We are a small family business. We get so caught up in the other aspects of our brand that we forget to mention this one. Our brand is so much about the history of California, specifically Dana Point, and the hide trading that once took place here. However, our brand is just as much about the present and the future. In March of last year we welcomed our son into this world. We took some classes, read some books, assembled the cradle, registered for all the “must-haves” and sorted through the hand-me-downs we were fortunate to receive. We even hired some help for the leather business to keep us on track while we were busy changing diapers. And although we were preparing in all the ways we knew how, we could never truly be prepared for what he has brought to our lives.
He inspires us to continue to create quality leather goods that will last well into the future and to show him how good for the psyche creating anything can be. We want him to be around us in the workshop while we create, even if he just sits and plays with his toys, because we think about how in the future he could one day ask how something is made, and we can show him. Or how one day he may dig through the scraps and create something of his own. He may have an interest in designing or music or painting because he was raised in a creative environment.
Don’t get us wrong there are days where we would rather sit on the couch and fall into a youtube black hole and days where we actually do, but the point is that when an order comes in we make it back up to the shop, put in the time and take something to completion.
So many lessons in life are learned in the workshop and it excites us how the shop becomes a classroom in those moments. It’s an amazing place to be with a tiny human by your side watching your every move.
We cannot believe that he will soon be one year old and how much we have all grown this past year, him especially! This business and parenthood has truly been a lesson in remembering the past, appreciating the present and always, always planning for the future.