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

Orlando, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

It all started with any wife wanting to make keychains for our wedding party. We found a local leather supply store to pick some material and hardware. At this time we had zero intentions of turning this into a business. I used an old leather keychain I already owned and used for a few years for inspiration. With a simple tools such as an xacto knife, a ruler, and the hardware from the leather supply store I made a few keychains.

We still had about 3 keychains left after we gave them to our wedding party. My wife gave me the idea of opening an Etsy shop to post the last 3 for sale and so I did. To our surprise, we had our first sale a week later. Someone ordered a keychain.

I was already hooked. Turning raw material combined with brass hardware to make a keychain. The creative side of me sparked. I turned to youtube to learn from other leather crafters, ordered more material, and got some basic leather craft tools to started exploring. The first year was R&D and honing the craft. All sales at this time was invested back into getting better material and tools.

Orlando, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My wife and I love jumping into our car and exploring National Parks. Living in SoCal we have so many just a few hours away from us. This why you will notice many of goods are named after parks such as Yosemite, Joshua Tree, etc.

All our goods are 100% handmade by me using eco-friendly materials such as vegetable tanned leather. Proudly made in the USA. We offer a range of goods from modern wallets, Apple accessories, and Everyday Carry accessories.

Last year we launched our Topography design on our wallets. The design is actual topographic details from Yosemite not just a random design. We made our signature wallet, The Yosemite Woodlands Topo. It is a modern twist on a bifold. Instead of horizontal, it is vertical. In a two tone color, Olive on the outside with the Topography design laser etched into the leather and our popular Buck Brown on the inside.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

We focused mainly on Instagram. Before leather crafting I already enjoyed using a camera and taking pictures. So making the leather goods and after snapping images of them was just fun. I would post regularly of finished and unfinished projects I was making. Our audience enjoyed watching our progress from raw material to finished product.

The best advice I can give is, find your niche and post about it. Be transparent and yourself. The audience you are looking for will find you and will eventually become your customers. Use your smartphone to take photos and video. It can be a challenge to post everyday, but do your best to be active daily.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

We began our business on Etsy and we owe lot of our success to Etsy. You can start an Etsy shop in just a few minutes and at a low cost of about .20 cents per listing. If you have a finished product and good images, Etsy’s reach is massive. No skill required to make a website since Etsy is the marketplace and your store is within their large store. You do not need to advertise since Etsy will also do this for you based on your keywords of your product. They will present your product to their customers. So in each order, include your business card with your social media information to build your audience outside of Etsy

Etsy is a great to start without having to invest so much money and time building your own website/shop. However, Etsy’s processing fees are much higher versus having your own store. Having your own website such as a Shopify or Squarespace store is much easier on the processing fees.

If you are tech savvy, you can use Shopify or Squarespace to build a website. The initial cost is higher, but now you have an online store to your liking and branding. This also requires more work as you must advertise your website on your own.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wildflowerleatherco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildflowerleatherco/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCin4TfwBSgCkXOXeGuu7Ugg

Image Credits
All images taken by me. Orlando Aviles