Terry Hisle, who lives near Peyton, Colorado, has never been afraid to try something new, whether it is starting his own business or moving to a new state.Born in 1950, Hisle grew up in a small farm community between Dayton and Cincinnati in southern Ohio. He attended Miamisburg High School but didnít graduate because he was more interested in working with leather than academia.At age 17, Hisle planned to join the United States Marines, but his dad convinced him that the United States Navy would be a better fit. Hoping to do something with avionics, Hisle started his training at Great Lakes Boot Camp near Chicago. In 1968, he returned home and married his high school sweetheart, Brenda; and they headed to Jacksonville, Florida, for more training. ìI was hoping to be trained in aviation mechanics or engineering,î he said. ìSomething I could use when I got out.î Hisle was assigned to aviation ordinance, which included loading bombs and other weaponry onto planes. Hisle eventually became a nuclear weapons instructor, and extended his duty another two years. ìI really enjoyed myself,î he said. ìI really liked the military.îAs Hisle geared up for his sea duty assignment, his commanding officer informed him that he would be receiving a hardship discharge instead. He discovered his wife had been seeing two psychiatrists for schizophrenia. Because of his wifeís suicidal tendencies, Hisle could not deploy and had to leave the Navy. The couple headed back to Ohio; and, shortly after, Hisleís wife said she wanted a divorce.After the divorce, Hisle tried to reenlist in the United States Navy. However, he would not be able to resume his position with the Navy and would have had to start over, so he pursued other options.Hisle eventually opened an archery pro shop in Springboro, Ohio. He made all of the arrows he sold, and also participated in several archery tournaments in the area. ìIn doing the tournaments I was seeing the potential markets and gaining knowledge,î he said. ìIíve always had a bad habit to learn things; the more intricate in detail the better I like it.î After three years, Hisle sold his business and moved to Colorado in 1975. He said he fell in love with Colorado during a family vacation. ìWhen I was 13 years old, we came out here to hunt deer,î he said. ìI knew at some point I was going to end up out here.îAt age 25, Hisle landed in Denver, working in construction. A couple of years later, he met his second wife, Katrina. ìShe was from England, and her parents didnít want us to get married,î he said. ìSo we eloped.î They were married Aug. 1, 1978, in Hawaii.Hisle continued to work in construction in Denver. With three uncles in the construction business, Hisle said he has sawdust in his blood. As a general contractor, he had more than 80 men working for him; and, at the same time, he owned a custom cabinet and countertop shop.In September 1979, Hisle and his wife welcomed their first son, Shaun; and 15 months later, a second son, Nathan, came along.Hisle had been working for a developer building and installing cabinets and countertops in a large condominium project. He leased a 320-acre farm near the Chatfield Reservoir from the same developer, and he and his wife and sons (a third son, Lucas, was born in 1985) lived there for nine years and enjoyed boarding horses and participating in rodeos. In 1989, the developer sold the farm. ìI wanted to buy it from him, so I worked hard to save nearly a million dollars, but some other investors beat me to it,î he said.The family moved to a farm south of Simla, Colorado. Katrina Hisle maintained a house cleaning business in Denver while Hisle tried his hand at raising hogs. ìIt was a really good side business to be in, and hogs were bringing really good money at the time,î he said. ìI built it to where I had about 300 hogs on the place.î The processing plant in Colorado Springs closed just as the hogs were ready for the market, and the hogs had to be hauled to Texas, which created an added expense.Times were tough, and Hisle and his wife separated. In 1992, Katrina Hisle and their youngest son moved to Castle Rock, while Hisle and his two oldest sons stayed near Simla. He quit the hog business and returned to building homes. He also continued his hobby of working with leather. ìSeems like whatever trade I was in or whatever activity I was involved with, it needed something made out of leather,î he said. While his boys were involved in rodeos, Hisle built, rebuilt and repaired a few saddles. That experience expanded his leather-making skills, he said.In 1997, Hisle and his wife divorced. After almost another decade of working construction, he wanted to do something different. ìI actually dreamed that one day I would be able to make my living with leather,î he said. ìSo I decided to give it a try.îIn 2010, Hisle took out a loan to buy all the necessary tools for leather work, and six months later he attended his first gun show in Pueblo, Colorado, marketing leather gun holsters. ìI thought I knew all you needed to know about guns until I started doing the gun shows,î Hisle said. With no pre-existing patterns for most gun holsters, he created all his own patterns from scratch. ìI had to learn how to build the patterns for each one of these guns,î he said.After his first gun show, Hisle made it official and opened Western Images Leather Works. His business took off. ìI was never really scared of anything, but this one made me a little nervous,î he said. ìI didnít want it to fail, but I couldnít wait to get going.î Just months after opening his business, Hisle had enough orders to keep busy for several weeks. ìAnd it has been that way ever since,î he said. His popular items are carry belts for guns, conceal-carry holders and knife sheaths. He also has many orders for a full western rig (a cowboy-style gun belt). In September 2013, Hisle married his long-time friend, Marie. They both display Hisleís leather works at gun shows throughout Colorado, as well as across the country. With Marie Hisleís help, they have also made a name through Internet sales. ìThis is still America. If you want to work hard and give it a try, there are people out there waiting for you,î Hisle said. ìThatís what I found … again.î
