{"id":1481,"date":"2016-02-12T15:39:39","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T15:39:39","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:42:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:42:22","slug":"lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a lifelong Detroiter what sort of changes have you noticed? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lived in Detroit my whole life and I\u2019ve noticed a lot of growth and attention, positive attention for change as far as Detroit goes. Many different businesses are popping up in the city and a lot of independent people are getting the chance to promote their business here. When you have Detroit behind your company, I think it spreads a message of power.<\/p>\n

To be in Detroit is a powerful thing. The hustle and bustle of our city is real, we fight hard to have to win and do everything, and I like that when people hear Detroit they understand the strength behind that name.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite places in the city?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a nerd so I love the bookstores downtown. John K. King Used & Rare Bookstore<\/a> on Woodward Avenue is my favorite, it\u2019s a used bookstore and it\u2019s really awesome. The Michigan Science Center<\/a> is a great place to take the kids, and so is Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History<\/a>, and the DIA<\/a>. We\u2019ve got some great stuff to do. <\/p>\n

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1567″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”541″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”960″}}]]<\/p>\n

Sewing watchstrap edges inside the Leather Factory.<\/p>\n

What would you want someone who\u2019s never heard of Shinola to know about the company?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I work very hard to create these, what I like to call masterpieces, known as our watches. I look to improve techniques so the durability and look of it will withstand the years of time, so when you look at it years from now it still looks like a classic piece. I like the fact that I put my blood sweat and tears into the watch you\u2019re potentially purchasing.<\/p>\n

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1568″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”541″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”960″}}]]<\/p>\n

The final parts needed for our leather watchstraps.<\/p>\n

What did you do before coming to work for Shinola? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I worked midnights as a supervisor on a very small team and I sorted foam for GM seating. I had to drive to Rochester, so it\u2019s nice to get home faster now. I\u2019m able to get into activities with my kids after school as opposed to having to truck through 45 minutes of traffic. I get to help with homework and cook for them without being half asleep. <\/p>\n

This interview is part of a new series called JOBS that highlights the people that make Shinola tick. Find their stories right here on The Journal or on our Jobs page<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Nearly all of Shinola Products are Built in the US with US or Imported Parts<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a lifelong Detroiter what sort of changes have you noticed? I\u2019ve lived in Detroit my whole life and I\u2019ve noticed a lot of growth and attention, positive attention for change as far as Detroit goes. Many different businesses are popping up in the city and a lot of independent people are getting the chance […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[8,16],"yoast_head":"\nLifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is - Our Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is - Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a lifelong Detroiter what sort of changes have you noticed? I\u2019ve lived in Detroit my whole life and I\u2019ve noticed a lot of growth and attention, positive attention for change as far as Detroit goes. Many different businesses are popping up in the city and a lot of independent people are getting the chance [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-12T15:39:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-03T16:42:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Taylor Rebhan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/\",\"name\":\"Our Stories\",\"description\":\"A journal by Shinola dedicated to THE joy of craft\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/\",\"name\":\"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is - Our Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-12T15:39:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-03T16:42:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568\",\"name\":\"Taylor Rebhan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Taylor Rebhan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/author\/trebhan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is - Our Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is - Our Stories","og_description":"As a lifelong Detroiter what sort of changes have you noticed? I\u2019ve lived in Detroit my whole life and I\u2019ve noticed a lot of growth and attention, positive attention for change as far as Detroit goes. Many different businesses are popping up in the city and a lot of independent people are getting the chance [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/","og_site_name":"Our Stories","article_published_time":"2016-02-12T15:39:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-03T16:42:22+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Taylor Rebhan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/","name":"Our Stories","description":"A journal by Shinola dedicated to THE joy of craft","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/","name":"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is - Our Stories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-12T15:39:39+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-03T16:42:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/lifelong-detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lifelong Detroiter and Leather Artisan Valisa McTaw Tells it Like it is"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568","name":"Taylor Rebhan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Taylor Rebhan"},"url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/author\/trebhan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2160,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions\/2160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}