Ask the Bootmaker Tyler Lyle

Ask the Bootmaker podcast with Tyler Lyle

• won 2 categories at Wichita Falls: intermediate top stitching and intermediate dress boot
• started in custom cowboy hats
• worked for a hat shop
• having a kid, coming off the road, find something without so much travel
• moved back to Texas
• always wore custom boots
• odd size that can’t find off the shelf
• “the hardest way possible”
• contacted Brad Blynn in Lubbock
• offered two-week deal
• built first pair in a week
• crash course
• went home for four weeks
• came back for another week
• did the exact same thing
• bought a repair shop (just the equipment)
• took about a year without a job
• built six or seven pair
• lived closest to greg Carmack
• drove to Waco, brought pair 3 or 4, having trouble getting the last out
• asked for help, he didn’t hesitate
• kept coming by every couple months, taking tips
• went on for about a year, year and a half
• got pretty serious
• about pair 15-20 started charging decent money
• took about six months off, tried to quit, wasn’t making money
• sold the boot shop
• six months later, Greg Carmack and Jarrett Van Curen told not to quit
• bought some equipment back
• bought some new equipment
• better knew what needed
• “kind of a restart for me”
• really resolved to make it happen
• about a year and a half now
• five days a week
• crash course
  • no leather background
  • fast paced
  • “you can’t learn anything in two weeks”
  • discouragement came from the business side of thing
  • “have to go from learning to making a dollar”
• wise words
  • Jarrett:
    • became pretty good buds
    • talked often
  • Greg Carmack
    • “by far…my driver to keep pushing me”
    • just by chance
    • close, willing to help
    • “not to be a quitter”
    • joking at the time
    • saw that he could do it
    • work through he business-side struggles
    • helped with pricing
    • “efficient as you can”
• work pace
  • opinion: to make a solid living, need to make 50-70 pair a year
  • very hard to do alone
  • some shops turn out 20 and make a profit, but not at his price point
  • at his current price point, has to make at least 50 pair
  • works boot show to boot show
  • which number pair did he enter at the last show versus this one?
  • 24 pair in most recent 4 months
  • 6 pair in January
• favorite part: the experience of coming in, being measured, digging through leather
  • Willie
    • wears 9 or 9½ EEEE or EEE
    • has tons of custom boots
    • has only had two or three old boots
  • other customer 8½EEEE has been buying 10½EE off the shelf
    • way too long but fit circumference
    • can physically get his feet in
  • lots of people just know that boots don’t fit ’em well
  • if you fit them, you’ve got a customer for life
• “The Bootmaker’s Prayer”
  • please fit, please fit, please fit
  • got to know your customer
  • e.g. recently did a big group build for a bunch of first-timers
    • all wore their boots very sloppy
    • easy to pull on
    • don’t hug foot
  • ask people if they want them easy to pull on or to pop
• biggest surprise: how many people want nice things
  • they will spend the money
  • have something different than others
  • whatever “custom” is for them
  • not enough makers for demand
• have to fit in person?
  • yes, required
  • conflict with social media as main way of reaching people
  • when traveling, can sometime fit people close by
  • need the chance to read the customer
  • self-measurement kits are not reliable or consistent
  • who’s liable if they don’t fit?
  • guarantee fit if he measures
  • has made mistakes on a small handful
• goes to events and shapes hats for a friend
  • sometimes fits people before or after the event
• women’s boots
  • “a boot is a boot”
  • lasts: no such thing as men’s or women’s size
  • mother built on a 7½ last, she usually wears 9 women’s
  • he builds a little different: thinner insole, thinner sole
  • not as thick and rugged, but will if they need them
  • most women he’s fit don’t wear boots everyday
  • little bit lighter leather
  • same for men’s office boots
  • want a 9 iron sole, they get it
• Alligator from American Tanning out of Georgia
  • get multiple hides from the same dye lot
• fitting
  • builds a last to each customer
  • starts with heel to ball
  • short heel
  • uses stock lasts, then builds up
  • has close to 75 lasts on hand
  • working on designing a new last
  • saves the built-up lasts
  • can take orders by phone once last is built
• 27 years old
• future of the industry
  • if it just stays the same, it’s not going to look good
  • beaten every day by Mexico and El Paso
  • no comparison, but people don’t know the difference
  • will lose suppliers
  • older guys retiring
  • young people don’t how to get in, don’t know it exists
• not at the point where he’s teaching
• “I’m still a young pup”
• only 3½ years total
• “I’m not the answer, but I have an answer”
• walk into any repair shop
• they are 6 to 8 weeks out on half soles and heel caps
• “I want to do this”
• “the top work”
• option 2: find a veteran bootmaker, over a thousand pair
• intern without a paycheck
• you don’t know anything, aren’t valuable
• Lee Miller has three kick-ass people, stick with him for a long time
• most: about five people in a shop
• making 20 pair a week or more
• had close to $15,000 invested before knew what he was doing
• everyone’s situation different
• if you’re not trying to do it alone for a living, just as a hobby, can go it alone
• some self-taught makers are really good for how many they’ve made
• we could take 100 more bootmakers across the US and not put a dent in the market
• we wouldn’t even be fighting over customers that way
• older makers: used to be secretive
• everyone sat in a corner and did one job
• now everybody helpful
• if don’t agree, that’s fine, a million ways to do it
• “we don’t see each other as competition”
• costs
  • just recently hiked base price
  • 30 to 50 hours to build a pair
  • a week’s pay for somebody, plus materials and shop rent
  • went from $1,200 to $1,600 base
  • most makers that are friends are right there
  • at $1,200, undercutting himself
  • did that for a year
  • wait was 8 months
  • handful are over $2k to get on the books
• first questions what’s your base and how long is your wait?
  • base: pigskin or french calf boot, baby calf or kidskin tops
  • three rows of stitching
  • up to 13 top
  • no brand inlay, no collars, no toe bugs
  • $50 per row
  • $100 for oversize tops
  • $150 for brand inlay
  • everyone’s base is different, but they’re close
  • no exotics
• favorite leather: alligator or elephant
  • has lots of elephant at the shop
  • don’t has a lot of alligator, very expensive
• trading pairs with Jarrett, will enter in contest against each other
• ==he does that every year with a different maker==
• sometimes they don’t end up in the same category
• has a collection of other makers’ custom boots in his shop
• Lisa gifted a pair, her personal boots
• new shop
  • Calvert, TX
  • previously shared with a saddlemaker
  • 1400 square feet now
  • downtown
  • tiny town, one stop
• Instagram his biggest social media account