How I Built a Cultural Brand for Women in Mining

Peggy Bell
Oct 11
4 min read

Mine Like a Woman is a cultural brand that tells the story of women in mining through design, history, and emotion. It began as a creative project under Peggy Bell Design and evolved into something much deeper, a global platform celebrating identity, heritage, and pride in the people who shape the mining industry.

Each shirt, soundtrack, and story is built to connect people to mining culture, showing that this work is not only technical but human.

Members of Womens Mining Coalition at the 2025 Washington Fly-in

How It Began

Peggy Bell Design started as a space to explore creativity and design within the mining sector. The shirts I made were fun and well received, often worn by people proud to show their connection to mining. But over time, I realized the designs were becoming generic. I was designing for algorithms, not for meaning.

The turning point came when I looked at my most popular design, Mine Like a Woman. It stood out because it said something real. It represented belonging, pride, and visibility for women in an industry built on resilience. That design became the foundation for a new direction, a cultural brand that celebrates people who live and work at the heart of mining.

Early Art Direction

Inside a cozy diner with wood-paneled walls, a smiling waitress with red hair in a retro yellow and orange uniform hands a white coffee mug to a seated customer. The customer, wearing a dark shirt and with long locs tied back, looks up warmly at the waitress. Through the window behind them, a desert landscape and an old mining structure are visible, adding a nostalgic, small-town atmosphere to the scene.

A woman stands confidently in front of an old mining site set against a rugged mountain landscape at sunset. She wears a beige T-shirt tucked into high-waisted jeans with a brown belt, holding a wooden-handled tool by her side. Her expression is strong and determined, with warm light highlighting her face and hair. The scene captures a sense of resilience and pride in the mining heritage.

Building a Cultural Brand for Women in Mining

When I started developing Mine Like a Woman, I wanted to move beyond product and into purpose. The goal was to create designs that honored mining’s past while reflecting its modern identity. I imagined shirts that could start conversations about what mining is today, not just what it used to be.

The brand draws inspiration from industrial Americana and mining heritage, such as Route 66, union halls, and vintage band tees. I wanted to build a world that connected the human side of mining to modern design. The creative direction became a blend of nostalgia and renewal, balancing retro color palettes, symbolic imagery, and storytelling that feels lived in.

Heritage Design and Collaboration

Every symbol carries intention. Skulls represent renewal, a universal emblem of life cycles and endurance. The pickaxe nods to mining’s roots and the people who shaped its culture.

To ground that vision in authenticity, I partnered with Phalicitee Thomas, a Safety Coordinator at Resolution Copper and a gifted photographer. Her photos of real mining sites brought the designs to life, capturing strength and care in equal measure. These images helped define the visual language of the brand, one that honors both the history of the work and the people doing it now.

Immersive Branding and Storytelling

I believe branding should feel immersive. It should engage all senses. For Mine Like a Woman, that meant building an experience where someone could wear a shirt, read a story, and listen to music that carries the same emotion.

The Mine Like a Woman Soundtrack became part of that experience. Each song captures a different rhythm, heritage, defiance, reclamation, and collective spirit. Together they form a story about belonging and strength. Music connects the brand’s emotional layers, turning mining culture into something you can feel as well as see.

Immersive branding, for me, is the intersection of design, emotion, and story. It is where fabric holds memory and creativity gives language to identity.

Close-up of a person wearing an olive-green shirt with the white text “Mine Like a Woman” printed on the back. Their long hair falls over one shoulder, softly lit by natural light. On the right side of the image, stylized text reads “The Originals Soundtrack” with a hand-drawn red heart above and a small music note icon below, suggesting a link to a playlist or album. The background is softly blurred, creating a warm, nostalgic tone.

The Originals Soundtrack

Designing with Purpose

Every piece begins with research. I look for images, archives, and lived experiences that reflect both history and hope. The blanks I use are intentionally chosen, vintage inspired and made from natural materials sourced through TapStitch, to ensure each product feels thoughtful and distinctive.

When my intern Rio joined Peggy Bell Design, she created our first launch reel. Using a vintage television clip, she produced a short video that captured the soul of the brand. That video inspired our 1984 UK Miners’ Strike series, connecting women’s leadership, solidarity, and LGBTQ activism. Each episode feels like rewatching history, care and courage revisited through time.

A vintage yellow television sits on a matching yellow surface and background. On the screen, an image shows a woman wearing a green hard hat, reflective jacket, and lavender “Mine Like a Woman” shirt featuring floral artwork. She holds a mining tool over her shoulder, standing confidently in an industrial setting with mining structures behind her. Bold orange text on the screen reads “MINE LIKE A WOMAN,” with the phrase “THE RELAUNCH” in gold above it, giving the image a nostalgic yet empowering tone.

The reel that inspired a concept

The Response and the Community

The reaction was immediate. Women who owned the original Peggy Bell designs returned to buy new ones under the Mine Like a Woman label. Conference organizers, collaborators, and industry leaders began reaching out, drawn to the cultural storytelling behind the designs.

The community continues to grow. It includes engineers, operators, geologists, and advocates who wear their pride not only for their profession but for the values they represent. Mine Like a Woman has become a meeting point for people who see mining as more than work. It is heritage, care, and creativity in motion.

The 1984 UK Miners Strike

What I Learned About Brand Identity

This journey taught me that identity is not built overnight. It grows through feedback, reflection, and persistence. Shirts may be the product, but the real work is community building.

An authentic brand does not start perfect. It starts honest. When you lead with meaning, design becomes more than aesthetic; it becomes connection. Every story, song, and shirt adds to a living archive of mining culture.

Next on my list is an Ugly Christmas Sweater collection and a soundtrack inspired by Fairytale of New York by The Pogues. Culture should always leave room for joy