Founder Story
Why Reinvention Has Always Been Part of Linda Leary's Career
Change has been the one constant across Linda Leary's working life. Long before she founded FisheWear, she built a career in Alaska transportation, grew alongside a major company, and learned that the strongest business skills can travel with you into an entirely new industry.
This first-person essay was originally written for Alaska Permanent Capital Management in 2022. We are sharing it again because Linda's lessons about strategic thinking, generous networking, and stepping beyond your comfort zone remain central to the way Fishe grows.
Read the original guest article from Alaska Permanent Capital Management.
In This Story
Quick Links
A Career Built Through Change
Hi there, my name is Linda Leary. I am the founder of Fishe, an Alaska-based outdoor gear and apparel brand focused on making fishing clothing for women.
However, I have not always been known as “Linda from Fishe.” For the first part of my career, I was “Linda from Carlile.”
I arrived in Anchorage in 1982. Fresh out of college in rural Maine, I took a secretary job at a small transportation company. I progressed through several roles and eventually joined Carlile Transportation Systems, where I stayed for 30 years.
As the company grew, I grew right along with it. I became a partner and eventually president, expanding operations and helping manage a team of more than 700 employees until the company was sold in 2013.
From Carlile to Fishe
Leaving Carlile and founding Fishe was a pivotal moment of reinvention for me. Peers and colleagues asked why I would leave a career in which I was so established for something completely unfamiliar.
My answer was always: Why not?
The outdoor industry was new territory, but I trusted my ability to bring lessons from transportation into a different kind of business. I carried strategic knowledge, a strong network, and an insatiable desire for personal and professional growth.
The daily operations and products could not have been more different. The fundamentals of building a successful organization were remarkably similar.
Strategic Business Knowledge
Perhaps the most important skill connecting every stage of my career has been a strategic understanding of business. Within that, my main areas of focus are growing, maintaining, and anticipating.
Growth means strengthening what already works while creating new streams of opportunity. At both Carlile and Fishe, we invested financial and intellectual capital into existing revenue while looking creatively for what could come next.
Maintenance means keeping operations lean where possible and reinvesting the capital saved. Anticipation means looking beyond immediate threats and preparing for future obligations and opportunities before they arrive.
A solid grasp of these principles belongs to you regardless of your title, financial circumstances, or industry. That is a comforting reality when you are facing a transition in the working world.
Networking Is About What You Give
People often say Alaska is the world's biggest small town. When it comes to building a business network in the 49th state, that statement rings true.
Networking is about what you give. I network because I genuinely enjoy it and because the help we create for others has a way of returning in unexpected forms.
People still walk into the Fishe shop and leave with a message for me: “Tell Linda I say hello. We know each other from...”
I am immensely grateful for the network, both in and beyond Alaska, that helped carry me through a major business transition. When you are facing change in your professional or personal life, lean into the people around you.
Reinvention and a Growth Mindset
I have found that some of the most impactful moments of my life occurred in the depths of reinvention. Stepping into the unknown can be both an impetus for growth and a cure for stagnation.
With the belief that I can do what I set my mind to, I am more comfortable entering unfamiliar territory than resting on my laurels. Life outside my comfort zone has started to feel like an old friend.
Big goals need realistic action steps. That practice gives me a reason to keep setting new goals, often loftier than the ones that came before.
My advice is to meet change with celebration and optimism rather than apprehension.
Looking Ahead
In business, I continue to operate from the assumption that change is the only constant. I plan to keep working outside my comfort zone, exploring new product categories, and helping Fishe serve more women on and around the water.
Outside of business, the goals keep coming too. Catching a tarpon in Florida and catching a sheefish on the fly in Alaska are still the kind of adventures that keep me looking ahead.
Resilience is not something we wait to discover after change arrives. We build it over time through transferable skills, meaningful relationships, and the willingness to begin again.
I remain grateful to Sadie Maubet and Laura Bruce for inviting me to share these thoughts with Alaska Permanent Capital Management, and for the work of tenacious, dynamic businesswomen everywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Linda Leary?
Linda Leary is the founder of FisheWear. Before starting the women-focused fishing apparel company, she spent three decades at Carlile Transportation Systems and served as its president.
What does growth mindset mean to Linda Leary?
For Linda, a growth mindset means treating change as an opportunity, setting ambitious goals, breaking them into attainable actions, and remaining willing to learn outside her comfort zone.
How did Linda's transportation career influence FisheWear?
Her experience taught her strategic planning, lean operations, anticipation, relationship-building, and leadership skills that transferred into the outdoor industry even though the products were completely different.
Where was this essay originally published?
Linda originally wrote this guest essay for the Alaska Permanent Capital Management blog in 2022. This FisheWear edition preserves her core story while improving readability and structure.
Related Reading
How FisheWear Revolutionized Women's Fishing Apparel
Read the fuller founder story behind the idea, community, and purpose that shaped FisheWear.
Focus, Patience, and Reward
Hear Linda reflect on confidence, leadership, and the lessons she has learned through fly fishing.
Linda Leary on The Articulate Fly Show
Listen to another conversation about building FisheWear and creating space for women in fishing.
