We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lewie DeVore. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lewie below.

Lewie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

The Steel Hide Co. story began in 1995 with a knife collection. Somewhere along the line I began collecting knives; knives I picked up here and there, gifts received, and those special knives that were passed down a couple of generations. Those passed down were the ones that sparked my interest in the hobby of making handcrafted knives. These were the knives that last, made in a time when things were done with pride in country and workmanship. That’s what I wanted to make. Friends started requesting them, and it just branched out from there.

The leather craft began with the making of sheaths for my knives. After I figured that out, my imagination ran and I started new projects. My oldest son came up with the name “Steel Hide” combining the steel of the knives with the leather of the sheaths.

Lewie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We do a variety of handcrafted leather products from wallets, purses, belts, holsters, to dog collars and leashes (and many items in between). They’re all handcrafted from American hides, and the hardware for our holsters is all American made. It’s important to us to support other “American Made” businesses. Not only are our products made in the USA, but we purchase our supplies from American companies. We are, also, proud to do what we can to support our veterans and safety forces, including K9 law enforcement. We co-sponsor a monthly care package for retired K9’s, sponsor contests, and do what we can to spread the word for this great foundation. Also, very important to us is customer service. We do what we can to make sure each and every customer has a positive experience. Every business will have issues from time to time. It’s the way you handle it that’s important. The products made in our shop are items we use ourselves. They’re designed with our own wish lists in mind, so they don’t end up in the unused holster drawer or the back of a closet.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media is a great platform for small business. Small business in bygone days had to rely on newspaper/magazine advertising and word of mouth. The world has become much smaller with the internet. Yesterday’s business dealt more locally. Today’s small business may find themselves selling their products to other countries. Social media is a cost effective way to reach millions. We started with Facebook advertising, but because we sell holsters Facebook would block our advertising (not just our holsters), which was frustrating. We saw very little sales from this platform. My wife joined Twitter and began advertising our dog collars and leashes, and stumbled across a community geared to dogs (#dogsoftwitter). As dog owners (or maybe they own us) we found the community to be very supportive of small business. The business we have done on Twitter has turned into friendships that we treasure. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are platforms we are still navigating. I think developing relationships with your customers (as in days gone by) is a lost practice. People should feel their purchases are important to the business they’re buying from. Finding what works is a “hit and miss” process. You just have to keep trying different things.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

I believe every new small business has many near death moments. You have to be willing to deal with the close calls, cash flow issues, and anything else thrown at you. It’s easy to get down, and consider throwing in the towel. Sales may not grow as fast as you’d hoped, which leads to frustration. Covid was a huge challenge to small business. Many lost their businesses due to close downs. We were fortunate to be a family business and most of our business is done online. People did a great deal of online shopping for social distancing purposes. The brick and mortar businesses, especially the restaurant businesses really took a hit in our area. It’s been a sad thing to witness.

Contact Info:

• Website: thesteelhidecompany.com
• Instagram: steel_hide_co
• Facebook: Steel Hide Leather Co.
• Twitter: @HideSteel
• Youtube: Steel Hide Leather Co.
• Other: TikTok— steelhideleather Snapchat— steel_hide