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Jacksonville Police Officer Dre Phillips creates beautiful leather pieces through his small business Texas Grain Leather. 

The Tyler native started the business in the summer of 2016 and hopes to one day open a brick and mortar.

“In 2015, I was searching around for a leather mouse pad for my media desk. I felt like I had looked at so many options, but didn’t really see anything that matched the style I wanted, so I just decided to make my own,” he said “During that project, I realized that I actually found it very therapeutic to create something with my hands. So, what began as one simple project then became a second project, then a third, and so on.”

“By Christmas of 2015, I had 17 orders from various friends and family who learned that I had begun making handmade leather goods,” Phillips said.

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