ALL-AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP At Its Core

When Rick and Lori Bizzell founded Ranch Life, a western outfitter and lifestyle brand focusing on quality craftsmanship made from Americansourced materials, their primary focus was to create a line of products that honored the lifestyle of the West and the values it represents. Little did they know that in just three short years, what started as a small clothing brand would blossom into a boutique shop focused on producing the finest products from materials sourced only from North America, with products ranging from custom buckles, custom jewelry, leathercraft, and much more.

The Bizzells co-own Ranch Life and work together as co-presidents, a testament to those deep-seated family values. Working closely with Rick and Lori is their youngest son, Antonio Tieri. He and Lori grew up in Hammonton, a small farming town in southern New Jersey, while Rick grew up in a small-town ranching and rodeo community in south Texas, opting to join the armed services after high school. He leveraged his work as an intelligence analyst to start a defense company called Bizzell Corporation, which had offices worldwide in Iraq, Afghanistan, Istanbul, Dubai, and more. But with the company’s worldwide success, something else seemed to call to the couple. Deep down, there was a yearning to support true American values, which they felt they weren’t always seeing beyond their locale.

Together, they started a clothing brand to celebrate and honor that way of life. As they began sourcing materials, they realized that low-cost overseas vendors weren’t an option.

“Since Rick and I couldn’t find all the products and patterns we were looking for, we just jumped in and started making American-made products. It was our designs and some of the things that we were looking for that we couldn’t find quality, or just things we liked. And that’s where it started,” Lori says.

They sought excellence, the type that can only come from American-made products from people with solid values. This is often missing when manufacturers seek to cut costs by ordering discount products from overseas.

What started with just caps and hoodies in 2020 then blossomed into a full-on western wear outfitter and lifestyle brand. The product roster now includes belt buckles, boots, hats, and flasks and will soon expand into jewelry and organic skincare products.

When sourcing materials, the company aims to curate fabrics and materials from the United States. However, in cases where that’s not possible, the Bizzells say their base policy is to look within North America, meaning they’ll also look to Canada or Mexico when necessary.

Rick describes this sourcing process as “painstaking” but recognizes the quality of the final product makes it worth the effort.

“We’re looking for people not only who are craftsmen at what they do but also share our Western values or faith values. That’s important to us. We could probably find some people who can do the work but don’t share our values. We just won’t work with them,” Rick says, seeking instead “a common ground or purpose, living a life of honor and integrity, and doing things right.”

The brand puts the spirit of the West at its core, which to the Bizzells, means something very specific.

“The spirit and code of the West, if you really analyze it, is the spirit and code of the Word of God,” Lori says. “It’s the same if we break it down into respect, honor, integrity, perseverance, hard work, gratitude, self-discipline, joy, love for God, family, country, and others, and working towards peace. It’s all of those things collectively which align with the Word of God. And that’s where we saw something very relevant to the backbone of our country.”

But the Bizzells don’t just pay lip service to these values. They embody them in every aspect of their efforts. Take, for example, their relationships with the local ranching community. They buy local meat and encourage local restaurants in the area to buy local as well. They also pray for their local ranchers, guiding them toward prosperity.

The Bizzells have close ties to the rodeo community, too. They sponsor Wyoming Rodeo at the University of Wyoming. They also employ some of the team’s athletes at their shop. They also support a local ranch rodeo called Tom Horn Days, where Ranch Life is a presenting sponsor.

They also sponsor Rough Out Rodeos, a seven-state rodeo for which Ranch Life recently crafted over 250 buckles. The company has a staff artist who helps design all the buckles and is working to develop designs that stand out from standard buckle designs. The team works with different metals and colorings to create unique spins on classic designs. Additionally, Ranch Life recently supported the rodeo queen and princess for junior rodeos in California, providing their sash pins, designed in-house and made specifically for the girls.

The Bizzells continue to innovate in the space, combining their commitment to quality craftsmanship with their unique eye for design.

“We have some beautiful jewelry pieces coming, made out of fine gold and sterling silver. They’re delicate pieces, not real chunky for the most part, but we’ve been designing them using turquoise, white buffalo, some diamonds, and a few other gems,” Lori says.

They continue to innovate in the apparel space as well. While wild rags are typically produced using silk from Asia, the Bizzells work with technical fabrics sourced from the military industry to ensure they have that smooth, lightweight feel crafted from all-American materials and labor. However, they are working toward developing wild rags made with American silk, which is difficult to source.

Because of the care that goes into their sourcing and craftsmanship, they can also handle special orders and customizations for even the most discerning customers.

“We love to serve our clients and people who need something special,” Lori says. “Whatever you need, we can get. We’ll do our best to get what you want, including custom fit and things you’re just looking for that you haven’t been able to find.”

When a brand stands for something, it becomes more than a product or service. It becomes a symbol of what consumers believe in. This is why Ranch Life isn’t afraid to be different in focusing on high-quality, Americanmade products that will last through the generations. The end result ultimately helps foster a sense of community around the products and the brand.

“You can quickly find something from outside of our country. But it’s not going to be exactly what you want or the quality of what you’re looking for, or have the pride in that it’s American-made. That’s important,” Lori says.

To learn more about Ranch Life and to view the company’s array of American-made products, visit ranchlifeofficial.com. You can also support the company by subscribing to the Ranch Life YouTube channel and Instagram account at @ranchlife_official and following the Ranch Life Official Facebook page. •