PHOENIX — Sandwiched between horse farms and cattle ranches, the American dream has taken shape in a very unassuming building.
“This is where we do all our fire branding and personalization,” said Ty Bowman.
Bowman is providing a tour of LifeTime Leather workshop in San Tan Valley. It's a business born from a tragic zip line accident that left Bowman unable to walk for nearly three years as a teen.
“I wasn’t able to go to school, I was in lots of surgeries,” said Bowman. “I’m not gonna lie, at 15, it did at times feel like the end of the world for me. But in the middle of all that, my perspective changed.”
He turned to books during recovery.
“My dad gave me tons of books,” he said. “How to control your thinking. How to reach your goals. There were a couple books I inherited from my wife’s grandfather and one of them was from the great Al Stohlman, he’s probably the greatest leather crafter who ever lived.”
That book in particular would shape his life in a way he never imagined. He says he didn’t have much money back then and decided to put what he learned to work to make Christmas gifts for his family.
“So right here is the last piece of the original couch,” said Bowman pointing to an 8-inch by 8-inch square of leather.
From a discarded leather couch he created his first leather products that Christmas, a couple of purses, toiletry bags, bracelets and wallets.
“They were really surprised, they were like I didn’t know you could make that, the quality was so good,” Bowman explained. “The satisfaction of it was I kept getting more and more requests.”
Now, more than a decade later and $250,000 in product sales, this American-made business has stitched itself into the fabric of a community.
“I’ve had a lot of people come in and ask where do you find all your workers, where do you find all your workers, it’s like we make them,” said Bowman. “We take people who are just really good at learning and have that hard work ethic, and we simply just teach them.”
Over the years he’s built a stable of artisans. Twenty-four-year-old Victoria Ball is one of them.
“I have really enjoyed seeing everything form together and how each person here has grown into their skills,” said Ball.
They're skills that can be seen pridefully put to work everywhere you look Monday.
“We might not be able to get a million bags in one day, but we can get out really high-quality products every single time,” said longtime employee Dallin Ortiz, as he stitched together a satchel.
Sixty-five percent of U.S. adults say they intentionally bought “Made in America” products over the past year. A loyalty that Bowman has felt as well. In fact, his company caught the attention of the White House which honored LifeTime Leather in 2020.
“When the White House called me and told me who they were, I honestly thought it was a scam,” said Bowman with a laugh. “It was amazing.”
For Bowman, it’s a reminder of just how far he’s come. A life forged in his darkest days now delivering the ultimate success story.
“Happiness is made, not found,” said Bowman. "I wouldn't change anything about my life."
