MCKINNEY, Texas — Amy Robbins has jogged her entire life.
"I love running," Robbins said from her home in McKinney. "Running is where my ideas come to me, running is where I'm able to connect and to meditate and to get my best thoughts."
But even with all those miles logged, Robbins has never run from anything.
"I feel like giving women the ability to defend and protect themselves is one of the most important things that I could do to give back to society," she said.
Robbins looked at a hard truth: Running as man is simply a different experience than running as a woman. Her goal was to to level the playing field.
"I can remember running out on these old country roads by myself thinking 'if something were to happen to me, if someone were to drive past me at this point and they wanted to do something to me what am I going to do?'" she said.
What she did do was arm herself – and for Robbins that meant a pistol.
"The best way to not live paranoid is to live prepared," she said.
Turns out, she's not alone. There are plenty of industry-funded studies that will tell you more women are buying guns.
Here in Texas, the numbers speak for themselves.
According to the Department of Public Safety back in 2007, 18 percent of women (18.33%) made up all concealed handgun license holders. Ten years later, that number grew to nearly 29 percent (29.89%).
Now, back to Amy and her very real problem. How does a women jog and carry a fire arm?
"I did a lot of burpies and a lot of jumping jacks to make sure that the retention was nice and so that you could carry in a safe manner," she said.
Here's what she came up with: yoga pants with special pockets designed to safely carry and conceal a weapon.
"When I started looking at this I thought, 'I am not alone,'" she said. "There are other women who are truly desiring to have stylish functional designs that are out there on the market."
She never imagined her DIY solution would become her life's work.
"We sold our house, we mapped out a plan, we said we're going to use this amount of money for our first round of inventory and then cross our fingers and hope it sold," she said. "And it did."
That investment turned into Alexo Athletica, a company she and her husband run from their home in McKinney.
They've turned it into a full-fledged clothing brand. Turns out, gun-holstered-yoga pants don't sit well with everyone.
"I don't understand how women defending themselves is a controversial issue," Robbins said.
In the last year, her company has enjoyed the viral pros and cons that come with building a brand that combines the word yoga and weapon.
"I'm not insane to think that every woman wants to carry a firearm, but I want every woman to have the option to choose how they defend themselves," Robbins said.
Robbins isn't the only company setting her sights on this demographic. Take last year's NRA convention in Dallas.
Yes, you're looking at lingerie for a person who feels they need extra protection in the bedroom.
And it's not just accessories. Gun design is changing, too. Take Glock. The Austrian manufacturer just released this compact pistol.
For Robbins, there's no debate: Women want a way to arm themselves, and her proof is in the orders that just keep coming.
"I think that women should go run whenever they want to wherever they want to do whatever they want to do but just have the tools and the resources to take care of yourself," Robbins said.
Last year was a test for Alexo Athletica – a test to see if there was a need for their product.
This year, they're all in and plan to keep working, whether you like it or not.
