Oklahoma couple gives special-occasion leatherwork a colorful artisan touch.

By Lynn Ascrizzi 

“The more confidence we can give the customer, the better. We are building a trust. We have a lot of interaction with our customers. We try to create what they’ve dreamed of. ” 

???? — Monty White, co-owner, artisan, Rockin Diamonds Leather 

? Monty and Lanette White, married for 15 years, are co-owners of their family business, Rockin Diamonds Leather. Gifted artisans, they also have a talent for working well together, which many couples might like to emulate. 

“We both tool,” Lanette, 42, said referring to their carved designs, one of the many processes used in their creative leatherwork. “Half the items are tooled by Monty and half by me. We work in tandem with just about everything we do. We both have our own strengths and can lean on each other when needed.” 

She does most of the drawing and contacting customers; he constructs a lot of items from scratch. “He will make leather purses, backpacks, knife sheaths and the inside sections of wallets, where the cards go,” she said. The majority of their products, however, are hand-tooled items, such as customized sneakers embellished with bold and colorful designs. They mostly use vegetable-tanned leather, as it is softer than many other leathers and more conducive to tooling. 

“There’s a lot of cowhide in our workshop,” Monty, 54, said of the company’s 900-square-foot worksite conveniently situated next to the couple’s home in Sayre, Oklahoma, a city that is also his hometown. Inside the busy shop are hundreds of tools geared for western-style leatherwork, like stitchers, skivers and small hand tools, such as burnishers, edgers and bevelers.?Among larger equipment is a Cobra patch machine, used for sewing their leatherwork onto shoes and other items.?Materials also?include rolls of chap leather and natural veg-tanned?cowhide. 

“It’s all there!” Monty said, enthusiastically expressing the pleasure inherent in a well-equipped shop. That day, he had just finished tooling a belt. “It’s a man’s belt. The design is mostly the same for women’s belts, but girls’ belts usually have more color,” he noted.?“We do a ton of wedding items, like bouquet wraps, garters and high heels,” Lanette added. “We do other items for special-occasions, like graduations. Or, we’ll work on baby products.” 

But, that’s only the beginning. Their?colorful products include decoratively tooled hairbrushes, wallets, handbags, clutches, shoes, twisted copper bracelets and branded jewelry cases. The cases, made with hair-on-cowhide, are actually branded with a hot iron. And, many a plain-looking white canvas sneaker or Vans has been transformed into eye-popping footwear, thanks to the couple’s first-rate design sense. 

Social media, namely Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, are used to get the word out about their products. “I’m constantly creating content for social media,” Monty said. “We have over 60,000 followers on Instagram alone. Instagram has a lot of artists.” 

Customers go through waves of interest, he observed. For example, he or Lanette might get a number of orders for graduation caps for a period of time. Product orders vary, which regularly gives them something different to work on. “The variety helps us to keep our minds fresh,” he said. 

“Lanette draws everything for the designs, all the artwork. In this way, we can get a customer’s approval before actually building the piece,” he explained. Photos are also taken?of near-finished products and sent to their customers, so they can input opinions or ideas. 

“It’s a good sharing,” said Monty, a U.S. Navy veteran. “The more confidence we can give the customer, the better. We are building a trust. We have a lot of interaction with our customers. We try to create what they’ve dreamed of.” 

They feel fortunate to work together. “Not all couples run a business as closely as we do and still have a good relationship,” he added. “When Lanette started working full time, the business really took off. It’s grown every year, for eight years. It’s grown every year before that, but not as fast as now. We have the same goals, which makes life so much easier.” If they do happen to disagree about something, they’ll find a way to work things out. “You’ve got to pick your battles,” he said. 

WHEN THE SHOE FITS 

Which one of their many product items is generating the most sales? 

“It’s probably customized shoes,” Monty said. “You can get someone’s personality into the artwork,” he speculated. Lanette observed?that many customers will send a photo of their dog, horse or cow, as a way to personalize their chosen item. “I’ll draw that pattern and send it back to them before we begin,” she said. “They might say, for instance, ‘I don’t want the feather.’ “We won’t start, until they approve the design.” 

As much as possible, each customized pair of shoes is designed to appeal to the buyer’s personality. “We customize three different brands of shoes — HEYDUDE, Converse and Vans — brands that make different kinds of sneakers,” she explained. “And, we create customized high heels.” 

Their original designs?are made of veg-tan cowhide, she noted. “It’s all our own artwork. Sometimes we use exotic leathers, like ostrich or crocodile. We use?a lot of color in our designs. For our bridal bouquet wraps, we use a piece of leather to wrap around the base of the bouquet and we often include our customer’s wedding colors.” 

For color work, they use products from Angelus Direct. The company, based in Santa Fe Springs, California, offers leather dyes, specialty paints for shoe designs, shoe cleaners, color assortment kits and much more. “Their paint is created to be used on leather,” Lanette said.? 

CREATIVE COMPETITION 

Both Lanette and Monty are well aware that a small, artisan leather business like theirs has plenty of competitors. But through time and experience, they have learned that the best strategy is to provide high-quality,?authentic?artistic products that attract both repeat and first-time customers. They also keep a strong focus on personal customer service. 

“There are a lot of leather workers out there,” Monty acknowledged. “We always do the best work possible. We work with each customer, one at a time.” And, they continue to broaden their social media network, so their work gets more exposure. 

“Social media is a huge network,” he said. “Besides the U.S., we sell stuff in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. We shipped to 48 states last year, including Hawaii.” They are seeing strong sales in Texas and Oklahoma, and in other states that have a robust western culture. 

Sales track well with people in the age group 24 to 36, who use Instagram, they said. “Our highest number of followers are in that group. But not all our followers are customers,” Monty pointed out. 

Their work also attracts other age groups. “We love being able to make products for all the seasons in a person’s life: from a baby’s diaper bag to a custom gift for a 50^th?wedding anniversary,” Lanette said.? 

Altogether, they have accomplished steady business growth over the years, even while maintaining a close family life. “We’re a blended family of eight,” Monty said. “We have six kids, who go from age 32 to 8. The family workshop has become a place for our children to develop their creative abilities.”? 

For example, Lanette’s 19-year-old daughter, Kaylyn Rose, has been creating artwork for western-style wool or felt hats. “Most of the hats are wedding items,” her mom explained. “A lot of people want their hat customized for their wedding date or other special occasion. First, she will draw the hat design on an iPad and sends it to the customer. If it’s okay, Kaylyn will ‘burn’ the design on the hat using a woodburning tool.” Another daughter, Kaycee Rose, 16, helps her mom with painting and staining. 

“We’ve been blessed to be able to support our family entirely by our business. We’re not just paying the bills. At this point, we’ve grown enough that our challenge is balancing our family life with our work times,” Lanette said. 

KEEP IN TOUCH 

Monty and Lanette White 

19091 East 1220 Road 

Sayre,?Oklahoma 73662 

rockindiamondsllc@gmail.com 

Website:?rockindiamondsleather.com????????????????????????? ????? 

580-729-1277