How it Started.
I did a learning activity recently where I had to describe myself. I wrote things like witty, quick, creative, reflective and in big letters at the top I wrote, MOM. Perhaps my biggest accomplishment to date (I can’t imagine I will ever top it!) is that I have 4 fantastic kids that I am super proud of. They are in no small part responsible for my self-esteem and courage.
My fantastic kids married fantastic people and gave me the best thing that ever happened to me, grandkids! My husband is the Papa to my Nana, my partner in life and on the golf course. He supports me even when he is skeptical and carries my abysmal golf game when we play together in tournaments (l would like to say with minimal frustration, but that is not true!).
Years ago I decided to do something I had always wanted to do, go to nursing school. It was long and hard and kids and husbands had to make their own lunches but we did it! Later, I went back to school for a masters degree so I could teach nursing. It was long and hard and kids and husbands had to do their own laundry but we did it! I enjoy nursing and teaching nursing. Nursing was a lifelong goal and I am so glad I did it.
But.... I have discovered what I really want to do is make bags. I am a bag person! I love bags. Usually, the bigger the better and made out of gorgeous leather. But I could never find what I really wanted. I decided to make my own. Ya know, as you do and I enlisted the help of my daughter. We began making patterns and learning the art of leatherworking. I was hooked and the pursuit of finding the perfect bag turned into creating the perfect bag. It wasn't long before my friends, friends of friends, daughters, daughter-in-law, sons, son-in-laws, sisters, mom, dad, son-in-law's mother, daughter-in-law's mother and my hair stylist were all sporting bags I had made. No one was safe.
Over the course of a couple of years my spare bedrooms became overrun with leather scraps, patterns, leatherworking tools, and bags of every color and style imaginable. Everyone I knew had a bag or bags, plural. I realized, I either need to do something with this or stop! As luck would have it, one day on the golf course a friend (who has been a BIG early supporter of Hunter Hill Bag Co.) suggested that I ask another friend, who owns a small boutique (Barbed Wire & Lace), if I could put some bags in her shop. Just too see how it would go. I did and she agreed.
She sold two before I made it home from her shop! By the end of the week, she was asking me to bring more. People began asking when the next batch of bags would arrive and would be waiting when I arrived at the shop. And the rest, as they say, is history.
That is how Hunter Hill Bag Co. came to be, through the love of bags and the support of family, friends and my hair stylist. They made patterns, filmed commercials, built cutting tables, organized photo shoots, modeled in photo shoots, read the fine print (and told me what it said), offered marketing advice, created logos and websites, sacrificed shop space, colored my gray and managed social media.
I’ve always thought how nice it is when people find their passion. It has taken me awhile, but I’ve found mine. I am so excited to share it with you!
Welcome to my happy place. I hope you like your bags (plural)!
- Cheryl