Mike Vaughn

Growing up during the Urban Cowboy movie craze in the early 1980s, Mike Vaughn wore cowboy boots and, when he turned 14, he started bull riding at local rodeos. As Mike explained it, “Everybody wore boots and western attire and that was the thing to do.”

On March 4, 1965, Mike was born in the small town of Bridgeport, Texas. When he was an infant, his parents left him, along with one of his two sisters, with his grandmother, Robbie Vaughn, who raised them as a single grandparent in Grand Prairie, Texas (about 12 miles outside of Dallas). Robbie was a major influence in his life. Whenever Mike told her that he could not do something, she told him, “Can’t never could do nothing.”

Mike became interested in leatherwork as a teenager. In his sophomore year at Grand Prairie High School, he took an elective course on leather tooling where he learned the basics of leather tooling, how to use lace and how to make wallets.

A rodeo friend of his worked at a repair shop in Irving, Texas, called London’s Boot and Shoe Repair. After taking a pair of boots there for repair, Mike asked for a job and worked there the summer between his sophomore and junior year.

During his junior year, Mike received a spot in his high school’s work program class, whereby he was able to attend classes for half the day and spend the second half earning wages at a qualifying job. Mike’s work program teacher, Mr. Griffith, told Mike he should apply for a job at Bramhall’s Boot Repair in Grand Prairie, so that he could continue working in boot and shoe repair. When Mike agreed, Mr. Griffith called his friend, Jeff Bramhall, who told Mr. Griffith, “Send him down here and we’ll visit with him.”

After school that day, Mike went to see Jeff at the shop. When he arrived, Jeff was out to lunch but Jeff’s father, Jack, was there. Mike told Jack, “Mr. Griffith from school sent me down here to get a job,” to which Jack replied, “I don’t know who this Mr. Griffith guy is. I ain’t hiring [you]. Get out of here.”

The next day, Mike went back to school and told Mr. Griffith what happened. Jeff asked Mr. Griffith to send Mike back to the shop and the same thing happened again, but this time Jack told Mike, “Didn’t I run [you] out of here yesterday?” Mike said, “Yes, sir.” “I’m going to run [you] out of here again today,” Jack said, “I ain’t giving you no job. I told you