Acta non Verba: Actions Not Words Lead Trevor and Jessica Seiling to Success

By B. Crawford 

Serving the military in a war zone challenges every facet of a person’s character, both physically and mentally. Our veterans, who share such unimaginable experiences, face a series of even more difficult challenges when they return home and try to live their lives like “normal” people who have not experienced the challenges of military service. The families of these veterans are drawn into this emotional maelstrom as well. Sometimes, the best way to come back into society is through acta non verba, actions not words, work that is satisfying and meaningful. That is the path that Trevor and Jessica Seiling chose when they founded Hawkins & Co. Leather.  

“I like the struggle, and overcoming it and seeing what’s going to work,” Trevor says. “And, when at the end I have a good product, made of good quality material and the market responds positively to it – when all those things line up, it gives me a great deal of satisfaction.”  

Hawkins & Co. Leather specializes in leather wallets and accessories. Their product line includes, the Tigerhawk, the Motohawk and the Drake, a Japanese-style biker wallet. With a rugged utilitarian design, perfect for trucker, rancher or biker, wallets from Hawkins & Co. Leather also offer a variety of options for customer self-expression. All products are crafted by Trevor and marketed by Jessica.  

Products from Hawkins & Co. Leather are made in America using all American materials. One of the most important things for Trevor and Jessica is to source their materials from American suppliers. “The vast amount of leather I use is from Wickett & Craig, an American tannery that opened in 1867,” Trevor says. Finding other American-made materials presented a real challenge. “I went to great lengths to get American-made chains made from US steel. I made many calls up and down the East Coast. A lot of guys were retiring. Some said the cost of raw material was going through the roof. I got a lot of no’s, but I finally found a company in Massachusetts that were happy to make our chains.” Trevor attacked other production problems in the same way; he sourced his material “eating the elephant one bite at a time.”  

A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Trevor served in the military for many years before taking up his leathermaking tools. In Iraq, he helped restore reliable power to a water treatment plant in Ramadi. He worked closely with French, Italian, Czech, British, German, Norwegian and many other military personnel from various countries in a variety of urban and rural locations. In Afghanistan, he served with US Special Operations Forces advising and training Afghan Commandos, an experience that Trevor considered “a special honor.” He lived with Afghan soldiers, worked with them and ate with them. He’s proud of the bonds he formed with the Afghan people and of the sacrifices the Afghans made in the brutal conflict against extremism.   

After suffering injuries, Trevor needed spinal surgery. He was laid up recovering in Germany after receiving spinal injections. Looking around for something to take his mind off the boredom and the pain, he discovered leather working videos on YouTube. “I got sucked into to the hole,” Trevor says. “It was soothing, relaxing and interesting. I just loved the details, what kind of leather people were using, how they beveled their edges, the whole process.” Trevor also appreciated the bigger picture of leatherworking. “Americans have an authenticity problem,” Trevor says. “Making leather goods is my small contribution to restoring American production and supply chains.” 

Another thing that helped heal Trevor’s wounds was his budding romance with Jessica. “I went to Chatham University in Pittsburgh, and I studied arts management with an emphasis in media arts,” Jessica says. “I worked for Nordstrom while I was in college, then I worked for a fashion brand based in Pittsburgh. I learned a lot about product design and marketing in that job.”  

Jessica left fashion for real estate, which led indirectly to romance. “I was young and single,” Jessica recalled. “Everyone in the office was trying to fix me up with someone. Trevor’s mother worked in the real estate office with me. She is from Virginia, and she used to tell me in her Southern drawl, ‘Y’all oughta meet my son Trevor.’”  

“Sure, sure,” Jessica says. Then one day, when Jessica was working at the front desk, Trevor’s mother rushed into the office and threw her cell phone. “I have clients coming in,” she says, “and Trevor just called from Europe. Talk to him please.” 

“Hello,” Jessica says. 

“Hello,” Trevor says. 

That brief conversation led to a year of long-distance social media romance. Eventually, Trevor traveled from Europe to Pittsburgh to meet Jessica. Love bloomed. After traveling back and forth to Europe several times, Trevor and Jessica finally tied the knot and enjoyed a short elopement in France. They moved back to Pittsburgh, where they welcomed a new member to their family, their son, Theodore.  

Then reality hit. “I retired early from the military for medical reasons,” Trevor says. “Then I entered the job market in the middle of the pandemic. We had a newborn and Jessica was a new mom trying to figure everything out. That was a tough period, but you know we persevered.”   

Despite their challenging circumstances, Trevor decided to pursue his interest in leathercraft. He was intrigued by the concept of individual expression conveyed through the trucker’s wallets he had seen while stationed in Texas, so he built one and sold it on Etsy. As Trevor’s leathermaking hobby evolved into a viable business, Jessica began working with him, handling marketing and social media. They expanded their product line. They created a pouch wallet with two slots for storing golden eagles, and other NGC-graded slabs for rare coins, for Colonial Gold and Silver in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.  

Some ideas came from clients. “One customer had a father who worked for many years as an undercover cop and he wanted a wallet to hide his shield, so he could carry his shield off duty,” Trevor says. “We took our bifold and modified it, so there is a holder for an ID on one side, two card slots and a hidden area for a shield. It’s a discreet carry option for folks who need to carry while not in uniform and we have been really surprised by the great response to our new undercover wallet.” 

As business picked up, Trevor and Jessica were able to realize one of their dreams. They moved from a small house in Pittsburgh, to a much larger home with a great big yard in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, a town nestled in the Laurel Highlands that was established as an expeditionary British fort by General John Forbes in 1758, during the French and Indian War. Then the time came to pick a name for the company. “My last name is Seiling,” Trevor says. “Everyone misspells it, so we had to look for something else.” As they watched hawks flying over their home in the mountains, something clicked. “My grandfather was a man named John Hill Hawkins, from an old founding family in Virginia,” Trevor says. “We wanted to honor him and the hawk imagery worked well as an inspiration for our logo.” 

Trevor began working in his garage and created an office in their house. He set up a desk and a Weaver stitching horse, where he can sit and stitch up products by hand more comfortably. Jessica set up a desk next to Trevor’s for her social media operations; and they built shelving where they can display their products and get a sense of how their creations could look in a retail location.  

A year ago, Jessica and Trevor were blessed with another child, Juliette. Even though she doesn’t talk yet, one-year-old Juliette is an outspoken member of the family, something I learned when I talked with Jessica, Trevor and Juliette by phone. “We are our own support group,” Jessica laughed. “We are both very involved with our kids and we spend most of our time doing family things.” 

In fact, the only time that Jessica and Trevor have for themselves is late at night after the kids go to sleep. “I really enjoy staying up late and talking with Trevor about the business,” Jessica says. “He and I will stay up late brainstorming ideas and talking about the feedback we got from the market. Then, we will stay up even later looking through the leather samples we have from Wickett & Craig. They are just so beautiful. We have so much fun. We pour our hearts and souls into it.” 

Trevor and Jessica have a dream board on the wall of their office. On the board, they have listed 12 products, about half of which are still in development. Future products include women’s wallets and bags. Their biggest dream is to open a retail store. “Our town is very outdoorsy,” Jessica says. “Hunting, fishing and equestrian sports are very popular. So, we want our products and our brand to be right for our community.” 

Jessica attributes some of her faith in their leather business to her family background. “My grandfather and my father were entrepreneurs,” Jessica says, “and I have that in me – the desire to run my own business.” 

Trevor knows that the skills he learned in the military have helped him build a successful business. “I learned how to struggle for a long time with no reward,” Trevor laughs. “You just have to set a goal and head towards it and say, ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.’” The military also taught him to be prepared for challenges and to build talented teams. “When I was younger, I thought I could hard charge my way through anything. Living with an injury is very humbling and reminds you that you must slow down and pace yourself.  There was a sense of shame of not being able to keep up – it was difficult to learn to live with that at first. My wife has helped me enormously to deal with it by encouraging me to get counseling and being supportive. On the business side, we learned a lot from our customers, starting with small markets, and developing great relationships with local artisans and crafters in Pennsylvania.  Stay tuned…we have good things coming to Hawkins & Co.!  I think the lesson was if you want something bad enough, you will keep pushing: build up your team and care for your family, know your customers and constantly work to improve your product.”  

“Trevor is great with people,” Jessica adds. She attributes this skill to his experience working with so many different kinds of people in tough circumstances. “Trevor has the ability to relate to any kind of person. It is one of the things that I really admire about him.” 

As someone who has traveled the world, Trevor holds fast to his pride in his country. “One thing that I have noticed is that very few things we have are American made. Our shoes are from Indonesia; our clothes are from Bangladesh. For American men, our touchpoints, the things we have with us are a wallet, a belt and a watch. I don’t know about watches, but I am proud that my customers can own an American-made wallet that they can take pride in and celebrate as an honest-to-goodness American product.” 

With hard work, perseverance and love, Trevor and Jessica have built a life for themselves in the Pennsylvania mountains and a company that is delivering high-quality, American-made leather goods to a growing clientele across the country. Beyond all else, Trevor attributes their success to three Latin words: acta non verba – actions not words. “Sometimes society today can be sound over substance,” Trevor says. “I didn’t have to build myself up. I just chose to go out there and do it; and if I failed, I failed. But I knew that if I kept at it, if I kept working, I would get better.” By taking action, Trevor and Jessica made a successful transition from military into civilian life, and now have the chance to pay things forward to the veteran community.