Starting a business from scratch is a daunting task for most anyone, especially someone with no prior business experience. But for Sarah Calhoun, founder and owner of Montana-based Red Ants Pants, the desire for better fitting, functional work pants was the spark she needed to make the leap into the world of small business and entrepreneurship.

Speaking to an audience of fellow business owners Friday as the keynote address at the Salt Lake Chamber’s Small Business Summit, Calhoun explained how she came into entrepreneurship sort of accidentally, having grown tired of wearing men’s work pants that didn’t fit her female frame. Raised on a farm in rural Connecticut, she was always having to wear heavy-duty pants designed for men to do work around the property. When she decided to get into the apparel business, she found an audience hungry for what her company was making, she said.