What if your great-grandfather's formula from 1927 turned out to be exactly what today's sustainability movement is searching for? Tiffany Huey never planned to become an entrepreneur, but after 25 years climbing the corporate ladder at companies like Starbucks, PepsiCo, and Nestle, she found herself drawn back to her family's legacy: Snowshoe Leather Care.
When COVID hit and corporate America wanted her back in Seattle, Tiffany made a life-changing decision. She would revitalize the leather care business her family had maintained as a side hustle for generations. Now working from a barn workshop in Bend, Oregon, she hand-pours each tin using the original equipment and the exact same three-ingredient formula her great-grandfather created nearly a century ago.
This episode explores the fascinating intersection of heritage craftsmanship and modern sustainability. As Tiffany explains, "There's this whole concept of upkeep culture and thrifting... thinking about how to buy higher-quality things and take good care of them." It's this cultural shift that makes Snowshoe suddenly relevant to a new generation, while still maintaining its devoted following among ranchers, saddle makers, and leatherworkers who've sworn by it for decades.
The heart of this story lies in the voices of those who've built and preserved this legacy. We hear from Tiffany's father about the company's early days, her brother-in-law who kept the business alive when no one else could, and most memorably, from Richard Bryant, an elderly Texas rancher whose emotional testimonial about his lifetime using Snowshoe becomes the episode's most powerful moment.
Through Tiffany's journey, we discover how entrepreneurship can honor the past while embracing the future, and how sometimes the most innovative act is preserving something of true value. Whether you're fascinated by family businesses, sustainability, or the courage it takes to leave corporate comfort for entrepreneurial uncertainty, this story will inspire you to look at legacy in a whole new light.
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