by Melissa Fox
From the humble beginnings in his home workshop in 1972, Phil Robertson and his family built a booming business building duck calls. Not just any duck calls, Duck Commander calls; calls made for duck hunters, by duck hunters.
Phil and his family grew the Duck Commander business eventually leading to a popular series of VHS and later DVD videos called Duckmen. The pure fun of the Duckmen videos with their unforgettable titles, like A Fistful of Ducks along with the Robertson boys’ defining style led to great notoriety, corporate sponsorships, and eventually the hit television series Duck Dynasty, A&E’s most-watched program in 2012. Over 10 million viewers watched Duck Dynasty first-run shows, with the season 4 premiere boasting 11.8 million viewers alone.
Duck Dynasty was, and still is, a common reference for many families, especially our LIFE & LAND Editor, Kelly Reeves. The iconic appearance of the bearded family and the humorous camaraderie and Christian values they all shared made the Robertsons a familiar presence in the Reeves’ household. He and his boys watched the show religiously, and the admiration was obvious when we sat down to visit with Willie Robertson.
Willie Jess Robertson was born to Phil and Kay in Bernice, Louisiana in 1972. He grew up loving the outdoors, hunting, and spending a lot of his childhood around the family business. This is mostly due to the fact that Duck Commander was headquartered in Phil and Kay’s living room all the way up to the launch of Duck Dynasty. It didn’t take long for Willie to dive into working on the duck calls and answering the phones. While still a young boy, Willie first met Korie Howard at summer camp. Fast forward, he and Korie fell in love and married a year after high school. They now have six children and seven grandchildren. He credits his sweet wife for much of his success and motivation. After college, Willie took over as CEO of Duck Commander and took the family business to the next level.
It’s been 11 years since the reality TV show Duck Dynasty first aired and while a lot has changed in Willie Robertson’s life since, he confidently states that his faith is the one thing that has remained constant since the beginning. “Our faith has been very important to us for a long time and once the show happened it just gave us a bigger platform to really capitalize on sharing that faith,” says Willie.
“That [our faith] is what kept the family together all these years before the show ever even happened,” states Willie. It is that story and the story of his dad, Phil Robertson’s early life, that the soon-to-be-released movie The Blind is based on. “The movie goes back and shows what Phil and Kay’s life, and to some extent our life as little kids, looked like before faith and it was a disaster,” Willie recalled. The movie shares never-before-revealed moments in Phil’s life as he seeks to conquer the shame of his past, ultimately finding redemption where he never expected it.
“Had dad kept on down the path he was on, there wouldn’t have even been a business,” says Willie, “but after coming to faith in God, things drastically changed for our family.” With his foundation finally where it needed to be, Phil patented his double reed designed duck call and started his business, Duck Commander. That foundation, coupled with the Duck Dynasty show and Willie taking over as the CEO of the business, allowed their success to increase immensely. Despite Willie’s redneck facade, he is a brilliant businessman. His position as CEO took the family business to the next level and helped lead to a successful writing career and the launch of additional businesses, such as Buck Commander and he and his wife’s newly-formed production company, Tread Lively. Willie sees all of the continued success as just greater opportunities to share the message of Christ.
“We think back to where we were as a family before we came to know Jesus,” admits Willie, “and we think back to how our lives changed because of that. There is a real appreciation there. That’s why we don’t back down from who we are and what our values are.” It is those values that struck a chord with millions of fans across the world over the last several years and made the Robertson family a household name. While their faith wasn’t “in your face” on their TV show, it nonetheless oozed out of their story naturally because of the authenticity of their faith. The family has countless stories of people seeking to learn more and eventually finding Christ as a result of Duck Dynasty.
Even with faith as their guiding family value, Willie says they still have ups and downs just like any other family, but he adds, “Our belief in God, our belief in Jesus, and our belief that He can change our lives and still does change lives, is what gives us the platform to share with people and encourage others.” Now, with the Robertsons’ podcasts, books, national speaking engagements, and the newest television show, Duck Family Treasure, their platform to share wholesome family entertainment and the message of Christ continues to grow.
Willie is definitely a busy man with a lot on his mind at one time. Between many different work and family obligations, we were able to stump him a little when we asked, “Exactly how many duck calls does Duck Commander actually make?” Willie laughed, “Man, I don’t even know. There’s a lot. There really are a lot of different calls for different terrains, different scenarios, and different settings.” We gave him a pass since our question was pretty broad. And while he may not have had an answer for us off the top of his head about the exact number of calls Duck Commander offers, there is also no way to know just how many lives he and his family have touched.
So, whether you had a successful hunt using one of their many duck calls or, and most importantly, had your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ impacted, the inspiration of the Robertson family is amazing. For now, we are looking forward to seeing his family’s story on the big screen with the release of The Blind on September 28, 2023, and learning first-hand the story of the Robertson family from the beginning of their journey of faith, family, and ducks.
