We wanted to know more about the businesses and people that use our Beech Tree Paper notebooks and paper goods so we are posting a series of Q & A's with makers and creatives in a series called Friends of Beech Tree Paper.
First up we have Matthew, the owner, and craftsman of Royal Priesthood Goods in California. We presented him with a series of questions and in this post, we wanted to share with you what we learned.
Describe your brand and what makes you, you?
Our brand is unique because it offers our customers a sense of royalty when they enter the site, become a mailing list subscriber, or purchase a product. We make it a point to value our customers and consider them Royalty because we believe everyone was created with a high value to them. With our products, we use 100% American leather from Wickett and Craig and offer a lifetime guarantee on all of our products. We want our customers to have a leather good product that they can pass down to their children’s children.
How did you get started?
We started in September of 2019, and it all came about from watching Stock and Barrel’s YouTube videos. I remember watching it at a family gathering and thinking, “how hard can this be to do and it looks so fun!”. So I bought the bare minimum tools and my wife (fiancee at the time) was all on board to support me in this new adventure!
Tyson Wallet
What inspires you to keep at it?
I love every day carry things. I pay attention to detail with clothing, shoes, bags, etc. and the little things make my day. So any time I see something on Instagram from coach, or monte blanc or other top brand designers, I always get sparked with inspiration to keep going. We started out with rugged leather goods, and eventually want to venture into luxury items such as bags, shoes, briefcases, and all of that fancy stuff.
Have you always been handy or creative?
Yes, most of my life I have been known to fix things and create things. Besides owning this business, I also own and run a freelance media company and I work full time as a marketing associate. Creative is an understatement I guess lol
Where did you learn your craft or set of skills?
Everything I know how to do is straight from YouTube! That is the best school available for me personally. Low Tide Leather, Little King Goods, Stock and Barrel, and a lot of Asian brands help me understand what to do with different pieces, leathers, packaging and what not.
Raw materials before they become the Alfredo No. 3
Do you have a favorite piece or product and why?
My favorite product on our line is our Alfredo No. 3. It’s a simple black vertical bifold and it’s functional but it ages SOO nice. I am currently wearing The Tyson since it is our newest product, but just a few nights ago a friend/customer showed me their 4-month-old Alfredo No. 3 wallet and it looks so smooth and worn and I was a little jealous!
Alfredo No. 3
What are you working on currently?
Right now we are currently in the process of testing out a potential luxury item. It will be a collection series with a matching messenger bag, purse, key fobs and clutch for his and hers. Its made from French calfskin and the material is BEAUTIFUL.
What is your favorite tool or raw material to work with?
My favorite tool to use is my edge beveler. I have no idea what brand it is because when we got started, a neighbor of mine had years worth of leather crafting tools and he didn’t use them anymore and donated them to us. One of the tools was that edge beveler and the handle is beautiful and it works so smoothly.
Matthew working with Edge Beveler
Do you have any new items you are releasing soon?
As of right now, we are not producing new items, we are just continuing to produce our current line of products for new customers.
A great review from a customer of Royal Priesthood Goods:
You can learn more and find their products at www.royalpriesthoodgoods.com
Like, follow and interact with Royal Priesthood Goods at:
www.instagram.com/royalpriesthoodgoods
www.facebook.com/royalpriesthoodgoods