Article by Andy Zeltkalns

The Tilley name is an iconic one in Canada; both for the Tilley Endurables brand and the man originally behind it – Alex Tilley. Alex built a brand he was proud of; Canadian-made goods with a lifetime guarantee.

“Alex’s life story is also a Canadian story that needs to be told,” says Nancy Beal, author of The Endurable Alex Tilley, the authorized biography of the man beneath the world-famous hat.

Many may know the Tilley brand and its rise to fame but Alex’s entrepren-eurial outlook on his business differed greatly from tradition. As the company’s sole owner, he made the choice to continue producing Tilley clothing entirely in Canada, despite the impact on his bottom line.

“He chose to earn less profit in order to ensure the continued employment of his beloved employees,” shares Beal. “Alex marks a new path to entrepreneurship that embodies the Canadian spirit: putting the priority on product quality, customer service and his employees. Profit was important, but secondary.”

 For Beal, the book is the next step in a long line of articles she has previously written about Alex, and a lifetime of writing, professionally and personally. While The Endurable Alex Tilley is Beal’s first published work, she has been writing all her life.

“I wrote my first book at age 10,” says Beal. “It was actually a short story, but because I had rescued a discarded book cover from the school library’s garbage can, it became the cover to my book and made it look very official.”

Since that first short story, writing had been a constant in her life. During school, career, and life changes, writing was always something she was called back to. After spending years trying different jobs and careers, developing what one employer called an “eclectic” resume, Beal was still searching for what she wanted to be when she grew up. A self-proclaimed generalist, Beal noticed a job posting for a reporter in the town she was living in at the time.

“I soon discovered that my eclectic background was a great match for the job of small-town reporter,” Beal explains.

After several years enjoying the life of a reporter, Beal was drawn back to Toronto, where she worked for the Ministry of the Environment in corporate communications.

“I loved my job, but city life wasn’t for me,” says Beal.

Beal had grown up in Toronto but recalls her first exposure to Muskoka at just three years old.

“My father thought building a cottage on Muldrew Lake was a great idea for our family,” she shares. “Forty years later, in 2002, I moved here full time. Muskoka has always felt like home, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

Once she had relocated to Muskoka, Beal continued to flex her experience in writing, freelancing as a journalist and in corporate communications.

“I discovered there were great rewards from living in a place I loved, surrounded by nature and a strong sense of community,” Beal explains.

However, Beal had to pursue additional side-jobs as compensation was much lower than in the city. She also filled her time with volunteer work, feeling strongly about contributing to the community she was living in and loved. Splitting her time among so many ventures made it challenging to focus on her own writing.

“I had been writing books and short stories in my spare time but never felt they were ready to submit to a publisher,” says Beal. 

While writing as a freelance journalist for North Country Business newspaper in 2003, Beal was assigned an article about Alex Tilley’s talk to Muskoka small business owners.

“I found myself fascinated with his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for quality and customer service,” she shares. “His Tilley hat and travel clothing had become an international success, despite all the obstacles he had to overcome – personal and professional. I admired his marketing genius and found his ads clever, humorous and inspiring. Who was this person, really?”

From that first encounter, Beal wrote more articles about Alex Tilley, including an in-depth feature for Muskoka Magazine. During the interview, Beal sailed on Lake Muskoka with Alex and Hilary Clark Cole, who would later become Alex’s wife. They had met in 1992 at Cole’s gallery in Gravenhurst. In 2011, Alex called Beal and asked her to write his biography, sharing that it was Cole’s idea.

“I was honoured to hear that they had selected me because of the accuracy they had seen in my earlier work,” Beal explains. “It has been an extraordinarily long journey with extreme ups and downs. Was it worth it? Time will tell, but I couldn’t have not completed the book. I was driven forward, even when I crawled.”

The road to publishing has been demanding and Beal has remained persistent, even when feeling discouraged.

“One friend recently told me I was the ‘poster child for what can go wrong in publishing a book,’” Beal shares. “I tried traditional publishing but found it not to be a good fit so once the contract expired, I decided to self-publish.”

She has continuously felt compelled to complete the book when she had set it aside, feeling as though she couldn’t’ move forward with anything else until this project was complete.

“If you believe in something, don’t let others dissuade you,” says Beal. “Even Alex thought his own life story could be told in just 10 pages. For a long time, it was just me and a handful of family members and friends who thought the book was promising. And Hilary. I am grateful to all of them for their support.”

With book launches this April, first at Arts & Letters Club in Toronto on April 4 and then at the Opera House in Gravenhurst on April 13, Beal is “honoured and elated to tell the story of a Canadian entrepreneur who overcame so many obstacles to fulfill his dream, serve his country and bring quality clothing to the world.”