FROM LOW BOTTOM TO HIGH END –
10/21/2021 – Seawright began with handbags, but he’s made everything from gun holsters and cases to a lawyer’s briefcase.
The type of leather he uses is based on what leather is available and what kind of bag he’s making. He made customer Marion Sarchet a handbag and put shoe leather inside. “The quality of his purses is phenomenal,” Sarchet said. “You can tell John what you want, and he just makes it.” Before his venture into leather goods, Seawright bounced between jobs from construction to engineering before becoming a police officer in Arkansas. That led to his struggle with alcoholism. The stress of the job, a need for control and a history of alcoholism in his family put him on that path. But after the birth of his son, Seawright decided he needed to get sober. He went to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and was overwhelmed with emotion.“Something bigger than myself changed my thought from a bourbon and Coke,” he said. “It smelled like poison to me.” Seawright knew he needed to make a change in his life for the better. He returned to construction, but a timely opportunity came up when his wife was asked to teach in Qatar. That was where he encountered high-fashion leather bags.
Seawright had always loved working with his hands and crafting things. He remembers making a wallet in high school, but he said he was limited by his own idea of masculinity. After years of watching her husband struggle with his masculinity and seek his passion, his wife felt they were finally in a place where she could encourage him to do something without that societal pressure.
“When we moved back I was like, ‘You’re not allowed to get a job. You’re not allowed to have a boss,’” Seawright’s wife, Leslie, said. “‘You need to find something that you love, working with your hands.’”
