Joe Schussler of the Chap Shop

When Joe Schussler was a kid, his father would take him to a little café for breakfast in their small Idaho hometown. It was there that he first got inspired to create art. While the inspiration was a simple can that had been converted into an airplane, Joe thought it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen and set out to create one of his own. He went home and started cutting stuff up. It didn’t quite work out the way he wanted, but from that day forward he knew he wanted to make things. Today, that passion has turned into a full-time career where he makes world-class chaps and other leather goods.

“I didn’t quite know where it was going to lead, but I knew there was always