Growing up, Francesca Ritchie was always passionate about the arts. So passionate that at the age of 16, she dropped out of high school to pursue a career in it, and now she’s the founder of a successful leather goods store, Teton Leather Company.
But that didn’t come before a long road of countless hours perfecting her craft and finding her niche in the arts.
“I had done a lot of painting and kind of any little creative avenue that I could take, and I would go down and see if it stuck. A big one for me, which I’m very thankful to my mom for, is that she forced me to stay in private piano lessons for five and a half years,” Francesca said. “The feeling of stress relief that I would get from writing a song and playing it was such an all-encompassing feeling. I knew that I wanted to pursue something creative. It’s always been a pretty creative path.”
At the age of 12, she apprenticed with a master jeweler and later apprenticed with a bladesmith at the age of 16.
Then at the age of 19, a collector of hers who was purchasing most of her knives asked her to make him something out of leather. “I said yes because he was paying my bills,” she said. “I had never done anything with leatherwork, so it was very new and fresh.”
This moment ignited a passion in Francesca she didn’t know she had.
“I decided to just dive in. It took me like three or four times of throwing the thing away and remaking it,” she said. “By the time I had finally made this sheath, and I put it down in front of me, it was the most life-changing moment.”
Francesca never looked back. From there, she started consulting people she knew in the leather industry for advice on how to perfectly craft knife sheaths. “From that point forward, I thought, I have to do this forever,” she said. “I love sheath making.”
In the beginning, Francesca was just a young mom in a small apartment in Southern California when she got her first order. She remembers her 6-month-old daughter crawling up her back as Francesca was kneeling on the carpet floor trying to cut leather. A long way from where she is today.
After starting her small business, she decided to make the move to Idaho Falls for its outdoor recreation and more opportunity to grow the business. Over the years, the business has grown, and in 2023, it moved into its first facility outside of Francesca’s home.
“One day, I looked around my house, and I was surrounded by boxes of leather,” she said. “I thought, ‘It’s time to find a facility.’”
Now located at 2295 N Yellowstone Hwy #4, the Teton Leather Company is thriving.
“It’s gone from me just trying to figure it out without anyone teaching me to where I am now with 20 employees and this facility,” she said. “It’s grown from nothing and just a concept to something I really wanted the reality of.”
What makes Teton Leather Company stand out is their commitment to quality. “Anything that leaves this shop I have designed,” she said. “Nothing is shipped out unless I’ve combed it over. It’s designed to function and look great at the same time.”
The products range from knife sheaths to wallets to bags to belts and more. All of the products are made with high-end leather, and some with exotic leathers like alligator, stingray, elephant, giraffe, kangaroo, and beaver tail.
Along with her passion for leatherwork, Francesca found another passion for animal conservation. “Without those species and keeping them around, the value and the richness of our planet is kind of obsolete,” she said.
“I don’t just want to sell great leather products. I mean obviously the main goal is to sell great products that people are happy with, but if I can do something beyond that, and that actually has an impact in the world, that’s my driving force for this business.”
For more information, head to www.tetonleathercompany.com.
