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Work and family have always gone hand in hand for Jessica Reddick Gatlin ’05. She
remembers as a preschooler collecting beads with her younger sister, Roxy, from the
floor of their parents’ craft supply business in Denison, Texas. By high school, the
girls were taking orders over the phone, assisting in catalog production and helping
run the business as it too grew.
When it came time for college, Gatlin wanted to put a little distance between her
family – but not too much. Visiting TCU, home of her favorite color purple, she fell
in love with the campus.
“It felt like home,” she recalled.
Today, Gatlin leans on her degree studying advertising and public relations as she
continues to assist in the company’s marketing, while Roxy is a buyer and administrator
with mom, Ginger, and dad, Rex, still very much in charge of a unique business: Crazy Crow Trading Post.
The world’s largest source of craft supplies for Native American and historical re-enactor
clothing, footwear, gear and craft kits, Crazy Crow is now based out of Pottsboro,
Texas, about 90 miles northeast of Fort Worth near the Oklahoma border. More than
50 years after Rex began the business, it is still family-owned and operated.
“Our dad was in Boy Scouts when he started to learn about the Native American culture
and tradition. He began to do silverwork in his parents’ basement, then would go to
powwows and dances, where he would sell his jewelry,” Gatlin said of the early days.
“It was at one of these where he met our mom.”
Jessica’s mother is Comanche and grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma, home of the Comanche
Nation.
As their craft business took off, the couple started selling their wares from the rear of Rex’s parents’ jewelry store in Denison. Once they outgrew that, they
moved to a 31,000 square foot office and warehouse complex in Pottsboro, all business is online, mail order or over the phone.
With more than 10,000 products – from blankets to craft kits, feathers, leather, knives,
muzzle-loading supplies and more – it’s a lot to market. But the printed catalog,
which Gatlin continues to help produce, is always in demand and frequently sells out.
Besides individuals, customers include schools, museums and movie production companies,
plus the re-enactment businesses.
Rex and Ginger both continue to travel to events to promote and grow the business,
which Gatlin believes gets its stellar reputation from their attention to finding
quality goods and providing the best service in the industry.
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