Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nathan Sears. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nathan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
I certainly got to where I am today in a pretty round-about way. I think my interpretation of what I was supposed to do based on my upbringing was to chase the money first. All throughout highschool and college I would explore career options starting with the highest salaries and try to approach finding my place in the world that way. I struggled through highschool and four long years of college before I realized that I needed to start asking myself different questions and reframe my approach.
Before, I would force my way through programs that often left me discouraged, unhappy and uninspired. So, instead of asking myself what job I might fit into, I began to ask “If I could create my own job, what would it look like?” With no particular career in mind, I focused on what I would like my days to look like. Did I want to be behind a desk? Did I want to interact with customers? Would I want to visit construction sites? Would I like to work from home? Did I prefer working on a computer or with my hands?
Once I was able to answer all of these questions for myself, it helped tremendously in getting me into the right classes and opportunities that kept me intrigued and inspired. I began to see the potential in myself and how the skills that I was learning could lead to a successful career. I also cannot understate how imperative it was to get around like-minded people who understood what I was passionate about and could provide guidance.
With hindsight, I would have asked myself these questions a whole lot sooner. It’s clear to me now how I can best contribute to society, but I can only imagine how much farther I could be today had I realized these things even a couple of years earlier.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am Nathan Sears and I am a designer and leather worker. I have a Masters of Fine Arts in 3D Design and my work ranges from light fixtures and furniture, to bags and wallets using a myriad of different materials.
I started working with leather while I was still in school. Over the past few years I have worked very hard to hone my skills in leathercraft with the goal producing beautiful products that combine contemporary style with traditional techniques. I always challenge myself to make things that nobody has seen before while never compromising on functionality.
All of my products are handmade, made to last, and produced in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My brand is Nathan Sears Design and the totality of my work so far can be found at Nathansearsdesign.com.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
About a year out of graduate school, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease that causes pain, stiffness and inflammation in the joints. As a leather worker and designer, this makes pursuing my passion for working with my hands difficult and very painful at times. In a lot of instances I am no longer able to open jars and bottles that twist close, or hold bag handles that press the joints in my hands together without server discomfort. At the time, I coped or simply tried to avoided these inconveniences and accepted them as part of my new reality.
During the summer of 2024, I traveled to a design conference where one of the independent designers was producing light weight mugs with larger handles to cater to those specifically with arthritis so that the joints of your hand would not be pressed together. I was overjoyed. This one small adjustment to an everyday object made a bigger impact on me than I could have imagined.
From then on, a large portion of the products in my development have kept accessibility at the forefront. I no longer allow myself to accept pain and inconvenience due to my condition before I explore more creative ways that may help me reintroduce simple tasks into my life. While never compromising on functionality and style, I strive to produce products that make people feel seen and understood through thoughtful and clever design – the same way that I felt upon discovering something as simple as a mug.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Ironically and as silly as it may sound, the reward is in the pain.
When I was still an undergrad in design school, my instructor would walk around the room as we worked, inspecting what we were working on, and more importantly, how we worked. There was one day when he reached my table and he saw how I painstakingly paid attention to each detail, he said with a grin on his face, “You know, if you enjoy the pain and long hours of this processes, you may just be a designer”. So now every time I find myself up late banging my head against the wall trying to solve a problem with a design, I think about what he said, because I think it rings true for me. While I am of course exhausted and sometimes frustrated in that moment, I can admit to myself that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel that many designers chase the challenge, and love the puzzle, and the reward comes when you finally figure it out. That victory only becomes sweeter when whatever the thing was that you were working on also works as intended and brings joy to the user.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Nathansearsdesign.com
- Instagram: @nathansearsdesign
- Linkedin: Nathan Sears
Image Credits
Alexis Williams (@photography_by.lexie)