Moms Making Moccasins

Caroline Blackard and Misti Calhoun design and manufacture leather shoes in the Ark-La-Tex

By Lisa Porterfield Thompson

Some businesses are born out of careful planning and measured risks. They’re budgeted out, calculated for years, and all the pieces fall into place before a budding entrepreneur or investors take the leap that lead to success. Some businesses are like that.

Broncy Donkey Leather Co. is not one of those businesses. “Broncy Donkey is a business born from adversity,” Founder Misti Calhoun said. “In 2018, I was struggling to get by. I was working six days a week and not getting near enough time with my kids. My desperation to make more money, combined with impulsiveness, caused me to reach out to a guy who had advertised a set of old leather-working tools for sale in a Facebook ad. After a short, awkward meeting in the Walmart parking lot, and the exchange of $70 that I didn’t really have to spend, I had the back seat of my ’93 Honda full of leather supplies. I started by trying to learn the art of tooling. Then I made a really ugly purse, and in December of that year, I started teaching myself how to make moccasins. There were a lot of late nights, early mornings, bloody fingertips, notebook scribbles, terrible patterns, and awful looking shoes, but in May of 2019, I sold my first pair.”

Misti’s business partner, Caroline Blackard, pushed her to make Broncy Donkey a legit business. “Misti reached out to me because she was possibly moving to Mount Pleasant and wanted to know if I could help her find a job,” Caroline recalled. “I asked her why she wasn’t making shoes full-time and if she would be interested in doing it full-time with a partner. She said yes, and the rest is history.”

Misti and Caroline met through their children’s involvement in youth rodeo. “I would say we were more of acquaintances than friends really,” Misty recalled. “She was definitely always a friendly face and someone I felt comfortable saying hi to, but we only saw each other at rodeo events. Owning a business together has intertwined our lives in a way that I didn’t expect. We go through not only the ups and downs of a business together, but also through the ups and downs of life together. One of my favorite things about Caroline is that when a problem comes up, whether it’s business or personal, her number-one, go-to response is, ‘What can I do to help?’”

Broncy Donkey’s Queen City team consists of Lacey Girod, Courtney Durmon, Kayla Berry, Carol McKinney and Misti Calhoun.

Caroline and Misti both grew up in a farm setting in Northeast Texas, which is perhaps an unexpected background for two women running a fashion-forward footwear company. However, both women cite their parents as setting an example for hard work and entrepreneurship. “My dad was a welder,” Misti said. “My mom’s desire was to be a homemaker, but when she had to, she got a job to help provide.”

Broncy Donkey’s Mount Pleasant team is responsible for hand sewing shoes, shipping, and social media marketing.  Team members are: (front row) Alexis Rios, Yadira del Carmen, Alicia Ramirez, Caroline Blackard and Yeny Cruz; (back row) Jessica Rose, Marie Beam, Tera Rozell, Ashley Hernandez, Tabatha Baker, Maria Chavez and Claudia Castaneda.

Caroline’s parents owned a business, which certainly set the tone for her to run a business someday. “My parents started Diamond C Trailer in 1985 in our backyard, so I grew up watching them run a business,” she said. “My parents were both hard workers with a lot of perseverance, and they passed that on to me and my siblings.”

Both Misti and Caroline are grateful for the experiences they have had through Broncy Donkey. “We have had some of the neatest adventures throughout this process,” Caroline said. “We drove 27 hours to Pendleton, Oregon, for a show and saw so much of our cool country along the way. We’ve met the neatest people at the show in Roundtop, Texas, and we’ve been featured in some awesome magazines.”

Misti agreed that there have been awe-inspiring experiences. “We’ve done a lot of cool things,” she said, citing their win of the Women of the West Small Business Award. “But none of the shows and awards compare to what it feels like to be able to give our employees two weeks paid vacation at Christmas,” she said. “I love knowing they are getting to spend time with their kids while they’re out of school, and they don’t miss a paycheck.”

Misti and caroline with the very first pair of shoes they made together.

Some of the Broncy Donkey team is comprised of the women of Hope Ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping single mothers break the poverty cycle. They are located in Mount Pleasant, where the bulk of Broncy Donkey’s manufacturing takes place.

“From the very beginning, we’ve wanted to provide jobs for women and teach them a skilled labor,” reads a post on the Broncy Donkey’s Facebook page. “We needed employees, and they needed work. We were able to take leather and supplies to their facility, and they created their own workspace. After several days of training, they started helping us with production. These women are a joy to work with, and we are blessed every time we walk through the door. Their determination to develop skills in this field are inspiring!”