Meet Andrew Gomez | artisan

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Gomez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi andrew, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Honestly the idea started to form while my time in prison. I was pretty much living the fast life since a young age, I ended up getting a 10 yr sentence and while inside i found a passion for leather-craft, I spent most of my time at the leather-shop. learning as much as possible, practicing and preparing. As my time was getting short I started to plan. With the help of my family I was able to get situated and in 2022 I was hired by Louis Vuitton to help open the repair center in Irving,Tx. While I am grateful for LV for teaching me all I know, I was starting to feel under appreciated. I already had a side business making Leather-goods, also louie Vuitton wouldn’t allow me to do any repairs on my own or do any custom projects with LV material. These are both things I’m very passionate about so I couldn’t allow myself to be held back any longer. So after a talk with my lady I decided to quit and start to build my brand and a repair business of my own. I wanted to make products that I like and help customers get a custom piece they couldn’t buy in the stores.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
One thing about leathercraft is it takes dedication. I dont think people really undersatnd how many steps there are when repairing a bag or making a wallet from scratch. Working at LV really humbled me as a leathersmith. I had to learn to work with many different sewing machines, had to learn to take bags apart and put them back together with no instructions. There was alot of times i just wanted to give up, I really had to practice patience, and come home and study youtube videos and do research. I always tell myself i want to achieve mastery, so its like all the frustration is gonna be part of the process. I believe it takes a 10,000 hours to get good at your craft so i just always feel like i have work to do and theres no short cuts. your either gonna be obsessed and dedicated or you will never progress. I dont think i will ever be perfect but in away i dont want to cause the only was is down after that. I always aim to be better and learn more in my craft. I want my brand to represent change, how a person can transform his life with a passion. Alot of times us felons feel we cant do nothing but go back to a life of crime, like we wont be accepted. Theres alot we cant do but one thing forsure is we can always create our own lane.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
well my life is way more simple these days forsure. Back in my youth i would enjoy plenty of all nighters but now i enjoy the simple things in life. We love goin down to bishop arts, theres so many good places to eat. I dont think i had a bad meal down there so it would be hard to narrow it down to one but my favorite thing to do down there is hit the cigar lounge. Theres a couple of outdoor bars so i just love to relax with my lady, smoke cigars and have a couple glasses of whiskey.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
it would have to be my family, they held me down in any situation. While my mom was still alive she was my biggest supporter and encouragement. After all the trouble i gave her growing up, i would have to say my biggest accomplishment is making her proud.

Website: https://newwaveartisans.com/

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