How did you get started, what was your inspiration in doing what you do?
It was a bit of a journey. I studied fashion arts in school, then got into making costumes for theatre. That was a bit of a circuit, I took contracts all over Canada. I applied for a working holiday in Australia hoping to travel the country doing the same, but I got there at the height of the recession and couldn’t break in. I landed a job reupholstering cars… then decided I’d rather live on the beach, so I found a job doing boat upholstery, and I loved it. When I couldn’t stay in Australia any longer I came back to Canada and got back into theatre, but ultimately realized that upholstery and leather work was the direction I wanted to follow.
I took a business course, and saw an opportunity in a couple of niche markets. The growth in my business has really been a case of being in the right place at the right time, and following through on promises.
I also love diversity- Last year I upholstered two Airstream trailers, recovered numerous motorcycle seats, produced wholesale chef accessories and my own branded leather goods for online sales.
Natalie’s work was recently featured in dwell Magazine!