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Let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Keith Frazier and I am from Southeast Texas, currently living in San Diego, California. I am a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is the reason that I landed in San Diego, and let's face it, the beach is so nice, it was hard to leave. Why did I leave the Marine Corps? Well, I was injured while conducting combat operations in Iraq and I was forced to be medically retired after a year of rehabilitation. Can't keep a good man down, so college was my next step!
I decided that I wanted to go to college for advertising, because every company needs advertising no matter how well they are doing in their sales. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising after only 3 years and I was off to work. I know you're asking, where did the leather thing come in to play? Well, school is stressful when doing 6-7 classes per semester and I needed something that would take my mind off of homework. While in my 2nd-3rd year of school, I decided to contact my dad back in Texas and ask him if I could use some of his old leather working tools. He wasn't using them so he was happy to gain the space back and he shipped them out to me. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get me going with a few small things.
I hit the ground running with making my first project because I use to work with leather when I was a kid back in Texas. So it came natural to me. I decided to start basic and I made a phone case. The phone case turned out well, so I made a business card holder. I needed a business card holder for my portfolio show in school, so it was a win win, I got what I needed for the show and I gained a little experience. After that, someone at school saw the card holder and they wanted one. So I decided to make one for them and I am so grateful to them for it because the quality was good, but nothing like it is today!
That day, I had no idea what was going to unfold. I started making card holders for multiple students and teachers. It spawned to various other items and then, I made a business name, Echo Six Designs. I was still focusing on graduating and going to work at an Ad Agency. I never thought that I would be well into an Ad career and give it all up to be a full-time leather designer. But that is exactly what I did!
I established Echo Six Designs in 2012 and it was the best decision that I could have ever made. I wanted to be artistic and work with my hands. All while being able to take care of my son on a day to day basis as a single father.