Daniel Dissinger welcomes renowned cowboy boot maker and artisan Lisa Sorrell to talk all about the history of boot making in America, her personal journey from apprentice to having her own boot making business, and her goal to preserve the history of boot making. There’s also a really great conversation on gender, mental health, and Lisa’s favorite pair of boots that she’s ever made. Towards the end of the episode, Lisa shares a very personal story of loss and how boot making played a role in the grief process
This is a great way to start the 2026 season of Writing Remix, and it’s going to set the tone for the amazing lineup of guests, episodes, and Writing Remix articles on Substack coming this year.
Approximate Show Notes
00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Announcement
01:40 Lisa Sorrell’s Journey into Boot Making
03:33 The Art and Craft of Cowboy Boots
10:16 Gender and Cultural Significance of Cowboy Boots
21:24 The Historical and Scholarly Perspective on Boot Making
28:38 The Decline of Cowboy Boot Making in the US
30:14 Challenges Faced by Modern Boot Makers
32:24 The Cultural Significance of Cowboy Boots
34:14 The Evolution of Cowboy Boot Design
43:11 The Intersection of Craft and Mental Health
46:10 Encouragement for Future Artisans
Lisa Sorrell was raised in a conservative church where the ladies all wore long hair and long dresses. At 20, newly married and transplanted to Oklahoma, she answered an ad in the local newspaper for someone to “stitch boot tops.” She’d never worn cowboy boots, didn’t realize that people could make footwear, and had never been around anyone who drank alcohol or swore, both favorite pastimes of her new boss and mentor.
The craft of cowboy boot making was not a welcoming place for a woman in those days; Sorrell was the fourth woman in the history of cowboy boots to open her own shop in 1996. As an established artist, she is passionate about being inclusive and welcoming young people to the trade, and she especially enjoys mentoring women boot makers. Her YouTube channel has provided tips, techniques, and inspiration for numerous aspiring boot and shoe makers.
Sorrell enjoys meeting and learning from other boot and shoe makers. She finds joy in all aspects of her craft, working alone in her shop, spending time with other boot and shoe makers, learning, teaching, and supporting the industry by making sure the tools and supplies remain available. She also teaches, speaks, and writes on the history of cowboy boot.
People, Texts & Podcasts Mentioned in the Episode
- Holly George-Warren
- Jay Griffith (boot maker)
- Barbara Brackman
- Buffalo Bills Wild West Shows
- The Louvin Brothers
- The Family Who Prays (Album by The Louvin Brothers)
- Satan is Real (Album by The Louvin Brothers)
- Tyler Beard
“There are really no gender distinctions in cowboy boots.”
-Lisa Sorrell
“In the 1860s census shoemaking was second only to agriculture in the number of people it employed, so imagine how much organic knowledge you would’ve had surrounded by that many people working not just in shoemaking trade, but also in related trades.”
-Lisa Sorrell
“Cowboy boots are a uniquely American craft. We have so many crafts that came from somewhere else, but cowboy boots were invented, I hesitate to use that term because they kind of evolved out of the riding boots of the 1850s and sixties, but they were invented here in the US, in Kansas, not Texas, by the way, and it’s an American craft.”
-Lisa Sorrell
“Craft is so important. Doing craft is great for your mental health. It’s so satisfying to make a tangible thing and be able to say, this is something that I made.”
-Lisa Sorrell
“There’s so much stigma around [mental health] and there should not be […] If I have cancer, I’m not embarrassed to tell you I have cancer. Why should we feel shame that our brain is sick? It’s okay, but at the same time it’s painful and it’s debilitating and adding a layer of shame on top of it is not helpful.”
-Lisa Sorrell
118. Crafting Cowboy Boots w/ Lisa Sorrell
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