We shine a light on great ideas and the people behind them. We tell their stories. In our product videos, Q&A’s, and podcasts, we try to uncover the inspiration, struggle, and ultimate success of that Maker. But the only true way to capture a story is to meet the subject in their environment.
And so we are thrilled to announce a first in a new Maker profile video series: Rogue Industries.
We started with a Maker close to home, literally. Rogue is a 90-minute drive from our office in Somerville, MA. Michael and Wells Lyons and the five-person crew behind these American-made front pocket wallets, set up shop in a renovated B&B Colonial Farmhouse in Standish, ME.
The property rests on 14 acres complete with walking trails, a meandering brook, a trout pond, and most importantly, a classic New England workshop — an ideal Makerspace for leather stamping, design prototyping, and specialty production.
Every detail felt quintessentially Rogue. It was classic, rugged, and full of character. The kitchen looks modern enough with a granite-topped island and gas stove until you look to your left and quickly need to duck under the winding spiral staircase. Next to which is a full-wall fireplace that served as the backdrop for Michael and Wells in the video above.
And like no leather hide used for their wallets is the same, neither is any one of the restrooms in their space. From the standard full bath to the ol’ (and maybe even unprecedented) indoor-outhouse-with-giant-wooden-bucket-bathtub setup.
The shoot took about 8 hours. We joked that all of that footage would be distilled down to 30 seconds. Not far off. We wish we could release the full 8 hours. If only to show you that Michael and Wells are exactly as they seem in the video — warm, genuine, and dedicated to their craft.
We wish we had the off-camera conversations with Mary Anne, their operations lead, and Leanne, their stitcher, who helped shape our conversation with anecdotes and asides.
Frankly, whether we recorded it or not, we wish we followed one of those hiking trails and explored their 14 acres. You see the foliage above, but you can’t breathe it in. When people think of a New England fall, whether they realize it or not, they’re thinking of Rogue’s property in late October.
We wish we got the conversation we had with a couple at Sebago Lake shooting b-roll and the heart-pounding — but speed-limit-allowing — chase of trying to catch a shot of a mountain range at sunset. Unfortunately for all of us, there was a large branch right in the middle of the shot.
When we talk about Makers being a part of your community, we mean it. Like you, they’re helping build it. They’re sharing your roads, walking by you at the grocery store, hiring your neighbors. They’re in Standish, Maine; Warsaw, Indiana; and Portland, Oregon. And they don’t get the headlines they deserve. So we’re going to share these stories with you. We’ve been doing it all along, but this is the exciting new chapter in how we tell them.
Learn more and shop for Rogue Front Pocket Wallets.
What a lovely story about a father and son….it is almost a magical story in a way…to find a life’s work together. What a beautiful setting to live and work in and produce a beautiful product and made in America how great is that. It will be my next purchase for a man this coming Christmas. Thanks for such a lovely story to go along with it…which I will include a print out when I give the gift That makes it a treasure all the more.