You don’t meet many CEOs who refer to their business as a “leather ministry.” Fewer still who proudly admit they’re not trying to scale. And almost none who launched a global brand with a hand-sketched bag, a beat-up truck, and a mission to fund youth ministry—not disrupt a market. But Dave Munson isn’t your typical entrepreneur.
As the founder of Saddleback Leather Co., Munson has built a business on two things that rarely coexist in modern capitalism: deeply held values and bulletproof design. His motto—“They’ll fight over it when you’re dead”—isn’t just good copy; it’s the design brief for every product his company makes. Durability isn’t a feature. It’s the point.
Munson runs his company with equal parts Texas grit, biblical principle, and irreverent humor. He’s written a children’s book about the birth of Jesus, leads marriage workshops, and runs a bilingual school for his employees’ children in León, Mexico—all while shipping high-end leather goods to customers around the world. His leadership style blends scripture and service with business pragmatism, and his idea of wealth has less to do with EBITDA than with how many lives he’s lifted up.
In an age of AI-fueled growth hacks and unicorn valuations, Munson is an outlier—happily so. He’s not looking to 10x his revenue or chase a buyout. He’s building something slower, tougher, and—he hopes—more lasting. We spoke with him about mission-driven capitalism, manufacturing across borders, and what it really means to live a life of “worth beyond wealth.”
You went from teaching English in southern Mexico to launching Saddleback. What sparked that leap into entrepreneurship?
Honestly, I had no intention of starting a business. I just wanted to make enough money selling them on eBay to support my youth work. But then I met Suzette on Myspace and knew I would need to be able to support her and a family somehow. Since I was already had a system of selling the leather bags, it just made sense to step up the sales and make a serious run at it.
What was your vision when you sketched that first leather bag in Mexico, and has it held up today?
The vision was simple: Make something so tough and unbreakable that, after my funeral, when my grandkids were rummaging through my study, that they would stumble across that leather bag and start fighting over who got to keep it. That’s where our slogan, and the title for the Saddleback story book came from, They’ll Fight Over It When You’re Dead, and it became my design philosophy.
The first sketch was about simplicity, durability and old-fashioned good looks. No zippers, no breakable parts, just thick leather and rugged stitching. And yeah, that vision has definitely held up and so has that original bag. We’re still designing everything for the first owner to start breaking in for the next owner.
Mission-driven capitalism is a buzz phrase—what does it concretely mean for Saddleback and your leadership?
I got to have lunch with Zig Ziglar right before he died, and I sat right across the table from him. It was a huge honor. So, I asked him, “If all of your books and media disappeared off the earth and you could only leave us with one book, what would you write about?” He said, “1. Court your spouse, because success starts at home. 2. Encourage everyone. 3. Try to help everyone around you be as successful as they can.”
All of those are focused on the self of others, which is humble. To be focused on my own self is what we call in the business as self-ish, self-centered, and egocentric. Me focused is prideful. The greatest man to ever live on Earth described his heart only one time and he described it as humble. Jesus came to live for others. To serve. To save. To rescue. He didn’t come to live for himself, but rather for the sake of everyone else around him. I can’t go wrong having a heart like his.
For me and my leadership, it looks like serving others around you in tangible ways. “Can I get you another drink? Here, you have my seat. Don’t worry, I’ll pick it all up.” Stuff like that. We want to serve everyone around us.
Your factory in León, Mexico—what are the biggest operational and ethical challenges of manufacturing across the U.S./Mexico border?
You’ve got to be flexico in Mexico. Operations in Mexico has been mucho muy challenging at times, but rewarding. When we lose money for some stupid thing, I say, “Well, that’s just the extra tax we pay for doing business in a country with such beautiful people, such a rich culture and with a Mexican restaurant or taco stand on every corner.
If you get mad at every little thing that’s different than what you were raised with, then you won’t do well in Mexico. They were raised valuing different things than I value and I need to adjust to that, not have them adjust to me. Most things are not wrong, they’re just different. Virtues are universally accepted rights and wrongs and those are the ones we emphasize; honesty, respect, tolerance, love, patience, faithfulness etc.
You’ve described Saddleback as a “leather ministry.” How do you strike a balance between profitability and a deeper purpose?
I used to have a youth ministry, but now I have a leather ministry. Nothing has changed except the number of people I get to speak into the lives of. I have a truly personal and intimate relationship with God. Jesus didn’t ask us to join his religion. In fact, he was against the religious people. He just asked us to follow him. Spend time with him and learn from him. Then, help others to know him and spend time with him, too.
My wife and I have found a TON of fulfillment in this relationship with him, and we have a really strange and sustained peace and joy, even in storms, and to keep that to ourselves, if someone could have that too, feels like it would be wrong.
Of course, if you spend a lot of time on something and don’t make money, that’s what we call a hobby. Profit is important. It’s what fuels the purpose. But we don’t exist to get rich. We exist to love people around the world through the profits from our leather bags. Of course, we’re not hurting financially either, but we all know that money doesn’t bring lasting happiness; knowing God in a personal way does.
What systems or practices ensure you’re not just making bags—but supporting your employees and their communities?
We own a private school located down the street from our factory, which is open to the children of our employees and the surrounding neighborhood. It’s all in English and has an American curriculum. We also offer English, financial, parenting, and marriage classes to our employees in Mexico. We also open the door for locally trained counselors to offer one-on-one sessions with employees after hours. It’s one thing to say we love our people, but as we all know, love is a verb.
Saddleback’s marketing is famously irreverent. What role does brand storytelling play in delivering your mission-driven approach?
People make significant purchases that represent who they are or what they stand for. When someone gets to know who we’re and what we’re about, and they feel that our values align with theirs, then they’re more likely to make a purchase. It’s not really marketing, it’s just our brand aligning with the customer’s brand.
We’re real, we have a lot of fun, and we make people laugh. Our marketing reflects our personality – rugged, honest and a little bit wild. It helps us connect with customers on a human level. I think people like that.
How do you personally define “Worth beyond wealth,” both for your company and for your legacy?
Would you rather your daughter to marry a really rich guy who only lives to impress people with his own image and to create the ultimate amount of comfort for himself or a middle class fellow who lives to lift up the image of his spouse and kids and friends and encourages everyone around him and who helps everyone around him to be as successful as they can be? Who would you say was the truly wealthy person? Great Humility (being others-focused) = Great Worth. Great Pride (self-focused) = Great Poverty
What’s your biggest ongoing challenge in scaling a values-first leather business today?
Honestly, I’m not really trying to scale my business. I’m happy where we are. Why would I want to grow the business? I have a great work-life balance. I spend time with my beautiful wife and my great kids. I get to travel where we want, and our life is fulfilling. To scale the business, it could only go against what I have now. There is some unwritten rule that says you have to grow or die or grow at any cost. For what? The challenge is to hold back and enjoy life.
What legacy do you want Saddleback to leave—not in terms of sales figures, but in lives impacted and values sustained?
Most of all, I want people to say that they’re closer to God because of us and that we were a business worthy of imitation in the way we love people. I also want our business to be known as an industry changer that awoke a demand for high quality.
