Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Helleksen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

How I started working with leather sounds a little crazy. I grew up attending local mountain man rendezvous as a child, so I had an early appreciation of leathers + furs. My grandmother had also taught me how to sew as a child, so I had that skill that has followed my through my life, as well. Fast forward to my 34th birthday [in 2017] – I was gifted an Amazon gift card and was a little stumped on what to spend on myself vs my kids. I decided to go back to my childhood roots + purchase some leather tools, and self-teach myself how to make small goods. I thought, “if I could make my mom + myself a wallet, that would be pretty awesome!”

For a year and a half I would work on my own patterns, follow other leather workers on social media to see what types of leathers they used for projects + where they source their leathers from in my spare time. I started on my kitchen floor, hammering + punching each hole before I hand-stitched each project together. An average size purse would take about 12-14 hours.

I decided, after some confidence, to set-up at a makers fair. I worked non-stop for months and produced about 10 handbags, maybe a dozen wallets, a basket of bracelets + one earring stand of earrings. I nearly sold out of everything + even had a few custom orders. I was astonished + that’s when I knew, this is what I should be doing.

I hand-stitched for another year + a half, when my husband told me I should really invest in an industrial sewing machine to save my hands. That was quite a big move for me, as I was going from a hobby-ish game to a business mind-set, as these machines aren’t cheap! But it has been the best thing for my body + production time. I can make double the inventory in the time it took me to produce one purse.

I started attending all the local markets, wineries/breweries, art + music festivals, under my 10×10 tent. I decided to start carrying a small selection of hand-crafted clothing + accessories from makers I’ve met along the way and people really loved my stuff! We had an opportunity to turn an Avion camper trailer [very similar to an Airstream camper] into a traveling boutique, in 2019, and that is what we did! Completely gutted it + made it so I can carry all my leather goods along with all the amazing clothing + jewelry I find. We still attend markets, festivals, wineries + breweries but on a larger scale, since August of 2020. Seasonally, due to being located in MN, where our winters are long but I do attend indoor holiday markets, without my trailer, whom we refer to as ‘Suki’.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I went from being a full time mom + bartender, hobbyist leather worker to a more available full time mom + leather worker.

I love using all types of leather weights to make purses, totes, overnight bags to wallets + accessories. I don’t toss out any scraps of leather, so nothing goes to waste! No kidding, I have a dozen totes of just scraps.

I think what sets me apart from others in this industry, is that I have a hard time saying ‘no’. I believed this early on, as saying no would hinder my ability…I give myself time + grace and after certain amount of time I just can’t get it, then I decline a project. That has happened once, and I do say no to those requests now, gun holsters. But other than that, I take several custom orders that aren’t in my routine, revel roots, line. I’ve realized over the last couple years how rare it really is to find leather workers, especially local ones, and how many people really appreciate good, quality work + are willing to invest their own hard-earned money on leather goods.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Some of the key milestones that took place to scale it from a hobby to my full-time career was getting into a business mindset, which difficult for me bc I have an artist brain, not a math/numbers brain. But having a husband that has a math/number brain is been a great balance + asset to keeping me on track. Also, getting yourself an accountant is an invaluable part to keeping a business afloat.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my business/clientele has been staying true to myself. Communication is key + keeping an open mind for future projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.revelroots.co
• Instagram: revel_roots
• Facebook: Revel Roots

Image Credits
Image credit: Natalie Rose Photography