When Kerry Frost was young, women were not considered to be full citizens of the United
States.
This meant women were not allowed to vote, and in many cases, they could not earn their
own wages or own property.
Kerry Frost didn't let those limitations define her.
She had her own unique path to forge in the world.
As a young girl, Kerry loved fly fishing, a sunshine reflecting on the water, the little
whoosh sound of casting a line, the big fat trout you could catch in Wisconsin streams.
She loved it all.
But at the time, fly fishing was considered a man's sport.
There are many stereotypes about what women and men are supposed to do, and back then,
fly fishing was considered unladylike.
But Kerry loved the outdoors.
She spent her childhood in the streams with her dad and siblings as much as she could.
Kerry's father was a skilled angler, and when she was young, she wanted to impress
him by learning all of the tricks of fly fishing, like how to stalk a fish in super stealth
mode, minimizing noise and vibrations, so that it didn't swim away.
She learned how to fish the drift and shoot the line.
She perfected the hopper dropper and the snake roll.
She was a natural, and eventually, she was better than her dad.
People from Steven's point even called Kerry and her father, Steven's points experts in
the sport.
Kerry dreamt of spending all of her days fishing in streams, but when it came time to graduate
from school, Kerry started thinking about what she might do as a grown-up.
Her choices were limited.
Most women could not earn their own wages, so that was out.
Single women could, but there were very few careers acceptable for women.
Kerry started working as a school teacher, but dreamt day and night about fish.
One day out on the river, Kerry loaded on her fly, cast out her line, and then reeled
it back in.
Cast out her line again, and reeled it back in.
Here was a champion fly fisher, but these fish were just not biting.
She inspected the fly.
It was one of those common European made flies that all the fly fishers used.
It would just not do.
Kerry had an idea.
What if the flies were made of the fur and feathers of local animals that the fish were
more used to?
Eager to create something new, Kerry got to work.
Kerry gathered local feathers, animal fur, and bristles from deer tails.
She laid out all her Wisconsin wonders and started making flies right at her parents'
kitchen table.
Soon, fisherman and Stephen's point started taking notice, because the fish were biting.
Demands for Kerry's flies grew quickly, and so she asked the housekeeper and her family's
home to help make more.
When some of her friends from town wanted to earn their own money and joined in, soon
there was an all-female fly-making workforce set up in Kerry's parents' home.
They even had a feather-dying operation in their basement.
In 1896, Kerry opened her own fly tackle business.
It was so unconventional for a woman to own a business that she was worried that men might
not buy her flies if they knew the company was owned by a woman.
She used her initials instead of her first name, to help the company be successful, despite
the time she lived in.
Her business grew and grew.
To keep up with demands, she had to keep moving to bigger and bigger buildings, hiring more
and more women to tie flies.
At one point, Kerry employed over 150 people.
Almost all of them were women.
Kerry Frost created new career and financial opportunities for women and Stephen's point
of Wisconsin.
Around Kerry's time, people all over the country were working to expand women's rights.
Today, much more work is still needed to bring equal rights to all people.
Kerry's story shows us what is possible when you listen to your passions and follow your
dreams, despite the odds and stereotypes of your time.