Roman Tlusty starts his journey to become a shoemaker by enrolling into the Shoemaking Institute in Pilsen in 1981. At that time, life is tough under communism - there are no private businesses and little hope for people to improve their lot. It is the time of the Cold War, and the only path for a young man is to finish school and work for a state-owned company for his life. However, Roman Tlusty's passion for leathercrafting and his life's journey started here and so did the journey of Tlusty & Co.