S002 / E003: Nathan O'Malley

Nathan O’Malley is the Lead Sewer at Leather Works Minnesota, a business his mom and stepdad started out of their home basement in 1999 when Nathan was a child. Fast forward to 2018, the family’s business has it’s own space in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has products in 70 stores across the world.

Growing up, Nathan always wanted to pursue music, but when he started college, his career ambitions changed directions when he felt like God called him to be a missionary. After graduating with an Islamic Studies degree, Nathan spent time in the Philippines teaching about intercultural relations between Christians and Muslims.

During this time, Nathan started medicating deeper pain and became addicted to alcohol. Although he was angry at his mom for calling him out on it, he knew he needed to make big changes in his life. He quit cold turkey in 2017, but the health problems that followed nearly took his life. In this episode, Nathan talks about how it’s easy to get wrapped up in the image we project of ourselves to the world instead of finding freedom in knowing we are created in God’s image.

Nathan is still recovering from his health challenges, but is excited for his future as part of the family business and some upcoming mission trip opportunities.