Mark has been working with alligators and alligator skins for 46 years. He obtained a PhD in Biology that led him to the alligator and crocodile farming industry. Later, he started selling and working with finished alligator skins. He credits much of his success to his wife Allison who has always been supportive of his unusual career path. After they traveled around the world to work with different crocodilian species, they settled in Lafayette, LA, to start the original Mark Staton Co. selling tanned alligator and crocodile skins to manufacturers. With Mark’s knowledge of the skins and Allison’s ability to sew and build products they began to create products. Later they added employees to grow the team’s abilities and output. He finds it a joy that his daughter Karin Marie Hebert and her husband Clint are part of this team and successful business. When he is not working hard at the business (which he usually is), he enjoys gardening and refurbishing a newly acquired sailboat.