I was a CFI in Chicago, watching colleagues secure their credentials with rubber bands, Ziploc bags and flimsy plastic ID holders. There had to be a better way to display the documents we are asked to prove, on demand, that we are fit to fly.

So I cut my own. When I joined SkyWest, one glance in the mirror before a trip was enough — wallet tucked in the breast pocket, done. A Captain in Savannah bought five on a single layover. That was the moment the experiment became a company.

I partnered with a family-owned tannery in Florence and a small atelier in Warsaw who would treat every wallet like their own. Everything we ship is built around that standard.