Today we’d like to introduce you to Kamille & Jacques Deysel.
Hi Kamille & Jacques, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are South of Here co. just two Texas transplants that fell in love in a South Texas border town. We make candles and handmade leather goods that all started in our East Austin home. Jacques began making leatherwork as a sort of therapy and hobby after we found out our baby boy was going to be born with a congenital disease; thankfully he is now a healthy and happy two years old. During the last two years, we took some advantage of staying at home during Covid, to first and foremost, watch our baby Owen grow and also harness our craft. We created South of Here Co. at the dinner table one day while talking about our hobby turning into an actual business where we can share our craft with other people. Since then, Jacques and I (Kamille) have been growing our business with those around us and have had so much fun doing it!
Alright, 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?
We work with leather and leather is a “luxury” material for lack of a better word. Trying to price our work is always a challenge because we want people to enjoy our products and offer affordability while still making a profit to support the work we do. It’s hard because the material we use, the tools to make leather goods, and the time we spend making it is all very expensive. Still, we try to price our products competitively and at markets, we’ll never turn someone away because they can’t afford it. Another big challenge for us is the fact that we make leather goods that are meant to last a lifetime! So if something lasts a very long time and we make it right, we may not have many repeat customers – ha! Our best times to sell are during the holidays when gift-giving is the season but during the summer, we see a very slow time that can be hard on morale but also hard monetarily.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We specialize in handmade leather goods and soy wax candles. We make leather wallets, passport holders, bags, keychains, clutches, ax sheaths, bookmarks, jewelry, and more; we’re not afraid to try new things! So many of the people we meet give us ideas on what we can make with leather, whether it’s a wallet similar to the style their grandpa gave them, driving gloves, ax sheaths, or leather consoles, they’re always leather products that mean something to them. Our most popular leather item is the vertical bifold. It’s hand-stitched using quality leather. We offer monogramming and/or engraving too. I (Kamille) can burn leather engravings, while Jacques likes to use our clicker press for monogramming – it’s especially popular at markets where people can get their monogramming done in person. Offering people that extra bit of customization makes it extra special. We are also known for our candle line – the candles are actually our best seller! They are still on brand with South of Here co. and inspired by our southern roots. I think what sets us apart is, South of Here co. is really more of an experience than one or two products. We set up a brand that can give you a holistic experience with our products. When you see our booth at a market or a setup at a consignment shop, you immediately see a southwestern theme and quality products made by hand. Our leather wallet matches the leather bag that matches the key chain that matches the valet tray that matches the candle on your entry table. It’s a whole experience and one day, we would love to have a physical place, like a camper or bed n breakfast, that is South of Here so people can experience the whole thing.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I’d say we are calculated risk takers if that’s a thing. Leatherwork is a huge investment and whenever you make an investment, you’re taking a monetary risk. You are also putting your work out into the world where there are hundreds of thousands of people doing the same thing. So we weigh our pros and cons over the dinner table all the time – “do we invest in the laser machine or the sewing machine”, “do we participate in this market or that market”, “consignment or wholesale”, “Instagram vs Facebook”, “tooled leather or basic”… We try to calculate the risks, as much as we can because we aren’t full-time artists, we also have full-time jobs, as well as, being parents to two kids. Every decision we make has to be made based on our family’s needs at the time. It’s challenging but it’s manageable and one day South of Here co. might be able to give us the freedom we want to spend our days with our kids, making products we love.
Contact Info:
- Email: southofhereco@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.southofhereco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southofhereco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southofhereco-434776370755842
