WIMBERLEY, Texas — If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. It's a phrase we hear often, but very few of us ever dare to live it out.
For Nick Dowell, he left a six-figure job for business in leatherworking.
"Most people go and you buy them in the store, and they don't think twice about it," said Dowell.
How often do we look at our lives and cut out the things we don't need? For Dowell inside his Wimberly Workshop, it took him years to realize what he didn't need.
"You know, before this, I worked in the oil field. I was working offshore," he said. "The kids didn't always understand why I was gone."
Dowell realized no six-figure salary was worth being away from his family for a month or two at a time.
"None of that is worth it, you know. I would much rather be here making purses for women, making belts, you know, it's just a better lifestyle and that's what makes it so special for my family," Dowell added. "Anytime somebody comes in and I cut a belt for them, they don't understand how much that means for our family."
PHOTOS: Wimberley's Nick Dowell starts business in leatherworking
"We opened this business to not only help him be here for our kids but to get him home was the biggest facet of all of it," said Sara Dowell, Nick's wife.
Being closer to his family wasn't just for their kids.
"He struggles with PTSD," explained Sara Dowell.
"During my time with the Marines, I spent a couple of years in Iraq. As I get older, I seem to have a little more difficult time dealing with some of that stuff," said Nick Dowell.
"So, to be able to come home and have his family during those times is something he needed for a long time," said Sarah Dowell. "He did everything he could to make sure everybody was taken care of but now at this point, he gets to take care of himself."
RELATED:
"What draws me to it the most is that I can somewhat meditate while I do it," explained Nick Dowell. "It can really help you deal with a lot of those emotions that you battle with."
Now he's hoping for his store to grow and ultimately help others find the path he did.
"Have a nice business for people to come and work so they're not doing something miserable and maybe they can learn a trade and hopefully find a path in leatherwork as I did. That's the ultimate goal," added Nick Dowell.
There are times when it takes cutting things out to become whole.
"There's more to life than a big paycheck," said Nick Dowell.
Texas Hills Leather is located in the square down in Wimberley. The workshop and storefront are together because they wanted people to feel more of a connection to the goods they buy.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: