Q So Kate, how did you start this business?
A So this all really starts because my husband and I have been farming and ranching together for 11 years, and we've grown our farm and ranch called Kassad Family Farms, which is organic and regenerative. We've grown it from a three acre market farm doing CSAs and farmers markets, and so now we manage about 1400 acres. And as first generation farmer ranchers, I like to say we've learned not just how to grow food, but what it takes to save a farm. And in the same era of the past decade, I've been operating a custom hat business where I build custom western hats and fedoras, and it really just came down to, I thought I was building something for Habs Dad Hat Company, and I wanted to find hides that align with my ethos, how I source my food and how I live the rest of my life, and as soon as I started looking for regional hides, you know, regenerative hides, something that might have traceability, I realized it did not exist, and so that started this journey.
AI assessment note: “looking for regional hides... I realized it did not exist, and so that started this journey”