LaBelle’s Tommie Bade Builds a Craft Business From Scraps
by REBEKAH PIERCE
It all started with just $12.
When she was just 15 years old, Tommie Bade walked into a furniture store in Texas and started browsing. With that $12, she bought a few scraps of cowhide. That simple purchase changed everything.
“I’ve always been obsessed with cowhide,” she says. “I couldn’t live without having cowhide everything.”
Her affection for the fabric has rapidly transformed from a simple passion into a successful full-time career. Now 21 years old, Bade runs a store called Tommie’s Hyde (mostly from Facebook and operated out of her homebase of LaBelle, Florida) that specializes in custom cowhide crafts.
At first, her goal was to just make enough money to start buying her own cows. While she does indeed now have a small herd, she’s also fulfilling custom orders for people all over the country.
“My first event was just [selling] little earrings and hair ties,” she explains. “I made like $200 at my first event, with just one little table. It was unreal to me. $200 was so much. We just kept going, doing bigger events, going to shows. We go all over doing beef and swine stock shows, barrel races, a few festivals.”
The agricultural community is Bade’s largest customer base, she says. “I can do custom orders [and also maintain an inventory]. They get to pick what [the cowhide] is going on, what color hide they want. I can do different kinds of bags.”
In addition to making cowhide…well, everything (the long list of offerings includes but is not limited to Hey Dudes, hair clips, knife blocks, candles, bags, and backpacks), she also does custom branding. “I can brand anything that’s cowhide. Leather, straw or felt hats, boots. I sell hair clips the fastest,” she says.
While much of her customer base is local, she also ships extensively to buyers all around the world. “I love selling things and getting to talk to people, meeting tons of people every day.”
Her materials are just as far-flung as some of her customers. She sources the hides from Texas and Brazil, going to great pains to make sure each one is absolutely perfect. “I look at the quality, feel. Some are really thick and you can’t do anything with it, but the thick ones [can also] be really good for rugs. Thinner are good for making stuff, but too thin, if you brand, it will go right through it. [I also consider] the type of hair. I have to have a variety for everybody. Some people like longer hair, some people like short. I like more of the slick,” she says.
Wildly successful at such a young age, Bade’s work is even more impressive when you consider that she’s completely self-taught.
“It was a lot of learning, just going for it. There wasn’t really a guide or anything. There’s nobody telling you how exactly to do it, just a lot of mess ups. I’m still learning every day,” she confesses.
What the future holds remains to be seen.
“I don’t see an end point,” she says, explaining that while it might not be a forever business, she’d like to see it grow to much larger than it is now.
“It brings awareness to the cowhide [product] and to Florida agriculture,” she explains. “I couldn’t even start to tell you why I love it so much.”
And with a loyal customer base – customers on her Facebook page rave that her prices are “exceptional” and the quality is “amazing,” among other accolades – it’s easy to see that she’s not the only one who’s hooked on cowhide.