Conversations with William Reeves

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Reeves.

Hi William, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have been tinkering, building & making things with my hands pretty much my entire life. There was always something in the back of his head, telling me that I would live off of my hands and creativity. Leather just happened to be the medium that I fell into. I wanted to be a blacksmith, but I don’t think building a forge and hammering metal in a two-bedroom apartment will be ok with the neighbors. That is why I name my business Quiet Leather Works because I would not disturb any people around me.

I started leather working in 2012 to satisfy my desire to design and create, and my interest in old-world trades led me to this medium. It all started as a hobby and a walk-in closet served as my workshop. I decided to open an Etsy shop and things started selling. It eventually snowballed and after 2 years of messing around and selling my wares, I was able to leave my corporate job.

So from my closet with my Dad’s old Stanley retractable blade, some scrap leather and an ice pick to poke sewing holes, I organically grew my hobby into a fully functioning leather workshop and business.

I love leather because you can make anything out of it. It is endlessly utilitarian. Working out of my workshop in the heart of Denver, Colorado, I am constantly learning and trying to improve my craft and continue making products that are not just pleasing to the eye, but useful.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Owning your own business is rarely easy, especially if it is a one-person operation. I hold every position in the company… owner, craftsman, accountant, inventory manager, web developer, social media director, head of sales, you get the idea.

Being self-employed means you have to hold yourself accountable for everything, the good and the bad.

You also need to be able to admit what you are NOT good at and ask for help or suggestions, or really dive in and try to get better at it.

The business has ups and downs, specifically in the financial department. I have to deal with seasons mainly. Christmas and wedding season are my good time and post-Valentine’s Day through mid-spring are my slow times. The past couple have been a bit rough during the wedding season for obvious reasons, but general online sales skyrocketed, so that helped balance it out.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Most of what pays my bills are personalized/customizable items through my Etsy shop. My big sellers are leather-wrapped flasks where I can stamp a design, quote, name, logo, etc. onto and then dye it from one of four color options. They are a big wedding season seller for wedding parties.

My other big seller is custom dog tags. Owners love them because they do not jingle like the typical metal ones.
You choose from a 1.5 ior 2 inch round, gold brass or silver eyelet color, one of four antique dye colors and provide me with the name and number you want on it.

I hand stamp every single character on the tags by hand, one by one. I am well over 50,000 individually stamped characters on the dog tags alone.

What are your plans for the future?
Making custom made to order items is a tough type of business to scale, so I think I am just going to keep on trucking along slowly while trying to come up with new products to make.

I have made a handful of videos on youtube showing my making process, but have fallen off of that for a while.
I hope to get back into that in the next year because it is really fun to see the final cut of the videos, but I am not a fan of the editing part.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuietLeather
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quietleather
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quietleather/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/wbljr13
• Other: https://www.quietleather.com/