We were lucky to catch up with Wayne Wise recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Wayne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Risks Taken: I’ve been taking risks most of my life. The first big risk I took was when I was 12 years old. I entered the Jr. Boys Bullriding at a Little Britches
Rodeo. After that ride, I KNEW I wanted to be a cowboy from then on. Ironically, it
was that initial risk that ultimately lead me to where I am today.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Introducing Myself: My name is Wayne Wise, from Dublin, TX. I’ve been a professional rodeo announcer for the past 38 years. Prior to that, I rode bulls
professionally for 5 years. It was during a bullriding run that I discovered my
hidden announcing abilities.
During the course of my 38 years of announcing, I had the opportunity to
announce a horse show in Denver, CO. I’d always tinkered around with leather,
going all the way back to when I was a kid in 4-H. However, I’d never done
anything other than basic stamping. Along the way, I’d often thought about doing
fancy carving, but never knew where to begin. That all changed at that horse
show. I had a man, who was a saddle maker in TX, show me the basics of the
fancy Sheridan Style Carving. I struggled mightily as he showed me, but he told
me to “just keep drawing circles, you’ll get it.” That night at the hotel room after
the horse show, my obsessive nature took over. I drew circles until 3 a.m. trying
to figure out the “flow.” Finally, I SAW it!!! From there, I literally drew tens of
thousands of patterns using the Sheridan Style. That was 15 years ago. I’ve since
made countless items including briefcases, belts, rope cans, saddles, etc. But, the
one thing that has brought me the most acclaim is the leather covered authentic
bull skulls.
The bull skulls themselves fell into my lap as a challenge. I had a customer who
needed a saddle fixed, and when I had finished, I told the customer it was ready
and the price of the repair. The customer went on the tell me they’d seen my
leatherwork, and knew I could cover a skull and make it look “bad to the bone” no
pun intended. We agreed to trade half the price of the repair for one skull. The
rest they say is history. I’ve taken my skulls all over the country to various art
shows, and have won several awards with them. I’ve also sold many of the skulls
to art collectors.

The skulls themselves are outsourced to that customer that traded me for the
first one. Interestingly enough, that customer is my neighbor! She boils, power
washes, and bleaches a vast number of authentic bull skulls for customers all
over. The good part is that I always get first dibs since she lives right across the
road. From start to finish, once I get the clean skull, the process takes me 100+
hours. All of the patterns are hand drawn, and then hand carved into the
leather…AFTER the leather has been wet formed to the skull and then glued on.
My saddle making experience simplified the idea of doing the carving and tooling
on a contoured surface.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Growing my Clientele: For me, in all facets of my life, I’ve found that word of mouth increases my clientele more than anything. I strive to put out the best
quality product (announcing AND leatherwork) that I can. I also make certain that
I treat people honestly and fairly. It was the way I was raised, and I hope I’ve
instilled that in my children as well. Along those same lines, being humble is a big
part of what I do and who I am. Yes, I’ve won some awards with my leatherwork,
but I always remember the man who showed me how to do it. He didn’t charge
me anything, but rather just wanted to pass along his knowledge. I try to do the
same with people who are interested in leather (and announcing for that matter).
I’m happy to share my experience with people so that maybe they can find their
hidden talents as well.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience on the Journey: I feel like I’ve had to be resilient in every step of the way on my journey. From countless injuries as a bullrider, to the entire political
system of the rodeo business, to drawing a zillion circles early on, none of it has
come easy. However, being a cowboy to the core, giving up is not an option. It
never has been, and it never will be. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed to be able to
make a living doing things I love. To me, I’m a VERY rich man. Although some
would have us believe that rich has something to do with your checking account,
I’ve come to learn that looking out at my pasture, seeing TX sunsets nearly every
night, spending quality time with my kids when they were growing up, and not
having to be a slave to someone else’s clock is worth far more than money.

Contact Info:

• Other: Folks can reach me by phone at (254) 307-9277, or email me at [email protected]. There’s an email link on the website. You can also find me on Instagram at bullskullz or doubleuleather_