Today we’d like to introduce you to Brigit Kowalczyk. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Brett tried his hand at making a few leather items out of general interest in learning the skill. Brigit liked what he made, and she wanted to try it also. Brigit decided her first creation was going to be a leather purse because she is a big fan of purses. As they started trying their hand at making different items, we realized we could make some really beautiful things, and people loved them. Brigit has been looking for a way to transition out of her day job (dental hygiene), and this is something she enjoyed, was good at, people loved and could be sustainable long term. We still have that first purse, and looking back on it, it was good enough, but not great. It’s so fun to look at how far we’ve come when looking at the craftsmanship of our first items compared to now.
There was a big learning curve as far as figuring out what types of leather to use for which pieces, how to effectively join them, which tools to use initially vs. what we could wait on and grow into when the business grew. In addition, growing into true craftsmen/women has driven us to focus not simply on basic design but small, thoughtful touches that make our pieces stand out from the “home hobbyist” style pieces we originally made.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
LOTS OF MISTAKES = LOTS OF SUCCESSES (and failures).
Leather is unforgiving. Once the needle makes a hole, it’s there forever. It’s not like cloth, in which the holes disappear when the needle comes back out.
Some of our struggles have included learning how various types and thickness of leather behave when cut, glued, stitched, punched, tooled, and used. What works on one type of leather doesn’t work on other types, necessarily. In addition, there is very little standardization in the industry, and so much of our hardware selection, thread selection, leather selection, has taken time to refine into what we actually truly like and consider optimal for each piece instead of working with what we purchased.
We love working together and can do it for days on end, happily. On rare occasions, we will get on each other’s nerves, or one will be doing just fine with his/her project while the other is struggling. “Why don’t we stop and have a bloody Mary?” has been suggested, and used, on more than one occasion, with great results.
Another struggle that seems maybe counterintuitive is taking every bit of business that came our way. As we have been developing and growing, our skills have been building, and much of that happens when somebody wants custom work that is on the edges of our expertise. We take it as an opportunity to learn, but we’ve realized certain types of items don’t align with where we’re going as a business for various reasons. Some are too much of a headache for little profit. Some take specialized tooling that we don’t want to invest in at this point, and for some stuff there are other people we know who specialize in it and they’re very good at it, and so we like to refer to them for projects outside of our wheelhouse. We’re happy to see them get the business, and would-be customers greatly appreciate the honesty from us.
One last struggle has been really understanding what people want at a given art show. On more than one occasion, we’ve considered not putting items out in our display because they have never sold, and then that very show, we will have a run on them and be back home afterward deciding if we should make more. We’ve learned that we really have no idea what’s going to sell at a given show, which can make stocking product and planning what we’re going to take to out-of-state shows challenging.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We focus on high-quality, usable items that are intended to be beautiful and also used on a day-to-day basis. There is focus on functionality, timeless style (you won’t see us hopping on board the latest fashion crazes). We naturally tend to use earth tones but have found ourselves leaning into adding more vibrant color to our collections.
Our products are small-batch made, by hand, by us, while we’re listening to music (Brett) or paranormal and murder mystery podcasts (Brigit) (which makes Brett wonder if he should be concerned). We don’t focus on mass production; as such, generally, everything we make is more-or-less a limited run.
We order leather with more markings on it because we consider the “imperfections” to add character, and it’s not uncommon for us to make a brand or a scar on a piece of leather the focal point of a creation.
Our main product lines are purses, bags, and alcohol carriers. We feel if you’re going to take a bottle of wine to a bachelorette party, why not do it in style with a leather wine bottle carrier? Going to pick up a build-your-own six-pack at the store? Why not use our Bad-Ass Beer Carrier, start a conversation when people love your leather beer carrier, and save the environment by using something that’s reusable, all at the same time?
Finally, we have an industrial laser, and we use it to do personalize engraving and cutting on leather; and are looking to branch out into other types of promotional items for businesses (glass engraving, beer koozies, coasters, keychains, etc.).
In our experience, our “brand” is actually us as a couple. People seem to love what we’re about and we seem to be a perfect balance for each other. We have truly married our best friend, and we think that comes through in our products, our presence at art shows, and our presence on social media. We truly LOVE doing life, and we’re excited to see other people love it too!
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
We consider ourselves successful if we’re enjoying what we’re doing, and people are willing to put their trust in us for their custom projects, the products they buy for day-to-day use, and when they refer friends to us.
Success, to us, looks like when the people around us trust us. If they leave feeling they were treated with love and fairness, then that’s good, in our eyes!
We place value on being non-judgmental and take pride in making people of all walks of life feel welcomed, safe, and heard.
Success is being invited to bigger shows, being invited back to shows we’ve attended, and having people remember us from year to year, and coming back specifically to buy something from us.
Pricing:
- Lowest cost items: $5
- Highest cost items: $650
Contact Info:
- Website: www.
bbkleatherdesigns.com - Instagram: @bbkleatherdesigns
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/
BBKLeatherDesignsLLC/ - Other: Request for custom work: https://docs.google.com/
forms/d/e/ 1FAIpQLSf3DUyYHR3G78zRXugTrWTd P0mp3yDtTa1EJJ74lWGWt-6Smw/ viewform
