Cary Schwarz
180 episodes listed below
Western craft talk from the workbench.
Monday Mornings with Cary and Willie follows long, familiar conversations with saddle makers, boot makers, engravers, and other Western craftsmen. The talk wanders from origin stories into pricing, social media, trade secrets, cattle country, and the daily realities of keeping a handmade business alive.
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Monday Mornings with Cary and Willie is a long-form conversation show rooted in Western craft, small-shop business, and the people who keep handmade trades alive. Its world is saddles, boots, bits, spurs, silver, engraving, ranch country, and the stubborn details behind work that customers often see only when it is finished. The tone is relaxed. The knowledge is not casual. Guests bring stories from different places where craft is tied to geography, family, horses, cattle, and reputation. A typical episode can start with confusion over a changed Zoom button and drift into a serious talk about visibility, pricing, commissions, scammers, or the mental toggle between bench work and social media. That looseness is part of the appeal. The show lets people talk the way makers often talk: with interruptions, teasing, pauses, repetitions, and hard-earned specifics. It does not force every story into a tidy lesson. Lessons still show up. A boot maker remembers when trade secrets were guarded and compares that with a more generous community of makers willing to share patterns and advice. A saddle maker explains how distance, exchange rates, and local buying power shape what can be sold. A fellowship recipient prompts conversation about passing knowledge forward through the TCA. Other guests talk about family craft lines, mixed disciplines, company identity, and the uneasy fit of the word artist. The result is practical without sounding instructional. It is also personal without becoming sentimental. Monday Mornings with Cary and Willie works best for listeners who enjoy hearing skilled people think out loud about their work, their markets, and the small decisions that make a handmade business last.
Made for: For listeners interested in handmade Western gear, craft entrepreneurship, rural trades, and plainspoken conversations with makers. It especially suits people who like long-form interviews where business lessons emerge through stories rather than tidy advice.
What sets it apart: The show stands apart by treating craftsmanship and business as one lived practice, not separate topics. Its best material comes from working makers comparing real shop problems: pricing, visibility, repair work, trade knowledge, geography, and reputation.
Wilson Capron, a bit and spur maker from Texas, along with Cary Schwarz, a saddlemaker from Idaho engage in a wide range of topics about artistry, craftsmanship, business, and life. They are members of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (est 1998) Wilson and Cary have over 70 years combined experience in craftsmanship, artistry, and entrepreneurism.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Working craftspeople reason candidly through production, pricing, promotion and the practical economics of keeping a specialized shop viable.
Cary Schwarz and Wilson Capron treat the craft shop as both a workplace and a business case. Their conversations with saddle, boot, bit and spur makers move easily between production, pricing, customer demand and the stubborn question of how to make good work while keeping an…
Cary and Willie turn shop talk into the rare business lesson that still has metal filings on it.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical conversation about craft, visibility, and the business game behind both.
Trent Peterson, a saddle maker from Washington State, sounds like someone who knows the work and the grind around it. The hosts keep the focus on making and selling, with bit-and-spur culture sitting alongside talk of social media, marketing, and the split between shop time and…
A shop-talk episode about repair work, trust, and the pressure on handmade labor.
The episode settles into the hard-edged economics of a small craft trade: boot repair, handmade work, and the stubborn problem of charging fairly for labor customers are quick to undervalue.
Ranch economics, trade friction, and the human side of selling cattle-world goods.
The episode frames ranching as a cross-border business, linking Texas drought and fewer cattle to Uruguay’s herd counts, beef prices, export markets, and the grind of selling saddles.
A shop-floor conversation about craft, labor, and turning skill into a business.
Travis Finley comes through as a builder who keeps his attention on work ethic, shop decisions, and the business realities behind gear people will pay extra for.
Rob Walling on bootstrapped SaaS growth, plateaus, and exits — with founders who lived them.
Abbey Ashley's playbook for turning your job skills into a virtual assistant business.
Naval Ravikant on epistemology, startups, and crypto, from David Deutsch to Vitalik Buterin.
Alex Theuma interviews SaaS founders and investors on scaling to $10M-plus ARR.
Guy Raz traces founders' origin stories and fields live advice-line calls from entrepreneurs.
Alex Blumberg interviews guests like Megan Phelps-Roper and Shane McAnally about failure and reinvention.
Willie cannot find the record button.
Cary and Willie discuss the unpaid CEO work required alongside production in their one-person saddle and craft businesses.
Dan Schwarz joins Cary and Willie for an easy shop-side conversation that opens with nicknames and old familiarity.
The talk opens with cattle numbers and the economics behind them.
The hosts welcome Ryan Looper as a new TCA Fellowship recipient and discuss the fellowship's purpose with humorous banter about past meetings and statuses.
Cary and Willie discuss the concept of being labeled an artist with guest Joey Winger, a craftsman from Pennsylvania.
Cary and Willie discuss craftsmanship in saddle and bit making, with guest Clinton sharing his experience in saddle work and silver engraving.
Cary and Willie discuss their long-time friend Tanner and his family's artistic background in cowboy crafts.
Cary and Willie discuss the origin of Willie's name, Odin, and its Norse mythology connection.
Cary and Willie discuss technical issues with Zoom and then interview saddle maker Matt Wanner about his recent award win.
Cary and Willie discuss the recent surge in silver prices and its implications for their craft businesses.
Hosts Cary and Willie interview Sarah Garvey, a handmade Western goods creator, discussing her craft and the challenges of talking about detailed work.
Two master craftsmen discuss artistry, business, and life, with a digression on listening habits and true crime.
Saddle makers Cary Schwarz and Wilson Capron interview Australian saddlemaker Peter Brophy about his work and life.
The hosts open with Travis Finley and keep it in shop talk from the start.
Cary and Willie discuss debriefing after events and welcome guest Greg Clark, a silversmith from Texas.
Cary and Willie discuss their podcast record attendance and introduce the TCAA's collaborative spirit among cowboy artisans.
Cary and Willie discuss Clint Haverty's new TCAA affiliate status and share background about growing up in ranching country.
This episode features an interview with Jim Linnell, a longtime employee of Tandy Leather Company, discussing his 40-year career in the leatherworking industry.
Cary and Willie discuss a traffic jam caused by cattle and introduce a silversmith guest from Malta, Idaho.
Adam Tanner discusses his move from Arizona to Texas as a saddle maker, his family's ranching background, and his efforts to preserve cowboy culture through activities like team roping and rodeoing.
Cary and Willie discuss how to invest in one's creative self with guest Mike Capron, a traditional cowboy artisan.
Clint Wilkinson discusses his tattoos, including getting them young, covering them up, and mixed feelings about them, while sharing anecdotes about tattoo artists and personal experiences.
Two master craftsmen discuss their work in traditional cowboy arts, sharing stories and insights about their craft.
Randy Bloomer joins the podcast to discuss the importance of hard work, passion, and perseverance in achieving success, reflecting on his long-standing relationship with the hosts and experiences in a competitive industry.
Cary and Willie chat with fellow craftsman Bob Hickman about saddle making, their shared history, and the folk arts scene in Idaho.
Hosts Cary and Willie interview Bill Ferreira, a Portuguese rawhide braider, discussing his background and shared experiences in cowboy craftsmanship.
Cary and Willie recap a weekend in Elko, Nevada, discussing the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association's new educational fellowship program for craftsmen.
Cary and Willie chat with a Canadian affiliate about cowboy craftsmanship and their Traditional Cowboy Arts Association.
Cary and Willie welcome new TCAA members and discuss the dedication required in traditional cowboy craftsmanship.