Gaining insights directly from the jobsite has been—and still is—the cornerstone of our product development process. 

At TRUEWERK, there are no sourcing agents and no factory middlemen. Our products emerge from necessity—born from time spent on the jobsite and a real-world understanding of the problems our customers face. All driven by our fundamental belief: to best solve a problem, you must experience it firsthand.

If you're familiar with our story, you know I started TRUEWERK because I was frustrated with the workwear available to me while working on construction sites here in Colorado. I was cold, wet, and so stiff and over-bulked that I spent half my effort fighting against my clothing instead of focusing on my work. I didn’t understand the workwear industry then as well as I do today, but I knew something fundamental was broken—or missing—and that addressing the issues I was facing would require someone who had experienced them firsthand. So, from the basic premise that necessity drives invention, TRUEWERK began… and continues today. 

“This is one of the least contorted positions I’ve found when wrenching on these machines—here changing the starter motor on the Perkins 4-cylinder engine on my old CAT 426 Backhoe. Our X1 Coveralls were born from the need for better coveralls, which became especially apparent after many days spent working on this old machine.”

As TRUEWERK grew, tradespeople and organizations began coming to us to share their challenges and what they wished their workwear could do. While we welcomed this, it didn’t feel right to simply talk about their work and the issues they faced. Instead, we asked to join them—to do the work ourselves so we could experience the problems firsthand. That experience taught us not only more about the technical skills and physical endurance required, but also about the many other aspects that make their work so valuable. I believe this grounding in doing the work has been critical—not only in helping us innovate to solve problems but also in leading us to understand and appreciate the uncommonly capable community we serve.

"When some of TRUEWERK’s earliest users turned out to be arborists, I was fortunate to learn from great production climbers like Keith Stoner and Deacon Maloney. They taught me enough to hold my own in the competitions and, more importantly, gave me the opportunity to spend time on the jobsite, understanding the problems we could help solve for professional arborists. In this photo, I’m competing in the Rocky Mountain Chapter ISA Tree Climbing Competition. This was a rope ascending event that allowed the use of mechanical ascenders vs. the traditional method of ‘footlocking’ to climb the rope.”

Today, I don’t make a living as an arborist, a diesel mechanic, a heavy equipment operator, or a rope access technician—and that’s really not the point. Rather, I believe working alongside the people we serve is both a sign of respect for them and their craft, and a necessary part of grounding ourselves in the problems they face, giving us the experience we need to innovate solutions. It’s also some of the most fun and rewarding time we have—it fuels the passion for our mission to build the most technical, high-performance workwear in the world… and take care of the people who wear it.

“Setting the gable-end truss (the last truss) on the cabin project. It was sunny about 20 minutes before this photo was taken. I was able to use the backhoe with a boom attachment for the gable ends, but the rest had to be hoisted up using a series of ramps and winches that I rigged for the job. In doing this work by myself over the course of two days, I learned a lot—not only about the value of great tools and workwear, but also a new appreciation for having generally had great crews to share the workload with over the years!

I’m fortunate today to continue spending time on the jobsite, doing the work, and experiencing firsthand what you need from your workwear. If you see me or any member of the TRUEWERK Team out in the world, please come say hi. Tell us about your challenges, what works for you, and what you wish your workwear could do better—then put us to work!

Thank you for being a part of the TRUEWERK community and our journey.

 —Brian

"Driving ‘Dottie’ — with that smile on my face. A retired ‘95 L8000 CDOT dump truck with an 8.3L Cummins (with the same P-pump as my 12V!), air brakes, and a manual Eaton 10-speed. I had to get my Class A CDL to drive the old beast with the backhoe trailered behind — a rig pushing 30 tons in total. Learning to drive (and park) these big trucks was a serious effort, and it’s something that’s served me well on many job sites over the years."