Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in leather products but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dana Cohen, founder of HYER GOODS, located in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

At HYER GOODS, we breathe new life into leftover leathers. Using innovative design and finishing, we repurpose "waste" leathers into cute bags and wallets, keeping quality materials out of landfills and in our closets. Our small-batch goods are ethically manufactured at a woman-owned factory and shipped plastic-free, using recyclable materials. 1% of sales is donated back to communities in need.

Tell us about yourself

I worked in the fashion industry for over a decade, the same decade that saw the rise of fast fashion. I saw the industry transform before my very eyes, creating endless amounts of waste in the process. After witnessing one-too-many wasteful industry practices, I was inspired to find a way to create beautiful products while still prioritizing people and the planet. And so HYER GOODS was born. Every day I wake up inspired to create things that are both cute and conscious.

I am inspired to turn "trash" into things we'll cherish. And I am motivated to keep more and more waste out of landfills, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the process. I'm proud to say in just over two years in business, we've saved almost 1,500 pounds of leather from waste, all while making beautiful products featured in Vogue, GQ, InStyle, Real Simple, and more. I wake up every day excited to do it again.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I launched HYER GOODS in November of 2019, just a couple of months before our world would change in a way I never could've predicted. The first year of business was extraordinarily challenging, trying to launch a business during a global pandemic with supply chain disruptions and changes in customer needs and behavior... I suddenly found myself in a world where handbags and wallets felt irrelevant, and the humanitarian crisis felt like all that mattered. I immediately gathered every scrap of unused fabric I could- old swatches from previous jobs, sample cuttings, even unused curtains- and I started transforming them into masks for medical workers.

When I started receiving requests to buy, I decided to launch a buy-1-give-1 program of masks made from deadstock materials, enabling me to support medical and essential workers while still keeping my business afloat, all while staying true to our mission to use waste as a resource. Despite the difficulties the pandemic imposed, I'm proud to say the business was not only able to stay alive, but we donated over 3,300 masks in the first year of the pandemic!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

I am not just a small business owner, but I'm also the only full-time employee of the brand! I have to wear A lot of hats, balancing design, production, marketing, accounting-- you name it, I'm responsible for it. It's extremely difficult to juggle all the tasks, but every day I am ruthless about prioritizing and somehow make it through!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Start small. Listen to feedback. React.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://hyergoods.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hyergoods/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-cohen-054a655/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.