The Story and Meaning
Behind Our Name
A year ago today (August 8th, 2014) our trade name, “Provident Leather Company” was officially registered and we launched for business. Over the past year I have been humbled and amazed at how this thing has grown, thanks to you fine people… our customers. As a small business owner I am so grateful to you for helping to make all of the late nights in the workshop, all the many hours spent building this thing from scratch, worth it. Though the dreams behind Provident Leather Company had been brewing in me for many years, this venture is really the recent fruit of many people coming together to create something meaningful… a heritage worth honoring.
That is what we hope to do. To create leather goods that you, the customer, will infuse with meaning and cherished memories worth being passed on to the next generation. We hope, in some way, to reclaim the spirit of our fathers who with their hands provided what they and their loved ones needed. It is those tangible goods that have long outlived them and keep their memories alive in us. Those items that call to mind the legacy they have passed on. Though often imperfect, yet honest, their legacy is worth honor because it is from whom we came. How we move foreword with what they left behind dictates our own legacy. That's why we attempt to reclaim a few old ways for a new generation. That's why our goods are handcrafted and made to order like our grandfathers used to do. Thank you for partnering with us in this pursuit.
Even old things can have new beginnings and when old ways persist, each generation experiences them for the first time as if new. For our beginnings, it all started with a journal. In 2011 I couldn't find a journal I liked. Something in leather with simple design yet rugged. Something that could record and withstand the many travels I hoped to do. The frills and over design of what I saw in the stores made me desperate to meet my need apart from the madness of our modern consumerism. Being born and raised on our family farm on the plains of Nebraska, I was raised like my grandfather and father to be resourceful. To work with your hands and to create what you need not just to pull something from a store shelf. At the time I was living and working in Springfield, MO near the Springfield Leather Company; one of the nations top leather craft stores. With a little research and some tips and materials from Springfield Leather Co. I successfully created a simple journal for myself, even down to hand sewing the pages together. A tradition I discovered that has continued relatively unchanged for hundreds of years.
From that initial journal, ideas began to brew of using this newly discovered skill to help give me some extra income during a pretty desperate time in life. Little did I know, that would be the early beginnings of our name, “provident.” A few friends found out about what I was making due to social media and began to buy my journals. Everything was “made to order” and, through word of mouth, orders continued to grow. Soon I had requests to expand from journals to craft other leathers goods as well. Much of those early years my skills and designs were developing and being honed. Thinking back, my customers have been so gracious despite my shortcomings and growing pains. A true artist is never really happy with his work but I am proud to have grown into a level of quality craftsmanship that is worthy of the customer. That's what fuels my continued pursuit of better products and services as a craftsman and as a company. I just want products worthy of you outstanding people!
In the leather craft guilds of old it took at least three years of work to move from apprentice to a journeyman, than an additional period of proving oneself before joining the ranks of master craftsman. I am by no means a master yet but with each day I strive to improve my skill and the quality of our goods. I would love to say we’ve got everything figured out as a business but what you get with Provident Leather Company is humanity, honesty and hard work. I think that's the charm in what we’ve tried to create, a personal experience, something that is not guided by machines but by people. We certainly have more to learn and more to grow. Once again we thank you, the customer, for sharing the values we hold central to this crazy company.
From those early years even before we were a business, every bit of profit made off of an order was put back into tools and materials. Little by little our assets began to grow and I can proudly say this business was started and has grown without ever having gone into debt. Part of that is due to the volunteer work of a few in our company to help get things up and running. In particular a few most vital to this venture and worthy of recognition is Marcy Pierce for help with our graphics and design (she is also our female product model!) as well as Aaron Meusborn for setting up our accounting and finance structure. Thank you two for being such an integral part of launching the company… we are indeed a company because of the many people who make this thing happen. Thanks to the rest of you who have helped along the way, especially you early customers for believing in what was to come. Matt Posten, thank you for actually being the very first customer I ever served. Corey Rutledge, thank you for sparking my interest in leather goods and passing me along to Springfield Leather Company.
So that brings us to today, a small business with a desire to meet people’s needs and to create something worth passing on. Little did I know, even in those early years before this was actually a business, that what was really taking place was, “providence.” Provident means, “making timely/careful provision for the future.” It carries the meaning of needs being met at just the right time and in just the right way. The bulk of my customers, even from the beginning, have approached me with a need just like my own in 2011 when I couldn't find a journal that I liked. “I cant find what I need… do you think you can make… my loved one needs…” would be the motto on the lips of new customers. This would indeed become the uniqueness of our brand and the future we hoped to grow into. My response was and is like that of our fathers and grandfathers, “I will certainly give it a try and do my best!” Consequently, Provident Leather Company was birthed and is now turning one year old today. I am thankful for what has already taken shape and at this first anniversary as a company, I look with excitement toward our future. I have many dreams for this business as we continue to grow and improve and can’t wait to see what unfolds.
Another meaning behind our name “provident,” is that as a small business owner this is not my only pursuit but that it helps support my life’s greatest passion. My primary focus in life and my hearts greatest desire is Jesus Christ, the greatest craftsman in history. He was and is the Son of God, yet as a lowly carpenter, He crafted for us the only way of redemption. I am a child of the living God and walk in the legacy of an eternal Kingdom. A Kingdom that will bring forth blessing among all of the peoples of the earth and do away with the injustice of intelligent evil in the world. A Kingdom that seeks to honor Jesus Christ in all we do. For this, my life’s pursuit, the business has indeed been “providential.” Many times, as mentioned before, my leatherwork has gotten me through difficult seasons in life and allowed me to serve internationally in ministry. I believe it is God’s creative capacities within me, being used for His glory, that have provided my needs at just the right time and in just the right way. We are “Provident Leather Company” because provision is ultimately from the hand of God and through us we pray He blesses others. So in my life’s devotion to Him, my hopes and dreams for the future of this company is that it will continue to provide the finances for myself, and others, to be able to serve Jesus around the world and to bring blessing among all of the peoples of the earth. It is hoped that the profits from this business supply the needed finances for the international travel that I often do with the ministry I am a part of. For more information on my ministry work, please check out Frontier Ventures here.
So thank you again dear people. Thank you for becoming a part of something meaningful. I hope the word “providence” finds some new light in your eyes and I hope Provident Leather Company has been or will be a valuable part of your life. I hope our story encourages you. May our leather goods help you to make a heritage of your own and may they carry your stories down through the generations. For the Glory of God.
~ Andrew R. Herbek, Owner
