Crafting a Better Future with the Family Business

For this craftsman, leather wasn’t just the family business: it was a way out of poverty. 

The smell of leather fills the workshop, which looks like the set of an old western film. Belts and saddles hang from the walls, every inch meticulously crafted and decorated by the skilled workers positioned behind sewing machines and craft tables. The store, fittingly, named “Cuero y Más” (Leather and More), occupies a small footprint in the mountainous city of Catacamas, Honduras, four hours northeast of the nation’s capital city.

For store owner Ever Sierra, leather was the family business. Both his father and his grandfather were skilled leatherworkers who passed their trade down to Ever over the years. This skill would ultimately serve as a lifeline for Ever during difficult times ahead.

Providing for his Growing Family

Long before starting his own business, Ever traveled 161 miles from Sabana Grande to the mountain city of Catacamas, where he began attending the National University of Agriculture.

Before Ever could graduate, he and his wife welcomed their first child into the world. To provide for the needs of his growing family, Ever started his own small business, making leather trinkets for his teachers and college friends.

The business provided some much-needed income for his family, but producing and selling more leather products required funding Ever did not have. With a growing family to support and rent to pay, Ever needed a way to expand his business.