Future looked good in leather to area couple

He owned a chain of TCBY frozen yogurt shops in Des Moines, Iowa, and he was tired and burned out. He wanted out of the restaurant business. About that time, he befriended the owner of a boat dealership in Des Moines.

Life sold his restaurants and went to work as a salesman for the boat dealer. It wasn't long before he noticed a man repairing and refinishing the vinyl on boats.

"I observed that and was amazed at what could be done," he said.

After seeing what could be done with weathered and torn vinyl, Life got to thinking about leather. That led him down a path he never imagined as a harried restaurant owner pushing the clock.

In 1988, Life founded Leather Medic in Fort Myers. That was after the vinyl repairman he met in Iowa told him "nothing much" could be done to repair leather.

It was at that moment Life saw his opportunity in hide.

"I thought well, vinyl is great," he said. "But leather is even better. I felt there would be more of an upscale market for leather."

Today, his company has 100 leather repair trucks on the road around the nation and 37 franchises that have repaired everything from leather car seats to leather doors. His crews use a combination of adhesives, leather fillers and finishes to make repairs. Life worked with a laboratory to develop products designed to treat leather.

With the success he has seen in his business so far, Life is looking to expand into international markets.

The U.S. market has been good for Life and his Leather Medic partner and wife, Kyle Life, the company's president.

They have traveled to some impressive places in the past two years.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Chade Life and a crew of other Leather Medic repair experts were called in to do restoration work at the Penta gon. They repaired some of the leather furniture that was damaged when a hijacked airliner crashed into the building.

In July, Life was in Washington, D.C., with another group of Leather Medic repairmen to do work on the National Archives and Records Administration building. Leather Medic has been hired to help preserve the National Archive's building, which dates to the 1930s. The company has refurbished some of the building's leather doors and will redo more of them in coming months.

"Several years ago, I visited the National Archives as a tourist," Life said. "I stood in line and got to the doors and realized the doors were wrapped in leather. I didn't think anything about it, and then a few years later I was there with my company repairing the doors. It was really quite an honor."

The National Archives building is where such documents as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are stored. The National Archives is an independent federal agency that pre serves items of U.S. history. Its building is getting a $110 million overhaul that includes marble work, security and fire alarm improvements.

Grunley Construction, the general contractor for the project, chose Leather Medic to repair and refurbish the leather in the building.

The local company's contract is part of a $75 million contract awarded to Grunley, said Pat Alexander, the project manager for the renovation. He said Leather Medic has done a good job so far.

"The doors look very good," he said.

The next stop for Leather Medic might be even more impressive.

"We've had a call from the White House," Life said. "But we've not been there yet."

Leather Medic has a contract with the General Services Administration, which lets the company do work for the federal government. Life said his company is the only one of its kind on the GSA's list.

The company has come a long way since it was founded 15 years ago. The Leather Medic story is one of triumph over challenges.

Kyle Life, 43, said one of the biggest challenges for her husband was getting the business started.

"We started this with no money, no help," she said. "We did it all by ourselves."

The couple faced another big challenge when Kyle became ill and almost died early in their marriage. At the time, they were the only employees of Leather Medic.

In 2000, Leather Medic won a Blue Chip Award for achieving success under difficult conditions. The Blue Chip program is sponsored by Fort Myers-based Oswald Trippe and Co. The winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges and the awards are meant to encourage other struggling business owners to persevere.

From the start, Life felt confident his leather repair business would succeed.

He did his homework first.

Through research he did in the late 1980s, he found only three experts in North America known for their leather quality refinishing. He studied with them on and off for about four years to learn the trade before starting Leather Medic.

Life trains all the repairmen at his company. He also is in charge of all research and development, including new products.

"He's the guru," said his wife, Kyle, who handles the marketing end of the business. "He's the expert. He's why we have the training program."

In case you are wondering how Chade and Leather Medic ended up in Fort Myers, that's another story. You can thank one of his friends in Iowa.

Life hadn't even visited Southwest Florida when he decided to move here and start a company.

Luck was on his side.

"I had only been to Orlando," Life said. "I had a friend who suggested, 'Why not go to Fort Myers.' He said it was a great place."