Headlands Quality Goods Gives Back to the Original Whale Watching Mecca of Dana Point
By Daniel Ritz
This past year, the Dana Point Headlands Conservation Area was officially announced as a stop on the Whale Trail. This trail establishes the Dana Point Headlands Area as one of the premier whale viewing sites along the Salish Sea and Pacific Coasts.
The Whale Trail’s goal of “inspiring stewardship and building community” motivated locals Scott and Becca Goodman, founders of leather-based craftsmanship company Headlands Quality Goods, to take a new approach to their latest product.
The Goodmans are releasing a valet-tray, an Oakwood-tanned leather table-piece embossed with a whale icon, just in time for the Festival and Dana Point’s inclusion on the Trail. These one-of-a-kind pieces will be available for $35, of which, $5 will be donated to the Dana Point Conservation Area.
Headlands Quality Goods also recently released a series of patches showing the Headlands from a macro-geographical perspective all the way down to an image of the microscopic Pocket Mouse.
“From the tiny Pocket Mouse, to the whales and the environments they live in, everything we do is about Dana Point,” Scott said. “It’s all about combining the history with something that people can take pride in, because we take pride in Dana Point.”
Earlier this year at an event at the Ecology Center, the Goodmans were approached by Bernice Villanueva, a natural resources protection officer for the City of Dana Point, who said she would like to do something creative together.
The Goodmans, who founded Headlands Quality Goods with a desire to carry-on awareness of the hide-trading community that flourished for decades inside the natural shipping bay of Dana Point, knew immediately that they wanted to highlight yet-another iconic and integral part of Dana Point’s history.
Scott, whose son Leroy is an eighth generation Southern Californian, said he enjoys Headlands Quality Goods as a side project, eliminating the stress of the brand’s sales performance.
“To be honest, I always joke that I’m not a great businessman,” Scott laughed. “We don’t make a lot of money from this, and what we do bring in we give a portion away.”
Becca, originally from Oregon, didn’t hesitate to explain that the selflessness was admittedly self-serving.
“It feels good to give back to the things that inspire you,” Becca said. “Not originally being from here, maybe even more than Scott, I am constantly in awe of Dana Point’s natural beauty and am grateful to live here.”
Sourcing all of their products from American companies, Headlands Quality Goods looks to showcase its love of Dana Point by representing it well and giving back to the land that started it all.
Learn more about Headlands Quality Goods at www.headlandshandmade.com
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