Today we’d like to introduce you to Lenise Williams.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lenise. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I left my career as an attorney to pursue Made Leather Co full time. The idea started after a trip to speak at a United Nations Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2016. While there, I fell in love with the city, especially the leather tanneries and the craftsmanship of leather goods. I had dreamed of having a product-based business for years, as it was a way to do something I enjoyed and also teach my two sons more about business and the retail industry. While traveling back to the United States, I realized that the bags that I adored could be the product-based business that I had been dreaming of. I returned home and immediately put a plan in place, and soon after that I began importing leather goods from artisans in Morocco.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road has not been smooth. While I enjoy my business, it has come with plenty of ups and downs. I struggled with finding the right quality bags, issues with international shipping, being cheated, and plenty of pains that came with growth. Also, as a mother, it isn’t very easy to find that right balance in being a full time entrepreneur and also a full time devoted mother.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Made Leather Co provides high-quality vegetable tanned genuine leather products that are handcrafted by artisans in Morocco. We sell these items online as well as wholesale to retail locations nationwide. Our products are created from vegetable-tanned leather. Many of the products that you find in the retail stores are created from chromium tanned leather. Tanning is the process of transforming hide into the leather that can be used for craft. Vegetable tanning is a natural process that takes much longer than chromium tanning, which is chemical-based. Also, the vegetable-tanned leather looks unique and is much better for the environment, as well as the skin as the chemically based method often causes skin irritation. Many people may think that they are allergic to leather, but they may be allergic to the chemicals used to treat the leather.
Additionally, all of our bags are produced in small batches by hand. Each pattern is cut by hand, stitched, and colored by hand. This allows for no two bags to ever be the same. Every bag is “perfectly imperfect”.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the diversity of Atlanta and that every area in the city offers a different vibe. I also appreciate the opportunities to learn and network with so many creative entrepreneurs that live in Atlanta. Additionally, I love my children’s schools and the opportunity for them to be raised around so much diversity as well. I dislike traffic!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1345 Seaboard Industrial, Atlanta, GA 30318
- Website: www.madeleatherco.com
- Email: hello@madeleatherco.com
- Instagram: @madeleatherco
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/madeleatherco
Image Credit:
Elijah Davis, Danny G. Photography, A. Carlton Miller
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