Reinventing a Legacy

WHEN TANYA VAN DER WATER INHERITED HER FATHER’S LEATHERWORK COMPANY, HIS LEGACY BECAME HER CLOSEST CO-WORKER. ONE INTROSPECTIVE REINVENTION LATER, SHE’S BRINGING BUCKAROO LEATHERWORKS TO THE WORLD ON HER OWN TERMS.

- MICHAEL WAYNE

NAME:

Tanya Van Der Water

COMPANY:

Buckaroo Leatherworks

POSITION:

CEO

LOCATION:

Wollongong, Australia

By the time Ken Van Der Water transformed his beloved hobby of crafting leather belts into a micro business, he’d already endured years of struggle. Originally from South Africa, Ken and his family had fled to Australia to escape apartheid. He arrived with a recognized trade as a leatherworker and soon set up a small shop in his Sydney backyard.

“My dad had an old-school mentality and didn’t take extended risks,” says his daughter Tanya, now CEO of what has become Buckaroo Leatherworks. “He was too busy trying to survive and get things moving in a new country with a young family.”

When Tanya joined the family business at the age of 18 in 2002, it had become a team of four. “We did everything ourselves,” she says. “Dad really struggled for a long time. It’s unfortunate that he isn’t here today to see the success we’ve achieved.”