Today we’d like to introduce you to Josie Dybe.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Josie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
While I was finishing up my last year at UC Berkeley, I found that I lived a few blocks away from a little shop called Paco Collars. I was intrigued by the fashionable people hammering away at rivets and studs and a sun-tanning Xoloitzcuintli in the window so, I went inside and learned that they made high-quality custom leather dog collars from scratch. I loved going into the shop and talking to the founder, Ana Poe, about her craft. Before I knew it, I was putting my architecture and art practice majors to use by volunteering to create a display for the shop window. I found myself spending more and more time there. Soon, the Paco team invited me to start their internship program. I fell in love with leather as a medium and was eager to learn as much as I could.
After I graduated in 2011, I became an official full-time member of the team. I learned how to work with leather from cutting down the huge latigo hides to creating intricate hand-tooled designs on vegetable-tanned leather for super custom dog collars. At the same time, my amazing co-workers taught me how to provide excellent customer service, invoice and process orders, and of course how to work with dogs.
I continued to work at the Paco Collars studio making tooled leather collars and helping customers find the perfect dog collar until we made our big move to Cambridge, Massachusetts in the Summer of 2013. I continued to design and make the custom tooled leather collars with Paco Collars from my little home studio. I kept experimenting with leather and soon was creating wearable pieces for people, too. I have continued to grow my little business and now I make all kinds of jewelry, bracelets, belts, buckles, wallets, flasks, patches, pins and custom pieces, too. I love working with leather and I am constantly finding new ways to work with it.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any small business these days, I have tried my best to grow my social media following. It has been slow but is coming along and I am learning as I go. It is not always easy to know what posts are going to be successful or which products will be popular but I continue to make leather pieces that I love and post the best pictures that I can so that the world can see my adoration for my craft.
Josie Dybe Designs – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a leather artist. I create hand-tooled leather jewelry and accessories. My pieces are inspired by nature, my love for animals and my Southwestern culture. I especially love to make floral and animal themed pieces. I make pendants, statement necklaces, rings, belts, buckles, bracelets, wallets, patches, pins and dog collars. I carefully design, tool, paint, antique and assemble each of my creations by hand.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I put a lot of thought and time into everything I create so, it makes me feel proud when I see reviews from my customers and pictures of them wearing and enjoying their tooled leather pieces.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.josiedybe.com
- Email: josiedybe@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/josiedybedesigns/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/JosieDybeDesigns
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JosieDybe
- Other: www.etsy.com/shop/JosieDybeDesigns
Image Credit:
Jacob Simon
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