It's always fun writing about your friends. I met Katy Hover-Smoot when she moved to Tahoe from the Bay Area and wanted a desk at the co-working space I own, the Tahoe Mill Collective. Katy was working for Specialized Bicycles at the time, but eventually, she left the comforts of her 9-5 job and decided to start her own women's mountain bike apparel company, now called Wild Rye. Katy started Wild Rye at the Mill but has since grown and expanded into her own private office.

I recently met Katy in her office for a sit-down chat about what it took to get her company off the ground, the mistakes and lessons she's learned along the way, and why's still not quitting her day job as an art history professor.

Read the full story on OutsideOnline.com.