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Victory is when preparation meets opportunity. Fortune really does favour the brave as is the case with Lenise Williams.
Lenise is an entrepreneur and lawyer who lives in Atlanta. She is the CEO of Made Leather Company, a products-based business.
It all started in November 2016, when she traveled to Marrakech, Morocco, as a guest speaker for a United Nations conference. While there, she saw the beautiful work done by leathersmiths, birthing a business idea that would see her sell goods to high-profile customers like NFL players.
She went back to back to the United States but only for a short while as she soon returned to Morocco. Little did she know, she would turn her newfound love of Moroccan leather goods into the Made Leather Company, a product-based business that would leave a legacy for her children and attract the attention of several NFL players.
“While traveling back to the United States, I realized that this could be the product-based business I had been itching to create. I gave it a lot of thought during my 24-hour journey home. I even sketched out a loose business plan on a cocktail napkin on the plane. I felt that these bags were hidden gems and that people in the United States would appreciate the craftsmanship,” she said in an interview with Black Enterprise.
With a plan in place, she went into business. But things did not go smoothly at first especially after she found out the middleman she was using was stealin from her. This prompted her cutting him out of the chain and dealing directly with manufacturers.
She also has had to overcome shipping issues as her consignments became larger. Lenise, with this choice, her travels and insistence on getting it from Morocco instead of the US shows she values quality.
She put in the work, the long hours, the miles to ensure the leather products are top-notch.
This, her preparation, paid off when a NFL player noticed her Instagram page before the official launch.
“His agent reached out and wanted to learn how he could obtain duffle bags for not just that one player, but for all 20 or so players that he represented. Several of the players were photographed with the bags and they tagged us on social media. Those postings brought attention to our products and resulted in sales,” she said.
We hail Lenise for her hardworking and perseverance.
