From Bad Situation to Enjoying Every Day
Leatherwork started as a hobby in 2014 for me after taking only 2 courses that were a few hours each. It's expensive to start and so I sold some pieces here and there to be able to pay for more tools and expand the types of projects I could do over time. It also helped to have work where I could sit down as I fell down the stairs in 2012, shredding my ACL (the ligament inside of my knee).
In 2016, I was forced to quit my lifelong career as a mental health case manager because my knee was in terrible shape, experiencing 13 dislocations from 2012-2016. Out of those 13 dislocations, 4 were bad enough to require relearning to walk after extensive time on crutches. My employer was less than sympathetic to my physical health plight and the private insurance industry is too expensive to be helpful to non-upper class workers. With public aid, I went through 2 surgeries over a year and a half and could not fit my affected foot into a shoe for the entire time due to complications that mimicked lymphedema. Leatherwork (and creating things in general) had inadvertently become my only income source while I spent 2 years in physical therapy, a year in lymphedema physical therapy, and another 2 years doing it on my own. In 2020, my limp was finally gone and I could finally walk the length of a building again without being wiped out. Creating and crafts has always been a part of my life since I can remember, but now it had gotten me through years of not being able to walk.
Since 2014, I have grown to needing an entire studio with racks of different leathers and maker "ingredients." We do in-person vending, meeting fantastic people all year round. I try to add new design lines ~4 times per year. It is such a joy to recognize my work when I find it randomly in pictures posted online or even better when customers find me again to show me in person at shows and events.
I never hated going to work before, but now I wake up to enjoying every day.
