Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Heck Kirkham and Anna Warren.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah and Anna. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Tactile Craftworks is a small leather crafting company founded in 2014, with a focus on high-quality goods handcrafted in the US. Our Atlas Series was born in 2013 out of a recurring conversation we (Anna Warren & Sarah Heck) were having about the idea of place. So often as we move through our adult lives, we feel a conflict between the desire to put down roots and make a home, while being pulled by the thrill of adventure and travel. Having a background as theatrical props craftspeople, we both have a keen interest in historic artifact and ephemera, the maps were a natural meeting of the two ideas. We began with the Milwaukee Map Journal as that’s where we met and where home base is for us now. The Chicago map series came second, as that’s where Sarah grew up. We were sure to pick a Rand McNally piece for this line, as her Grandfather worked for McNally for 40 years and we wanted to pay tribute to his work through ours. Our Atlas Series now includes 35 city lines and can be found in about 150 retail locations around the US.
We also take a huge amount of inspiration from our customers. We love hearing the stories about why they feel connected to a certain city, we love it when they point out specific locations on the antique maps that are important to them. Our greatest satisfaction comes from seeing one of our products well-used with visible patina, it proves that someone has taken our work and made it their own.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We’ve been lucky in many ways, but owning a small business is filled with struggles and intense work. We work 60-80 hours most weeks, have failed often and had to learn how to keep up with demand. Growth is obviously the goal, and we’ve had a lot of it, but it can be difficult to control and difficult to steer in the direction you want to move.
Our background in theater has given us experience in pivoting and adapting quickly, being resourceful, and staying open to new ideas. But it can be challenging to keep focused, to set out a path to follow when other opportunities are presenting themselves constantly. We try to stay flexible enough that if one of those new opportunities feels right we can shift to accommodate it, without getting distracted by the rest.
There are times when cash flow seems impossible to navigate. We’ve had to trust that everything will move forward, even if it means taking small risks every day. We’ve relied on a network of people who have more experience and at times, more resources, to help guide us. And we’ve learned to trust our intuition.
Please tell us about Tactile Craftworks.
We are a woman-owned and operated company with a keen focus on high-quality goods handmade in the US. The vast majority of our materials are sourced from American made companies, including the leather tanned here in Milwaukee just a few miles from our studio.
We combine classic leatherworking with laser-etched designs, integrated in a way that compliments the natural material instead of fighting organic qualities.
We’re proud of the fact that we are rarely satisfied. We are constantly refining our materials, techniques, and processes, always striving for an improved product or a more efficient method. We find the repetition of production a chance to challenge ourselves to make each one better than the last, consistent practice at our craft.
One thing that we are known for is our friendship. We met ten years ago, and have been best friends ever since. Even though we both care deeply about the business, we try to foster our relationship first, that is what our company is built on. We trust each other implicitly.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
When running a business it feels necessary to only focus on what’s right in front of you: getting orders out the door, answering only the most pressing emails, putting out fires. We’ve tried several times to institute a “big picture day” once a week, a time to focus on long term goals, and we still have a terrible time sticking to it. It’s something we are constantly striving to prioritize, and we’re always glad when we do. It’s an incredibly important element that gets lost too easily.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tactilecraftworks.com/
- Email: info@tactilecraftworks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tactilecraftworks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TactileCraftworks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tactilecraft
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/tactilecw/
Image Credit:
Aliza Baran, Mats Rudels, Jessi Paetzke
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