Happy Monday Amigos,
Welcome to the next edition of JM’s Weekly Roundup. A quick hit of what’s new at La Matera and a few things that’ve popped up on my radar lately.
This was supposed to land Friday, but a last-minute end-of-summer beach getaway got thrown on the calendar and the Roundup got pushed to Monday. Not the worst reason to be a few days late.
Getting out of town for a minute was a good reminder that summer is still hanging on, even if the calendar is starting to say otherwise.
This week’s list has a little more movement to it: a woven belt with some color, a surfing memoir about chasing waves around the world, the latest Dadrepreneurs episode with our wives, and a Nashville workshop making clothes the slower way.
TL;DR:
La Matera Highlight: Woven Belts, an easy way to add some texture and color to the late-summer uniform.
Worth a Read: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan, a memoir about surfing, travel, obsession, and a life spent looking for the next wave.
Worth a Watch: Dadrepreneurs Episode #5: The Wives Edition, Bobbi and Andrea join Jon and me to share what entrepreneurship looks like from the other side of the table.
Brand Worth Knowing: Loyal Stricklin, a Nashville workshop making denim, waxed canvas, outerwear, and leather goods with a made-to-order mindset.
Weekend Wisdom: Charles Eames on why the details are usually the whole point.
1. La Matera Highlight: Woven Belts
There is a point every August when getting dressed starts to feel a little repetitive. Shorts, denim, khakis, repeat. The Woven Belt collection is an easy way to change the feel of that same rotation without overthinking the rest of it.
The patterns bring in color and texture, while the leather keeps everything grounded. Some run quiet with navy, khaki, and cognac. Others carry enough color to do the work on their own. Either way, a woven belt looks considered without making the whole outfit feel too put together.
That balance is a pretty good summary of what La Matera does well. Useful first, a little unexpected up close, and better once it has picked up some miles.
2. Worth a Read: Barbarian Days
William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a memoir about a life shaped by surfing, travel, and the urge to keep looking for the next wave. It follows him from his early years in Honolulu to breaks around the world, but the real story is the pull of obsession and the places it can take you.
It feels like the right book for a week that got rearranged by a last-minute beach trip. You do not have to be a surfer to understand the appeal of building part of your life around the places you want to see and the thing that keeps calling you back.
3. Worth a Watch: Dadrepreneurs: The Wives Edition
The latest episode of The Dadrepreneurs Podcast is a little different. Bobbi and Andrea joined Jon Blair and me for The Wives Edition, and the kids fully crashed the first stretch, so it starts out feeling more like the Family Edition.
Once the kids took off, we got into what building businesses actually looks like from our wives’ side of the table: buying and starting businesses with babies at home, choosing risk when stability would have been easier, and the trust it takes to keep walking into the unknown together. They may not sit on the cap table, but they are partners in all of it. This is probably our most honest episode yet and a pretty good snapshot of where we are right now.
4. Brand Worth Knowing: Loyal Stricklin
Loyal Stricklin is a small Nashville workshop making denim, waxed-canvas outerwear, bags, and leather goods. Founder Michael Stricklin started the company in 2014 while studying design and construction at Auburn, and he is still on the production floor with the team.
Most of their goods are made to order in Nashville, with additional work handled by a small network of U.S. sewing shops. That slower model leaves room to pay attention to cut, fit, finish, and materials, and it keeps unnecessary production down. The finished pieces look like they are meant to be worn hard, repaired when needed, and kept around.
I’ve been eyeing their chore coat since last fall or winter and somehow still haven’t talked myself out of it.
5. Weekend Wisdom: Charles Eames
“The details are not the details. They make the product, just like details make the architecture.” - Charles Eames
A good reminder that the little choices are rarely little once they are added together. Whether it is a belt, a long paddle-out, an honest conversation, a jacket, or the way you spend a day off, the details are usually where the care shows up.
Hope y’all have a good week and find something worth paying attention to.
Appreciate y’all being here.
Cheers,
JM
Jon-Mark Craddock
CEO
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Originally published in JM's Weekly Roundup on 2026-08-10.
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