AUSTIN Transformer Bag

That’s a common dilemma that’s about to be easily solved. Busy executives and other professionals who are tired of carrying around a heavy, impractical and outdated briefcase throughout each day who are dying to drop it and trade it for the comfort of a backpack… and college students and junior professionals who are working to climb the career ladder and are thinking that they need to drop the informal backpack and embrace the impressive and respectable yet heavy briefcase.

Honestly, I faced that dilemma myself. Working in the construction industry, carrying a briefcase to a construction site never felt right or comfortable, but taking a backpack to a meeting with a client or at the bank never felt adequate. I’m sure you’re dealing with this dilemma as well, and that’s why I developed the Austin Convertible Bag.

You know, your days are not linear. You probably start your day by going to the gym very early, then you’re making your way to an important meeting, only to be back at the office and feel more at home, taking a quick dive before lunch, and then having an afternoon of conference calls and hands-on work. At the end of the day, you’re heading back home, and you’re thinking: “I really need a bag that I can take anywhere and use anytime.” That’s the Austin.

It’s a backpack that looks and performs like one. With convenient pockets, sturdy, cool, comfortable and perfect for all your casual and on-the-go moments. Turn it around and it’s also a briefcase that oozes elegance that makes you look good when “fancy” is the name of the name—although without ever losing sight of its practical aspect.

I know how I missed having a bag like the Austin throughout all these years, and it was the very fact that I needed something that didn’t exist that made me create it. Now, I use my Austin every day and I am sure that, wherever I go, the Austin is there for me. 

Over the years people have told me I am a very persistent person. This has served me well in the construction industry. Building can be a very slow process with progress impeded by government, subcontractors, suppliers, injury, and weather, to name a few. Having the ability to see things through is an important strength. Does this transfer to other areas of life, such as entrepreneurship, innovation, and even crowdfunding, maybe? Sometimes it translates to just plain insanity when working on an idea rather than a plan.

So how do you turn raw stubbornness into a strength? Easy (more or less): build a plan and execute it!

First, adjust your blinders. It’s great to have a focus but sometimes we need to adjust the focus. I have spent several months in the workshop perfecting the transformer carrying cases that have led me to the Austin Transformer Bag.

I debuted my wonderful creation, and people gave me kind accolades but when pushed, they pointed out some very key aspects which were missed. One was the obvious missing pocket for the quick grab items. Industry speak calls this the ‘trifecta pocket’ for keys, phone, wallet. If I had my blinders adjusted earlier, it would have saved me several months of misguided work.

Second, find a community. Look for others who are developing ideas. Building something new, whether it is a business, a hobby or a family is best when shared with a supportive community. To be surrounded by a group of like-minded people can both encourage and expand your views.

Once you are connected, start sharing your knowledge. Helping others with their projects will develop your own skills and make strong relationships. I have found that sharing and giving of yourself also staves off the discouragement which sometimes accompanies pursuing your own obsession.

Third, seek out good counsel. This is where the blinders may need to be tightened a bit. Critique and criticism are not the same. Many people like to give negative feedback hoping to appear smarter. Letrav and then the Austin Transformer Bag, came to life with the help of people who were able to give constructive feedback. Most were paid for their services, such as attorneys, designers, and consultants. I have at times taken criticism to heart, which only led me astray or into a depressive state. Now I am very careful about whom I listen to and have a trusted friend, my wife, keeping those ‘know it all’s at bay.

Last, build a plan. Write down the goals, make them big, even what you may think is unobtainable, then fill in the steps to achieve them. Each construction project I have worked on had a set of plans and a budget. The Austin Transformer Bag has a set of patterns and a strategic long-range plan. When it comes to the journey of having crowdfunded, there are literally loads of moving parts that need to aligned and organized to work together. Just as in building, the plans for the Austin need to be adjusted but, without a roadmap, you can’t differentiate between what is just a detour and what is an actual goal.

Because life is like that. You may well now be at a construction site supervising a project, at a gym, working out, or just commuting in the urban jungle… and, in just under an hour, you may need to be at the bank dealing with an important issue, meeting a potential new client, or signing an agreement with a new partner.

That’s why the Austin was created: to let you be in formal and informal situations with a convertible case that’s a backpack in any informal environment and which quickly converts into an elegant briefcase to match a formal environment.

I did it because, as a business person in the construction work, I had to be a chameleon: at 3:00 I was at the project site checking up on things and trying not to get too dirty in an obviously rough place, with dirt and cement everywhere, and where it would be absurd to be with a briefcase, and at 3:45 I had to meet the manager at the bank, where a financial matter important to the project had to be dealt with, and where I couldn’t show up looking like I had come from a controlled demolition with a backpack that didn’t make me look business-focused enough.

Whether you like it or not, that’s life. The way you dress and present yourself, namely when it comes to your accessories, matters to how everyone else – namely your peers and other stakeholders in your industry – will see you and do business with you. So I created the Austin because this is the kind of Transformer Bag that I needed, and that you are likely to need as well.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be an inventor? Some say it takes a spark of genius, others assert it is when skill and knowledge meet an unfulfilled need. I am not sure where it starts, but, through developing the Austin and LeTrav, I have discovered a few basics. So, dreamers, creators, entrepreneurs, and crowdfunders: this story is for you.

Basically, the closer the idea is to your line of work, the easier it will be to develop solutions. However, inspiration doesn't always strike in places where we are comfortable. My journey has taken me in a new direction, forcing me to learn and grow.

You see, the concept of my brainchild was born because I am a carpenter, a contractor, a businessman, and an entrepreneur who is always on the go. I spend my time as a mobile professional and need to carry my business items: books, computers, client files, and miscellaneous office supplies. You name it, and I probably need to carry it with me... although I try not to go as far as this brave fellow over here...

So, the best carrying case I have found most useful over the years has always been the backpack. A backpack helps me keep organized for working on-site with contractors and others in the field. However, walking into a bank or client’s office with a suit, tie, and a backpack doesn’t exactly convey  confidence. Thus, my search began for a backpack that had a lot of briefcase-like features.

To my dismay, nothing existed that allowed me to work in both worlds. Several backpacks have hiding shoulder straps but still look like a backpack. For briefcases, some have straps that can be reconfigured to be carried as a backpack. Still, trying to strap a briefcase to your back is uncomfortable and couldn’t be worn over long periods. Both solutions are awkward and don't address our need to move between different work and social environments seamlessly.

Ultimately, this meant that I was faced with a situation that wasn’t new to me: in the construction and development business, I am often faced with problems which require unique solutions. So, when no apparent solution was available, I went to work on finding a unique solution. 

Drawing out several ideas the solutions didn't pan out. Then, one day, while loading two small cases for a trip, it struck me: make one solution out of two products. It took several drawings to figure out how to do it, but I knew the idea would work. The only part left was to prove it with a prototype.

I looked for several years for someone who could make the first mock-ups of the idea. The trouble was no one understood what I was talking about. So, my wife reminded me that I make things for a living, and I know how to sew. So, one day in my basement, I broke out the sewing machine and, about 10 hours later, I had a prototype.

Fast forward eight years and the Austin is born: a backpack and business case in one bag. 

I can now load my carrying case and transform it from backpack to briefcase and from briefcase back to backpack: with everything on-board and ready within seconds. 

The backpack is rugged and durable, made with tough pack cloth. It will hold up to being dragged, slung, tossed, bumped, tugged, and well, all those not so nice things I do to my everyday carrying bags. Once I have the time to be a little less rough, after a quick couple of zips, and I look and feel like a million bucks. The leather-trimmed business case is easy to work out of, and it says to the world: “I know what I’m doing!”

Right now, I’m pre-launching it on IndieGogo to take it to crowdfunding. 

However, this has been a long and consuming journey. That’s why I’d like to encourage everyone to find and follow their dream, even if obstacles get in the way. Financial, logistical, migration-related, or any other obstcales.

Slight of hand, trap doors, mirror, and misdirection. These are some of the tools that magicians use in their craft. Often, we as the participant or the audience feel amazed and ponder just how the illusion was accomplished. The real question is: can you become a prestidigitator yourself? The answer is that you can — and it lies in the AUSTIN transformer bag.

With the AUSTIN, you will be able to amaze your friends, family, professors, and most important, your coworkers, bosses, clients and/or partners with your transformer bag. The beauty, however, is that there is no illusion. With the AUSTIN, unlike most magic, the function is the magic. So, now, let the show begin.

SETUP: Your friends compliment you on the stylish bag, either in its rugged backpack mode or in its stylish business mode. Bragging, you tell them about the other personality that the one and only AUSTIN has. They look at you with some doubt (often the look also conveys a little sarcasm.) An uncontrollable, almost giddy smile begins to appear with the knowledge that you can seriously capitalize on their disbelief to surprise them.

PERSONAL CONNECTION: This is a key point (and the part which will make all their sarcasm vanish.) Have them drop a personal item into the AUSTIN as a backpack— phones or Ipads are the best because most people feel completely lost without them. Close up the AUSTIN and thank them for their donation (this may scare them and make them laugh a bit nervously, which is what you want — you’re getting their attention.)

MAKE IT DISAPPEAR: Transform the AUSTIN into a briefcase. Let the astonishment start to sink in. Often your audience will forget about their phone and think instead about what has just happened (they were just seeing a backpack, which is now gone, and now what they see is a briefcase.)

THE PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE: Now open the AUSTIN as a briefcase and withdraw the phone from it. Watch the amazement spread over them. Once you have shown them how the AUSTIN has transformed, let them see that it has transformed you as well…

…well, it has transformed your life, not you, actually. Don’t worry, you’ll never look like this three-armed-magician guy. The AUSTIN changes your life, but only to make you look and feel better.