What motivated you to start your business and what is your vision for the future of the company?

Awl Together Leather, owned by Ariss Grutter and Tess Gobiel is the first queer-owned leather repair shop in Canada and the only female*-owned one in Western Canada. We opened in May 2021, to disrupt the male-dominated leatherwork and shoe-repair industry and to provide accessible repair services that keep items out of landfills. As young (U30), queer owners, we are trailblazers in our industry. By existing so visibly, and hiring and training underrepresented staff we are paving the way for an even greater shift in our industry’s demographics. For reference, in BC 82% of Shoe Repairers/Shoemakers were male, and 82% were also older than age 45 (WorkBC, 2021). Our inspiration is seeing more industries shift to having marginalized folks reach positions of leadership and power, and for those leaders to enact change that sustains all our related communities and our environment. As of 2024, we have cleared our opening loans and building towards a sustainable future. In our first two years, we focused extensively on smoothing out our hiring and training practices while paying off our loans. We are now focused on closing the gap to the always-increasing living wage for our staff, which continues to grow with the increasing demand. We have a two-year wage increase plan to help up reach the living wage while also expanding our staff to keep up with the current demand. In addition, we are working on an SEO campaign that is designed to educate younger consumers about the possibilities of shoe repair. This includes specialized blog posts accompanied by social media videos on the different types of shoe repair and leather tips. Our goal is to educate more people about how cobbling or “up-cycling” can revitalizes wardrobes and battle textile wastes, especially since there is no recycling for shoes. As Awl Together Leather ages, we will continue to fill the gaps in the industry with underrepresented, well-trained personnel as our peers continue to retire. *We put as asterisks here as Ariss is non-binary (they/they pronouns), however is content to be included in female categories as it reflects their roots and their business relationship with Tess (she/her).

Why do you deserve to win the Best Youth Entrepreneur Award?

Awl Together Leather is a rare example of young, queer, female* entrepreneurs taking on a male-dominated industry and being very successful. We have proved the cobbling is not a dying industry but one that is financially viable, community and accessibility-based, and much needed to combat ongoing climate injustice. Despite opening in the height of the early Covid-19 pandemic, the year seven other shoe repair shops in the Lower Mainland closed their doors, Awl Together Leather has financially succeeded. We launched strong with a Kickstarter Campaign that was fully-funded by our community to the tune of $10,000 in 36 hours and 30 days later, on our grand opening, we had raised over $22,000. We fully cleared our opening loans two and half years into operation and predict our 2024 revenue to be $400,000. Every year we see 2,000 customers with upwards of 8,500 items. The numbers behind Awl Together Leather prove an undeniable demand for friendly, reliable shoe repair services. Awl Together Leather has been recognized and awarded continuously since our launch. We value a continued recognition from our community and customers with 4.7 stars on Google that reflects the effort we put into our customer service and work standards. We made BC Business’s 30U30 2022 list, were a finalist for Canada Post’s 2023 Tales of Triumph ‘Rising Stars’, have been featured internationally with Style and Art Insider (March and April 2022). Our industry peers recognize our uniqueness within the field and have invited us to speak on The Saddler’s Post podcast, the Stitchdown Shoecast, in-person at the Brooklyn Shoe Space before the Shoe Service Institute of America’s 2024 conference, among others. In the press, we have been featured on the Daily Hive, Vancouver is Awesome, Asparagus Magazine, and multiple times on the CBC. Forthcoming, we are filming a documentary for the CBC Creator Network and will be part of the 7th Edition of McGraw Hill’s textbook on Sustainable Marketing.