201. Dave Munson on Building a Top Quality Brand and Team

What are some things you can do to create the most efficient and highest quality products and team? In this episode, we’re hosting Dave Munson, Founder of Saddleback Leather Company, a premium leather product company run out of Azle, Texas.  Dave got his inspiration to work in leather when he was an English teacher in Southern Mexico. He told the leather worker in a local leather shop that he wanted a bag so durable he could pass it down to his grandkids to fight over. He loved that bag, and when he got back to the states, he found that a lot of other people did, too. People asked him all the time where he found it and where they could get one.  Although talented, the leather worker who crafted Dave’s amazing first bag wasn’t particularly trustworthy, so Dave went on to find another extremely talented craftsman in Mexico’s leather town, Leon.  Thus started the long journey to becoming one of the most premium and prized leather companies in the Americas!  Join us today to hear Dave’s amazing story and how he operates this wildly successful business! You’ll hear: How Saddleback Leather can charge a higher price than competitors and thrive 3:46 Where Dave got the inspiration for his unique advertising approach 7:00 Size of the Saddleback team 15:00 How Dave establishes trust with his team members 18:21 Top things the Saddleback team does to increase productivity 31:12 How Dave ensures he has time for his family 37:35 How a Core Values Index (CVI) test helped Dave be a better leader 42:16 About the Guest: Dave and his black lab, Blue, started Saddleback Leather living in Juarez, Mexico sleeping on the floor of a $100 apartment with no hot water for three years. He fought a bull in a Mexican Bullfight and had a Federale sent to kill him while trying to get the company going. In 2006, he met his wife on Myspace and in 2008 they started a leather factory in central Mexico. They currently live in 2000 square feet of safari tents outside of Fort Worth, Texas with their two kids and 3 labs.  Resources: Website: www.saddlebackleather.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saddlebackleather  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saddlebackbags/  The Thriving Farmer Podcast Team would like to thank our amazing sponsor! At AgriGro, we know that in today’s modern agriculture, our efforts can deplete life or add life. When you look for ways to add life, it’s sustainable and makes everything work better. The result is enhanced plant and soil health for crops, gardens, and turf, as well as improved animal health and environment for livestock and wildlife. Our products are all-natural, easy to use, and friendly to the soil, the plant, as well as the grower. AgriGro’s® formulations deliver essential plant nutrition along with an advanced prebiotic concentrate, which significantly increases the multitude of beneficial native microbial species already residing in the production environment. Through these environmentally sound technologies, we’re adding life to crop production, livestock, home, turf, and wildlife markets. You don’t have to be dependent on crop production efforts that deplete life… Just Add Life with AgriGro®.