Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Dixon.
Hi Austin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started getting into leatherwork back in early 2018 as a hobby while in college. I had been day working on different ranches at the time, so I was familiar with leatherwork done on saddles, chaps, belts, etc. It wasn’t until I began working at the Elk Mountain dude ranch in Colorado later that year that I realized I could make leatherwork into more than just a hobby. I started off only building small items such as belts, spur straps, and knife sheaths, but quickly started taking orders for larger projects such as padfolios, bible covers, and handbags. As my skills began to grow, so did my passion for leatherwork. About a year later, I decided to quit working a normal hourly job and pursue my passion of building fine leather goods. It was terrifying at first, not having a guaranteed paycheck coming in every week, but that only fueled my focus. If I was going to be successful, I had to put in the work. I continued toward my animal science degree at a few different colleges around Texas until I finally realized that if I wanted to be fully committed to Angle D Custom Leather, I had to fully commit. I dropped out of college in 2020 and put all of my time and effort into my business. I’ve received a lot of criticism and a lot of support over these past few years after that decision, but I wouldn’t do it any differently if given the chance.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, having endured countless sleepless nights and more 12–15-hour days than I’d like to admit. In the early days when I was still in college, I had no direction. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life, so college seemed like a great placeholder. Although leatherwork set me on a straighter path and gave me long-term goals, I was self-taught which meant making all of my own mistakes to learn from instead of those made before me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in hand-crafted, from start to finish, quality custom leather goods. I like to describe my work as more of a non-traditional western influence. Whether it be belts, wallets, shoes, handbags, console covers, rope cans, or rifle slings, each item is hand drawn, and hand tooled with extreme attention to detail. I want my work to make a statement, but also be functional. I’m proud of the fact that I can take an everyday ordinary object, and give it a creative, unique western flare that sparks interest in this culture.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck; I believe in hard work. I believe that if you want it, you have to be willing to sacrifice and push boundaries in order to achieve success. I don’t mean success as in paying the bills and being happy, but the kind of success that has people talking about your influence long after you’re gone. This mindset has allowed me to create beautiful and functional leatherwork for both the western culture as well as those in non-western culture just looking for something to make them stand out.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Angle_D_Leather
- Twitter: @Austin_Texas1
