaving the fabric um.
(07:51):
So really being cognizant ofusing good fabrics and good mill
partners and I tried to use um100 polyester in a lot of our
stretch fabrics um, so that theycould be recyclable at end of
life, because usually when youmake a really stretchy fabric,
you add spandex and then it'slike a?
Um, a blend of two fabrics, twomaterials, and then that makes
(08:13):
it so you can't recycle it um,but all, most all of our fabrics
in the bottom, except for oneshort have, uh, no, spandex in
it so that you can actuallyrecycle it at end of life, which
is cool, but yeah, I mean, Icould go on and on.
There's so many things thatthat place taught me and it like
, honestly, I was there for 10years and I started as an
(08:36):
assistant designer, and soeverything I've learned about
how to be a designer has reallybeen from them and I'm just
super grateful for thateducation.
It's been awesome.
Kristen (08:50):
A lot of the other apparel brands in this space
created by women are like WildRye and Shredley.
They have focused on women'sspecific apparel.
Why have you chosen to createlike a unisex brand?
Natasha (09:07):
Yeah, that's also a good question.
It's probably a little bit um,even my whole career I've I
started as um, the only woman'sdesigner on the technical team
and it was all men and they werelike so excited to bring me on,
because they were like, oh, youcan have a woman's perspective
and it's great because I can.
(09:28):
But I also feel like if you area good designer and you design
good product, I think that youshould be able to do both if you
want to.
And, um, yeah, I've alwaysliked, enjoyed working on men's
stuff.
Um, I definitely focused onwomen's in the launch collection
.
I had a lot of guys that I ridewith or in my community that
(09:52):
were like what the heck, I wantsome men's stuff, and so I'm
just happy to service bothgenders and, um, I also really
like kind of the overlapsometimes.
Like I was just at anall-women's event and a couple
women bought the men's pantsbecause they were so tall and,
(10:12):
um, they liked the longer inseam, and I think there's something
kind of cool about having justdifferent fits for different
bodies outside of gender.
Um, yeah, that's kind of howI'm approaching some of the
gender stuff, because, while Ido think it's super important To
listen to women's needs andbuild women's specific product.
Kristen (10:35):
It's kind of nice to build it for, yeah, different
body types, different wellshifting speaking of different
body types, the outdoor industryis notorious for creating very
small clothing and not beingterribly size inclusive.
What have you done to try toaddress that?
Natasha (10:57):
yeah.
So we actually um didn't do itsuper well in our launch season.
We went up to size 14, whichwas, I thought, big enough and,
um, when you're super small andyou're kind of only have so much
funds to buy product, that justkind of made sense for us.
But I really quickly it waslike so it was a mistake to not
(11:20):
go up to, um, the bigger sizes.
So I think it was like maybeeight months later or something,
we were able to place anotherorder with the factory and we
went up to size 18 and 22 insome sizes, so in some style.
So we did try to get better atit and it's still like such a
(11:42):
learning.
I think I worked with Ashleywho started Cosmic Dirt.
She did a little consulting forus on just how to build
inclusive product, because it'snot as simple as just being like
, okay, add this amount, x,amount of inches everywhere,
cause then you could end up withthese like crazy parachute
pants that are like really bigat the ankles and tight at the
(12:03):
waist or I don't know.
So it is still like definitelya learning and I think it's a
super valid call out and I wouldget you know messages on
Instagram from folks that werelike I want to try your stuff,
but I'm a size 16.
And that was like such a bummer, like oh gosh.
Kristen (12:21):
So I'm happy we got to make some more oh gosh, so I'm
happy we got to make some more.
Yeah, you mentioned earliertrying to design clothes that
aren't too technical but arestill functional.
What, in your opinion, makes apair of mountain bike clothing
functional?
Like what?
What do you, what makes youfeel good and what have you
tried to include in your designs?
Natasha (12:44):
and what have you tried to include in your designs?
Yeah, um, I think for mountainbiking it's a lot of.
Well, I'll kind of start at thetop.
So one thing I'm like prettyobsessed with is just the
comfort like around your waist,because you're kind of bent over
and you're like always comingup and down, so your waist
circumference is like actuallychanging quite often.
So if you have like a reallystatic waistband, it could just
(13:09):
dig in after a long time.
And especially if you have likea zipper and a fly and all this
extra bulk down there, that canbe like pretty uncomfy.
So I am always trying to thinkabout that, to think about that
and then always articulated forpedaling, um, just around the
(13:29):
knees and even like some of thehip crease and stuff can be like
kicked forward a little bit sothat it's, um, really meant for
that like bent position.
And then I think pockets likeespecially for women that get
like these tiny crazy pockets,but having having enough pockets
to put your snacks and yourphone and things like that is
(13:50):
really important.
But yeah, I'm trying to think.
What else I think I'm trying toalways build it quite technical
and performance driven and thenjust some of the like.
Design lines and aesthetic canbe just a little bit more casual
, even if it just means likeinstead of a really harsh angle,
(14:11):
it can be like a little bit ofa curve or something that looks
a little bit more um, it justlike looks a little less
technical, but it's not actuallyimpeding on any of the
functionality.
Kristen (14:29):
That makes sense.
It does.
Yes, that was actually a verygood description, because I have
no design background whatsoeverand as you talked I could think
like oh, those pants, those arehow those are.
Like that, facing in is verycomfortable, the pedaling motion
.
I don't ever feel restricted.
So what does curious creaturesmean?
It's kind of an unusual name.
Natasha (14:47):
Yeah, it is funny and that's actually a good way to
talk about your first questionwhen you're like why did you
start it?
But I think the name is a goodway to talk about why I started
it because I wanted to reallycelebrate that curiosity aspect
of being on your bike, that youknow, seeing new places or being
(15:08):
with new people, making newrelationships, whether it's
traveling on your bike and alittle bit moving it away from
maybe some of the more like racefocused stuff out there.
And then the creatures part isjust that feeling of when you're
back, when you're out on yourbike, you're out in nature and
you can kind of return back tobeing a creature in nature, um,
(15:32):
and I think when we connect to,yeah, that like creature part of
us, we can respect andappreciate the nature we're
around and hopefully work toprotect it and um, things like
that.
Kristen (15:45):
But yeah, I love that.
Yeah, you are a background withmountain biking.
How did you get started?
Natasha (15:52):
Yeah, um, let me think.
So I was actually a ski racer,a competitive ski racer, and I
did that for a long time andthen even, um, professionally
over in Europe and stuff.
But I I mean like all skiracers would just like
constantly have knee surgeries.
So I think I had like a coupleyears in a row where I would
(16:15):
just get a knee surgery everyspring.
They'd go in and like fix myACL or like clean things up, and
biking was, um, the best rehaband it was like just so good for
us.
And there would always be like acouple of us that were hurt,
but instead of like getting backto running or skiing right away
, biking was one of the firstthings that we could do, and so
(16:38):
I always liked it for thatreason.
And then I worked on it alittle bit at Patagonia,
actually, when they launchedtheir mountain bike line, which
was probably like 10 years agonow, and that kind of got me
back into it where I was like,oh, maybe I'll actually buy a
new mountain bike and it's beenfun since then.
(16:59):
And then my parents actuallylive in Eastbrook, vermont.
Oh, I've been there.
Kristen (17:04):
It's fabulous yeah.
Natasha (17:05):
Yeah, yeah, nice.
But yeah, it's a good.
It's an amazing back to thatcommunity aspect of biking, like
they've just built so manytrails and it's really helped
that town and the people thatlive there and it's been cool to
watch.
Kristen (17:21):
Yeah, and for people listening who don't know, that's
like the kingdom trails thatare there.
Yeah, how long ago were youthere?
Oh, it would have been in 2018,I think.
So it's been quite a while now.
I'm sure it's gotten evenbetter, but, yeah, I had a
fabulous time there.
I'm from the West.
And so that's totally differentfor me.
Natasha (17:43):
Yeah.
It's so green and so beautifulyeah, slippery, all these like
roots and stuff, yeah you livein bozeman now.
Kristen (17:52):
Is that correct?
Why did you choose bozeman?
Natasha (17:57):
um, I had a couple good friends that lived here and so
I'd always visit a couple timesa year, um, and yeah, it's just
been really nice.
Access to the mountains, it haslots of young families and
stuff like that.
Like it's not super, um, it hasall the things, but it's not
(18:21):
like a doesn't feel so much likea resort town, like there's
lots of um, regular people, allkinds of people that live here.
Um, but yeah, it's been great.
It was a couple of us actuallyall moved here at the same time,
so we just had good communityhere and yeah, it's been really
(18:42):
nice.
I still love skiing too, sothat was like a big part of it
was just being in winter and nowit's like starting to feel like
fall again and I really like it.
Kristen (18:53):
What?
What part of your competitiveskiing background have you
applied to mountain biking?
Natasha (18:58):
Oh my gosh, mom, I'm not that good at mountain biking
.
Maybe falling Okay, like fallall the time, and sometimes
people will be like whoa, and Ithink it's because I grew up
just like falling a lot or likeknowing how to fall and stuff,
and so you're kind of like, oh,it's like no big deal when.
Sometimes I think if you're notused to falling and didn't grow
(19:20):
up falling, it can reallyrattle you yeah, why mountain
bike apparel rather than skiapparel?
oh, I know a lot of people askme this, but I think the answer
or I know the answer is I justfeel like there's so much good
ski stuff out there and Iactually worked on a lot of ski
(19:41):
stuff at Patagonia and I do feel, like everyone, there's a lot
of people making really goodstuff and and there are people
making really good mountain bikestuff too, but I just felt like
my perspective in mountainbiking was maybe a little bit,
um, not already out there.
Okay, that makes sense, it does, yeah in bozeman.
Kristen (20:05):
What are your favorite trails?
Natasha (20:07):
yeah, we have like we're lucky we're at the bottom
of highlight, which is the bignational forest, and um, there's
like a really quick after workloop called leverage.
That's very popular, but it'snice because we can ride from
our house.
But we do like going to Big Skyand riding there.
There's lots of good trails andthen Bang tail is also a great
(20:30):
one, kind of like a longer day.
But I haven't done that since Ihad my daughter and I need to
go do it.
So that's on the list.
I'm like, oh, it's been a longtime.
How old is your daughter?
She is 10 months.
Kristen (20:43):
Okay, so obviously very busy right now.
Natasha (20:48):
Yeah, how like I mean.
Kristen (20:49):
I'm sure, like many women listening right now have
time constraints, mom's jobs.
How do you find time to balanceit all and still get out on
your bike or get out on yourskis as well?
Natasha (21:03):
Oh my gosh, I don't know, I don't know I do.
I feel like I'm just coming upfor air with some of that stuff
now, like, um, I think when shewas first born it was hard to
get out and we would ski andtake turns and stuff like ski in
the resort.
But I love backcountry skiingnow and that's been kind of hard
(21:23):
to get back to.
But, um, yeah, I feel like thepast couple of months I'm
finally in the zone where I'mlike, okay, I do have time to go
out on my bike and, um, I'm notgood at it, so I'm not going to
say, but I have heard somegreat advice from friends that
are um more about just likesaying no to certain things and
(21:45):
just saying no to a little bitmore.
And especially if you're peoplelike us that really value our
active time and like beingoutside, you know that's really
high on the priority list and tonot feel bad about it.
I listened to a good podcast onhidden brain about time and I
really enjoyed it because shewas kind of saying like, write
(22:09):
out, write everything down thatyou do for a week and kind of
rate it Like how happy does itmake you, how does it make you
and then if you look at some ofthat stuff, yeah then you don't
have to feel bad.
If you're like, okay, I spenttwo hours riding my bike but it
was like a nine.
Or I got coffee with my friendand it was a nine, um versus.
(22:33):
Then you know to like kind ofprotect those things in your
time management, if that makessense it absolutely does.
Kristen (22:40):
I think I do that similar thing, but maybe not as
formal yeah, yeah, but no, it'ssuper hard and I'm not.
Natasha (22:48):
I'm she's my first kid, so I'm very new to it all.
Yeah, it does get easier.
Kristen (22:54):
You're in the hardest part right now, for sure.
Yeah, do you have kids?
I do.
I have a.
He just turned 12 this lastweek, so yeah, and so now he's
loves mountain biking and it'sskiing and he's like very easy
to get out with.
Natasha (23:07):
So, oh, awesome, like all the hard work you do when
they're young pays off yeah,well, I should ask you, you
should give me the advice, oh,oh, I don't know, I still
struggle with the timemanagement part, but yeah, but
it does get easier.
Kristen (23:23):
Um, what have I not asked you that you would like
people to know?
Natasha (23:28):
Oh gosh, I can't really think of anything.
Um, I mean just a little bitabout our team is really small,
like um, and I would like tojust say like thank you to Anna,
who's really kind of my firstemployee, and she just started a
couple hours here and there andnow she's like going to all
(23:51):
these mountain bike events anddoing such a good job and, um,
yeah, I think like some we'rekind of at this weird point
where it looks maybe it likelooks bigger than it is, but
it's really just me and her andthen like a couple of
contractors that will, that arefriends, that help for projects
here and there.
(24:11):
But yeah, I just feel likethat's something that I didn't
really expect in starting abusiness.
Feel like that's something thatI didn't really expect in
starting a business.
Like I was so excited to makeproducts the way I wanted to,
and what's been really nice andreally rewarding is like meeting
all these different people towork with and how great they've
all been and how supportive,even just like the Bozeman
(24:33):
community has been, and that'sbeen just like a really nice um
bonus yeah, I love that.
Kristen (24:40):
Where do you know yet what events you'll be at in the
coming year?
Natasha (24:45):
um, I don't know, we just finished um Rome Fest and
Brit Fest, which were so fun,and Anna got to go to the south,
which was like pretty coolbecause we haven't really had a
presence there at all, yeah, andthen it kind of like slows down
a little bit over the winter.
So, if you have anyrecommendations because I do
(25:07):
love going to the event, it'sreally fun because you know,
it's just like I said, such asmall team and we're working
down here in our basement andgoing to the events when people
can try stuff on and be like, ohwow, like I really like these
or I can never find shorts thatfit me, and that's been super
nice and rewarding.
Kristen (25:27):
I have three final questions for you, but before
that, where can people comelearn more about your brand?
Natasha (25:34):
Yeah, so our website is wearecuriouscreaturescom and
check out our product there.
We have an Instagram that'salso wearecuriouscreatures.
We're not in any wholesaleaccounts yet, so buying stuff
online is still the only way,but we do have free shipping and
(25:58):
returns if you need to findyour right size and stuff like
that.
Kristen (26:02):
Very good.
Final three questions.
The first one is what bike orbikes do you ride?
Natasha (26:08):
Oh, I have a Santa Cruz 5010 and it's actually pretty
old.
Like somebody was making fun ofme the other day and I was like
oh no, but I love it.
I'm just like so comfortable onit I almost I don't want to
upgrade.
I have to like relearn, butyeah, yeah, great.
Kristen (26:27):
It's also that sustainability piece right.
You've got to ride your bikefor a while, yeah.
Natasha (26:33):
And I do have a gravel bike too, actually.
And what's that?
That's a specialized crux, okay.
Kristen (26:42):
Second question is where is your favorite place?
You've ever ridden yourmountain bike.
Natasha (26:46):
I think we went to Oaxaca and did some bikepacking
there and I had a really goodtime because I think bikepacking
like especially the little loopwe did it was a good combo of
like grinding it out on theuphill and then fun downhill.
That was actual like realsingle track, and so it had like
(27:07):
a little bit of that adventurepart, but then some actual good
riding too and we could likeeven ditch our bags for a day
and rode a lot of the singletrack.
So I think that was a prettyfun trip.
And then when you got just rodefrom town too, which was really
cool, and then you finish andyou can like go get a margarita,
(27:28):
it's the best.
Kristen (27:31):
Final question is what is your favorite thing about
riding your bike?
Natasha (27:36):
Oh, definitely just that feeling of like, feeling
like a little kid or a littlecreature.
Um, it's just.
It's really different thananything else, and I suppose you
get it in skiing a little bittoo.
But something about bikes it'slike that's why they're called
those freedom machines orsomething there's it just like
pulls something in your heart.
(27:56):
That's a bit of like freedom,exploration and like
youthfulness or something I justkeep coming back to, that of
like that feeling of being achild again.
Kristen (28:12):
Love to ask you a favor .
If you enjoyed this episode,can you please go ahead and
share it?
You can do that by sharing iton your Instagram stories or
just letting a friend know aboutit.
The more that you help us getthe word out, the more women we
reach, the better quality ofguests we get on the show.
So it's a team effort and Ireally really appreciate you.
(28:36):
Until next time, happy writing.
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