The universe has always been good to us at Driftless Tannery. Let me explain.
Driftless Tannery started with very little capital investment. Just a few hundred dollars from our family budgets. We wrote a business plan which included getting a bank loan and signing up for training from Organic Sheepskins in the UK, the only place in the world offering such training. We met with our local Small Business Development Center to map out a plan. That plan was to get training, spread the word, and start gathering hides… Then in March of 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic locked down the world. We couldn’t travel for training. It felt too risky to go to the bank for a loan but we needed capital. So we set up a small farm stand and sold perennial plants. Plants that came from our amassed personal gardens. We posted it on our local Soil Sisters* listserve and we sold out of plants day one. So we dug up some more plants and we sold out of those. As soon as we ran out of spare pots, friends showed up with pots for us to reuse. Friends brought both empty pots and pots they donated full of perennials from their own yards. As soon as our farm stand emptied it was replenished by our community. We earned enough that first week to purchase a small piece of equipment. And so it went for the past five years. We didn’t keep the farm stand open, but when we are faced with a challenge, financially or otherwise, a solution shows up. The universe provides. It has dozens of times over the past 5 years.
As we move into our 6th year of business we received our latest signal from the universe. We have seen an increase in the demand for our services and we feel ready to invest in some equipment to handle the increased workload. A couple of weeks ago, we began planning a trip to the UK to see other natural sheepskin tanneries like ours and to learn what equipment they use to help manage the process. After all these years of operating a tannery we had never actually seen another operation. Last week, Legacy Leathers, a custom leather tannery working in the fashion industry, contacted us. They are moving their operation from Sheboygan, Wisconsin to Tennessee and they will have some extra equipment that they won’t be bringing with them! So yesterday, we took our first tannery tour at Legacy Leathers in Sheboygan. Dan, the owner, was amazing. He’s been in the leather business since 1997. He spent over an hour with us imparting knowledge and showing us how things work. His tannery is full of equipment, old and new. While the leather industry is different than ours in many ways, the equipment we use is universal. We got to see some machines in action and found that he has many smaller pieces that he no longer employs that will definitely help us here!
We are still planning our trip to the UK and Wales in January. Yesterday confirmed our belief that seeing other natural sheepskin tanneries is a must at this stage of our journey. We are so grateful for the willingness of Organic Sheepskins and Welsh Organic Tannery to show us around their operations and we can’t wait to share with you what we learn here and on our social media accounts.
Thank you, as always, for sharing this journey with us and for supporting our tiny tannery.
*Soil Sisters are a community of people who identify as women supporting each other, building networks locally and nationally and sharing the inspiring stories of our successes alongside failures and learning along the way, inspiring more women to follow their dreams of cultivating soil and community. You can find out more about this dynamic group of women here.