THE LEATHERMAN STORY

In 1975, a young Tim Leatherman, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University, took a trip to Europe with his wife Chau. Along the way, they found themselves constantly needing to fix things – from leaky hotel plumbing to multiple road-side repairs on their budget $300 car. Tim was frustrated that he didn’t have the right tools so he came up with an idea to make a simple, functional multi-tool he could carry on his belt.

When he returned home to America, he got to work creating his idea. When he started, he thought it would take him a month. Instead, it took the next three years!

When he’d finished designing his tool, he tried to sell his idea. But none of the companies he approached wanted to buy his multi-tool.  For another three and a half years, Tim faced one rejection letter after another. Until he partnered with his college friend, Steve Berliner, and in the spring of 1983, they received their first order and launched the first Leatherman tool.

Fourty years later, Tim’s company is still making Leatherman tools, and they’ve sold over 85 million tools around the world! Tim’s story is a great example of persevering through failure and never giving up on your dream.