COWGIRL Empowered: Shea Fisher Durfey

From owning two companies, being a successful country music artist, ProRodeo wife, and mom, there’s no doubt that Shea Fisher Durfey wears a lot of hats. 

Shea Michelle Buckles was inspired by her parents’ belt buckle company they started in Australia 20+ years ago.  When she moved to the US to pursue her music career, she knew she’d need a side income since the music industry can be uncertain.  “I would spend hours cold calling associations asking for them to give me a chance to make their buckles. One order turned into another and now we make thousands of buckles throughout the US and Canada.”

Once she got married and started thinking about having kids of her own, she realized there were no cute quality cowboy/cowgirl boots for little kids.  That sparked the idea for Shea Baby Boots, which launched in 2016—the year her daughter Praise was born.  She continued to grow Shea Baby Boots the next few years and recently expanded into children’s clothing.  “It has gone above and beyond what I expected.  We are now in a lot of major retailers here in the US and now branching into other countries.  I went from solely retailing online to now wholesaling my designs to stores worldwide.”

Her song “Don’t Rush” went #1 in Australian country music last year.  While COVID travel restrictions have made it difficult to get back to Australia, she plans to release two new songs in the US soon.

When you’re constantly on-the-go like Shea, life is all about balance.  “My priorities are faith, family, and business.  It’s important for me to still be present in our kids’ lives, so once I pick Praise up from school in the afternoon I don’t work, and instead spend time with them until they go to bed.”