12/29/2025
Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. Many years ago I carried the weight of a profession that was immense and challenging beyond words. As a young professional, I still desired the work of my hands that brought me peace with what I could create with my hands rather than the words I spoke or the decisions I made. During this difficult time I found harmony by strolling through a local market in NY where I met the Amish that had driven hours to sell their goods. Intrigued by their leather goods, I asked if I could see the process where they made them. Needless to say the Amish are a very tight community that does not commonly invite the outsiders into their homes. After months of many conversations and persistence they allowed me to enter and work in their saddle shop. No phones were allowed from the outside world- underneath side eyes and conversations with a strong German dialect- this kept me guessing what they thought of me and what my purpose was. In that shed of gas lamps, no electricity and disconnected from the outside world, I fell in love with the heritage of old tools, techniques and sewing machines. Each weekend I drove hours away from home, job and family for this passion. Every time I drove down the old gravel road to their shop, I started becoming a regular. In their world, time stood still for me. I didn’t find the modern distractions, but instead found laughter, enjoyment and a purpose for my curiosity and talent. Being that I learned so much from them about tooling, processes and equipment, I started to design and make products that were outside their norm. They were intrigued by my creativity and loved my creations. Unfortunately, after a long realtonship, healing and inner peace I moved away from NY. I will never forget the last day leaving them as it was full of handshakes, hugs, some crying, and always an arm full of baked goods. Seeing them wave goodbye replaced the once curious looks and stern faces from an outsider. I will cherish those moments forever and like I stated in the beginning, life does not get better by chance it gets better by change. Therefore, with the holidays behind us, orders shipped and the shop cleaned. I am packing my bags embarking on a similar journey far, far away to learn more old world techniques by exposing myself to an older culture and techniques of leatherwork to bring back new designs, ideas and stories that inspire our work and mission. Please follow our journey, page and what goes into our work. “Bent, Never Broken”. Beasley and Company 🇺🇸
https://beasleyandcompanyleather.com/
