Southern Promises: Slightly Alabama

Even though he’s a proud NYC resident, Dana Glaeser’s story truly begins in the Deep South — Sheffield, Alabama to be exact. It was there he first got acquainted with the scents and sights of his grandfather’s rustic, red barn workshop. Those early years also sparked his love for creating things with his bare hands. When he grew up, he tried out a couple of different careers before eventually ending up as a marketing executive in NYC. But after 3 years of going through the rigorous routine of corporate America, the clarion call to return to his craftsman roots were too strong to withstand. He heeded the call, and founded his own leather goods company called Slightly Alabama. We invited Dana to the Onassis cafe to discuss this new chapter of his multifaceted life.

Can you tell us about the different careers you had along the way before you started Slightly Alabama?

I started my career out of college as a high school English teacher, working toward a Ph.D. in education. After several years, I wasn’t satisfied with the path I had chosen and so I quit. I spent the next six months living on a boat and pursued painting and writing for a bit. I wasn’t necessarily looking for a career as an artist or writer, but rather pursuing some passions I`d had my whole life while I tried to figure out my next move. Through some friends, I was introduced to the advertising world and landed a job as a copywriter for an ad agency. Several years later, this lead to a marketing executive position in New York where I moved to. (It was also my first time ever visiting the city). After three years in corporate America (and years of soul searching), I was ready to build my own thing.

Do you mind briefly sharing the overarching philosophy of your brand?

Our goal is to continually look to the past to uncover a way of working that is motivated by a lifelong commitment to the heritage and craft of what we do. We take pride in every aspect of our work, not just the product – but the tools, the studio, the materials; it’s all of these things that inspire us and ensure we continue to build the best products possible.

Tell us a little bit more about your company name – why not “a lot” Alabama and just “slightly”?

When I began building my brand, it was all coming from somewhere deep inside me. I’d tried everything from teaching to writing to climbing the corporate ladder, but this thing I was going to do—working with my hands to build a business out of the craft I loved—this felt like I was uncovering my true passion. My wife and I would spend hours talking about this business and what it meant to me. I continued to come back to my roots in north Alabama—my family and my memories as a child. But most importantly, I spoke about how I fell in love with working with my hands—drawing, painting, woodworking—all in my grandparents’ house in Sheffield. And how I envisioned the creative life I wanted for myself on those long drives through the Alabama countryside to visit my grandparents. I remember saying to my wife that in some way this whole thing—this whole desire within me—comes from a lot of places, but it’s foundation lies somewhere in my home in Alabama.

Where did you learn the craft of making leather goods? Are you self-taught?

On the one hand, yes, I’m completely self-taught. I read, research and experiment voraciously. However, I was raised by a family who is obsessed with their hobbies and in particular with craftwork. My mother had a huge craft room in our house growing up. My grandfather had a woodshop, and my sister and I would spend summers and weekends at arts, woodworking and craft classes. So, in some ways, I learned a lot of skills from a lot of people along the way that all led to my being able to pick up leathercraft pretty easily. But I think it’s this passion for making something with my hands that was developed in me from an early age that really is the reason I do what I do. Some kids grow up learning how to work on cars or how to hunt. I grew up making things out of wood and throwing pottery and such.

Was it difficult making the transition from a 9-5 job and pursuing your passion full time?

In some ways it was and in other ways it wasn’t. I had never really pursued my previous careers in a 9-5 way. I always worked longer hours and on weekends. The problem in the corporate world was that I wasn’t building something for myself, something I truly believed in. So when I quit, I was already in the mode of working seven days a week, but I was motivated by the fact that I was building my own thing. So that made for a fluid transition to the non-stop lifestyle of being a business owner. The biggest challenge was in learning to take time away. My wife began to force me out of the house and on weekend getaways and vacations. At first, I felt like it was a detriment to my business, but I quickly saw how much better I was when I’d come back home to work after being away. In a traditional 9-5 job, taking vacation is a no-brainer. When you work for yourself, you feel like any second away from your work will cause it all to come crashing down. That’s just not true.

What are the major strides that have happened so far that let you know you made the right decision?

The number one thing is the internal check. I’m 2.5 years in and my passion hasn’t waned in the least. In fact, it’s gotten stronger. But some of the more tangible markers are the fact that we’ve sold into about 50 retail locations, have a national retail account, are distributing overseas, and have had the opportunity to present at Pitti Uomo in Florence. Additionally, we’ve moved out of my house and into a studio for production and have three trainees. Not to mention, we’re actually paying our bills with sales. But most importantly, my wife still believes in me now more than ever regardless of the sacrifices she’s had to make along the way. We both see the vision more clearly today than we did when I started Slightly Alabama.

How long does the design process take for your leather goods and where does your inspiration come from?

The design process is a lot longer than I’d like to admit. While on the one hand, you can ask me for a type of product and I can whip together a prototype really quickly, I’m learning that there’s a lot more to designing for a brand and a business rather than for an individual. I’d say that I budget about 2-3 months to design a new product. And the considerations run the gamut from uncovering and highlighting our design voice and product functionality to scalability of production and product pricing. It’s not just about the product, but about the customer and where your product fits into the marketplace. This all has to be taken into consideration at every step of the way.

I’m inspired heavily by tradition and this is where I start. I look to the brands that represent heritage to uncover the essence of what they are as a brand and how that is spoken through each of their products. On a secondary level, I’m inspired by everything I see. I’m in a constant state of observation and, fortunately, New York has plenty of things to observe. But probably most importantly, I’m inspired by visiting boutique shops. The way a shop owner selects the products they offer and then merchandises their store tells me a lot about them and their customer. When I find a shop I love, I think about how I’d design a product for that space.

With regards to your production materials, where do you source your leather/hardware?

I spent months researching and testing the materials that go into our products. To me, this is the foundation of a great product and will enhance the design and construction of a piece that’s meant to last for years.

Our leather comes from a 100-year-old tannery in Chicago called Horween that sources their hides domestically. Our hardware comes from a US-based, family owned factory in China. The owner’s son is a wonderful guy who lives in Boston and we work with directly. The business was started by an American during WWII who served as a liaison to British and US shoe manufacturers. All of our hardware is sandcasted brass and meets rigorous production standards for strength, finish, heat-testing and salt-testing to ensure they’ll last for decades. And the products meet California Prop 65 and REACH standards for low lead content. Our thread is a marine-grade thread that comes form a Danish company and is both beautiful in finish and the strongest thread I’ve found to work with.

Tell us more about the response you received at Pitti Uomo in Italy?

Pitti was a great experience and we’ve begun some wonderful conversations with shops in Korea, China, Japan, Italy and France. The best part about it was the friendships and partnerships with other likeminded brands while there. And to have Italians coming to see our products and responding positively right in the leather capital of the world was such an honor. As a matter of fact, one Italian showroom owner bought a product from me on the spot. We’ve been invited to return for January and plan to continue to build on that momentum.

To date, what are your best-selling items and do you plan on increasing your range of offerings?

Our best-selling product by far is our River Flask. Our second best is our Dublin Tote, which is amazing because these two products sit at opposite ends of the pricing spectrum. We currently have about 25 products and more plans than you can imagine. Designing is my favorite thing. So, yes, we have a ton of new products in the works. As soon as I can get through fulfilling all of our current orders, we’ll begin releasing new items.

Lastly, where do you envision as the future for your brand in the next 5 years?

We’ll always be a leather goods brand. We want to be the very best at doing this one thing. But the goal is to grow our atelier model and teach the craft to as many apprentices as our business model allows. Additionally our plan is to build a retail location and extend some of our production to a studio back in Alabama where I’m from.

To keep with Dana Glaeser, follow: @SlightlyAlabama