The West Isn’t Standing Still.

Neither Are They.

In Cheyenne, history isn’t something preserved behind glass. It’s something people live, build on, and push forward every day. This is a place shaped by grit and momentum, where rodeo champions, artists, makers, and risk-takers don’t wait for permission. They ride first. Create first. Show up first.
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These are the Trailblazers behind Cheyenne’s next chapter – individuals who embody the spirit of the New OldWest. Their stories don’t just reflect Cheyenne. They move it.

Chad Brown

Chad Brown didn’t come back to Wyoming for nostalgia. He came back to build. As co-founder of Pine Bluffs Distilling, he turned open farmland into a working grain-to-glass distillery, growing what he can, sourcing what he needs locally, and staying close to every part of the process.

There’s a steadiness to the way he operates. Early mornings. Long days. A focus on doing it right instead of doing it fast. The result isn’t just a bottle on a shelf. It’s something shaped by where it’s made and who made it. Chad’s story is about returning to wide-open ground and deciding to create something that belongs there.

Chad Brown

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Pine Bluffs Distilling

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Pine Bluffs Distilling

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Juan Coronado

Juan Coronado builds the kind of spaces he wants to see in Cheyenne. As co-owner of Railspur in the West Edge district, He helped turn a former railroad spur into a gathering place for coffee, food, drinks, and live music, a space that has become part of Cheyenne’s growing cultural scene. It came together in just six months, and that early hustle still defines it.

Juan trained in Denver before coming back to Cheyenne to launch concepts like Los Conejos and eventually Railspur. What he created is more than a restaurant. It is a gathering place that hosts DJs, pride events, symphony after-parties, and pop-ups from local makers. He is expanding what the West looks like here, adding new energy while staying rooted in the city that raised him.

Juan Coronado

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Railspur

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Alexis Garrett

Before Alexis Garrett opened a storefront, she opened her garage. When she couldn’t find a handbag that felt right for her life, she designed and stitched one herself, starting at a worktable and figuring it out as she went. That hands-on beginning became Alexis Drake, a leather brand now rooted in downtown Cheyenne where craftsmanship still happens in full view.

What makes her story different is how open she keeps the door. Customers choose their leather, linings, and hardware. Production happens under the same roof as retail inside the historic former Rex Hotel. Young employees get hands-on experience in design, sourcing, and craftsmanship, often exposed to a global side of fashion from right here in Wyoming. Alexis is not trying to make Cheyenne something it is not. She is proving that high design, heritage, and entrepreneurship can share the same block.

Alexis Garrett

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Alexis Drake

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Alexis Drake

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Alexis Drake

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Brody Cress

Brody Cress made Cheyenne Frontier Days history when he won back-to-back saddle bronc titles, something that had not happened in nearly 90 years. For him, though, the buckle is not the headline. It is the work behind it. The hours on horseback, the film study, the off-season training, and the decision early on to take a rodeo scholarship to Texas and commit fully to the sport.

Brody competes at the highest level, qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo multiple times and earning major wins across North America, but he still talks about being a student of the sport. He studies it. He respects it. He wants to leave it better than he found it. Whether he is riding at Cheyenne Frontier Days or mentoring younger athletes at clinics, he carries the same mindset. Stay grounded. Keep improving. Represent home well.

Brody Cress

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Renee and Jon Jelinek

Renee and Jon Jelinek are helping turn Cheyenne into a year-round music stop, not just a rodeo town. Their biggest project, The Lincoln, transformed a 1928 theater into a 1,200-capacity live music venue that now draws national touring acts and packed crowds downtown.

They built it without prior music industry experience, driven by a simple idea: create a place where you are close enough to the stage to actually feel it. Today, The Lincoln anchors a growing downtown scene, giving visitors another reason to plan a night out in Cheyenne that has nothing to do with a saddle.