Stories from the Workshop

Building Boots, a Business and avoiding Burnout

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Expectations

  • Sneaker size can be your boot size.

    Or at least, a baseline. My body aches. A lot of people don’t understand how physically taxing it can be as a Bootmaker. Particularly in…

  • Accidental gatekeeping.

    I’m looking at you, boot nerds. My sewing machine handwheel finally arrived. Well actually, two did and four more are on their way. Because my…

  • The boot selling decision tree.

    It’s about flow of conversation. Sewing machine still sitting idle, the handwheel hasn’t arrived from my manufacturer yet. In the end, I started sourcing handwheels…

  • Welts are wide for a reason.

    Regardless if they’re pretty or not. I once had a customer who was new to heritage boots. Actually on second thought, this is most of…

  • The down days can get very down.

    Un-romanticizing Bootmaker life. Today it’s Sunday. Usually this is the day that I do light work. Meaning, nothing particularly physical. Perhaps only editing, sewing, patternmaking…

  • A bootmaker is like a tailor.

    Kind of, but kind of not. It’s interesting being a bootmaker in Asia, because the perception from a lot of the public is very different…

  • Expectation management is king.

    Repeat again. And again. And again. I do a lot of expectation management as a bootmaker. Arguably more than any corporate job, whether you believe…