Today we’d like to introduce you to Jess Goehner

Hi Jess, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

As a child, I told everyone I wanted to be an artist first and foremost and I spent my younger years trying all sorts of fine arts and crafts- taking local rec center classes to make mosaics or cross stitch samplers, making polymer clay food and dishes for my dollhouse, painting and drawing, and practicing hammering nails into wood while my dad worked on a project. But, learning to sew at a very young age changed me completely. I dove into sewing clothes for myself and my dolls and stuffed animals and basically never stopped sewing.

Throughout my teen years I focused more on fine art- developing largescale paintings, drawings, photographs- many of them having sewing accents in them (a painted iron, adding fibers to my watercolor pieces, linework resembling thread. I thrifted with friends consistently over the years, gathering fabric but also picking up vintage travel bags, purses, and small luggage to use and eventually to sell on Etsy after college.

My business, Directive, feels like it came out of nowhere, but it had been percolating for years while I sorted out exactly what I wanted to make to sell. Paintings and drawings felt harder to promote, felt more wasteful, than making something like functional art. I made my first bags under Directive out of lightweight canvas and cotton webbing- both were completely not functional, but they earned me a spot in a local holiday maker market in Milwaukee. Once in the show, I picked Directive as my business name- it formerly was going to be a zine I was working on (I should pick it up again), and I got to work making handpainted canvas bags. And the business became something. My first show was a huge success even though I had no idea what I was really doing. I figured it out and am still figuring it out nearly twelve years later.

After a year or two of making canvas bags I had incorporated some vinyl into my work for durability. At that point, I met a gentleman at another craft show who told me he worked for a Milwaukee tannery and asked if I could make twenty handpainted pouches, but in leather. I had no idea exactly how to work with leather, and my attempt to apprentice with a local bag maker was turned down when the man didn’t want to have to train me. So I decided to forge ahead on my own, to teach myself through a lot of trial and error.

Having a contact in the tannery meant I was able to buy overrun hides- surplus leather or leather that didn’t meet specifications for the large production houses that purchased from the tannery. More and more of my self-drafted designs were made out of leather as I moved away from handpainting and canvas work. Leather is a unique material- it naturally will have inconsistencies, marks, scars, stretchiness along the belly. And, for now at least, leather is the most durable item you can make a bag out of- it should last a very, very long time.

Directive has been my primary job since 2018, when I was forced to make it work. I’ve made hundreds, probably thousands of bags with just my two hands and a very basic industrial sewing machine. My designs have shifted over the years, adding colorful leathers, more elaborate construction techniques, and offering custom work. I have taught others how to work in leather at a college, had a handful of interns to teach over the years, and offered a few wine and craft classes so others can experience the material and make their own clutch or wallet.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

Being an artist and small business for so long has required me to ride the waves multiple jobs before I was fully employed by Directive, the waves of covid, the initial post covid boom and bust, and then moving across the country to a new city in Virginia to start all over again.

Beginning again in a new city, initially with no market for my work here on the Atlantic has me touching base with my roots- the kid sewing doll clothes and making paintings, the art school college kid wearing vintage covered in paint splatters or dresses made from t-shirts. It’s incredibly stressful to rely on others to understand your work, the costs and time that go into it, and want to purchase from you. It also can be disheartening, stifling for creativity, so I have been reconnecting with drawing, looking at old work, visiting museums and doing a lot of thinking. Having a creative life that also needs to pay the bills is not for the weak- it’s one of the most difficult experiences of my life. But I wouldn’t choose anything else, there is no other option that looks better than working long hours making leather bags and clothing in my studio.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I am a one-woman leatherworking business making modern handbags, backpacks, briefcases, accessories and more out of my garage studio. I offer seasonal leather colors to give my customers fresh options to wear based on the season and I work on many custom builds including luggage and eventually jackets and other clothing for specific clientele.

Being adaptable has been the thing that I am proud of- it’s a requirement in my field and as a creative to have to roll with the punches, to fix what didn’t work, to make changes to the plan. I couldn’t be in business without it.

What makes you happy?

After moving to a new state, I found myself a bit lost in life- What did I want? What did I like? How do I feel good and comfortable in a new place? How can I produce work I care about at the speed and efficiency I was used to?

I have spent this time relearning that I need a few things to be happy daily- outside time which usually involves a long walk or a jog, talking to my husband and friends about life and work helps me get out of my head, taking breaks from being too online helps, and allowing myself space to take care of myself physically and creatively makes me happy.

And dogs. Let me pet all the dogs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopdirective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopdirective
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopdirective