It's the power of the shoes.
The man remembers suddenly as he drives back from work that tonight is his anniversary dinner with his girlfriend and does a quick U-turn to the nearest Dillard's. He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper that says "black Steve Madden heels, size 7" that his girlfriend's roommate wrote down for him weeks ago. He frantically enters the store asking for the Dillard brand of shoes and waits impatiently looking at his watch while the clerk has a confused look on her face, suggesting that she is thinking "What? The Dillard's brand?" He sees the confusion and pulls out the crumpled piece of paper and finally the clerk relaxes and chuckles to herself. She picks out exactly the pair that every girl that season has been wanting and places the hot, little pair of shoes in his hands. He sighs and then finally breaks out into a smile.
He just saved his relationship. (Yes, it's possible I'm talking about personal experience...)
But the power of the shoes meant something else to the once-upon-a-time Amazing Race third-place winner, Blake Mycoskie. He is the founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS shoes and is currently leading the One-for-One Movement.
Mycoskie is passionate about inspiring young people to start giving in their businesses and in their daily life decisions. He believes in making tomorrow a better place for everyone, and eventually hopes to see a future where all businesses and people are more socially aware.
"Just start something- whether it be a business, non-profit or service project. It doesn't have to be intimidating. You don't need a lot of money, you don't need to quit your day job, and you don't need to take big risks," said Mycoskie in his own blog.
And Mycoskie did just that. He started something.
His vision came into play in 2006 when he traveled to Argentina to do some community service work and play polo. There, he learned the hardships that a great number of children experienced while growing up barefoot which put them at severe risk of disease. He felt the need to help.
Immediately, Mycoskie returned home back to Venice, California and with no knowledge in how to make shoes, he began the One-for-One Movement which aims to deliver one pair of shoes to a child in need for every shoe bought by a customer. The shoes were modeled after the Argentina alpargata, a simple canvas slip on shoe with a thick soul, which we now know today as TOMS shoes- the shoes for tomorrow.
Did his project work? Was Mycoskie ever able to deliver a pair of TOMS to a chlid in Argentina?
The answer is yes, but was it easy? Absolutely not.
He came home and had a goal of giving out TOMS to the 250 kids that he met in his trip to Argentina. He considered this goal a part of a passionate project he was involved in rather than a "company" as it would later develop into.
Now here comes my favorite part about his story: the building of his "office" and interns.
He built his first office right in the very center of his studio apartment in Venice and then searched on Craiglist for a group of interns who wouldn't mind buying their OWN laptop and crashing at the "Chelsae Inn" (aka his friend Rachel's couch) in New York when he and his interns met with the buyers. I bet their friends and family thought they were crazy to join something so unsure and undeveloped. I wonder what they're saying now...
Here's Wycoskie and his first few daring interns at TOM'S first office- Wycoskie's apartment. This is where greatness began! Who would have thought?
The man remembers suddenly as he drives back from work that tonight is his anniversary dinner with his girlfriend and does a quick U-turn to the nearest Dillard's. He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper that says "black Steve Madden heels, size 7" that his girlfriend's roommate wrote down for him weeks ago. He frantically enters the store asking for the Dillard brand of shoes and waits impatiently looking at his watch while the clerk has a confused look on her face, suggesting that she is thinking "What? The Dillard's brand?" He sees the confusion and pulls out the crumpled piece of paper and finally the clerk relaxes and chuckles to herself. She picks out exactly the pair that every girl that season has been wanting and places the hot, little pair of shoes in his hands. He sighs and then finally breaks out into a smile.
He just saved his relationship. (Yes, it's possible I'm talking about personal experience...)
But the power of the shoes meant something else to the once-upon-a-time Amazing Race third-place winner, Blake Mycoskie. He is the founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS shoes and is currently leading the One-for-One Movement.
Mycoskie is passionate about inspiring young people to start giving in their businesses and in their daily life decisions. He believes in making tomorrow a better place for everyone, and eventually hopes to see a future where all businesses and people are more socially aware.
"Just start something- whether it be a business, non-profit or service project. It doesn't have to be intimidating. You don't need a lot of money, you don't need to quit your day job, and you don't need to take big risks," said Mycoskie in his own blog.
And Mycoskie did just that. He started something.
His vision came into play in 2006 when he traveled to Argentina to do some community service work and play polo. There, he learned the hardships that a great number of children experienced while growing up barefoot which put them at severe risk of disease. He felt the need to help.
Immediately, Mycoskie returned home back to Venice, California and with no knowledge in how to make shoes, he began the One-for-One Movement which aims to deliver one pair of shoes to a child in need for every shoe bought by a customer. The shoes were modeled after the Argentina alpargata, a simple canvas slip on shoe with a thick soul, which we now know today as TOMS shoes- the shoes for tomorrow.
Did his project work? Was Mycoskie ever able to deliver a pair of TOMS to a chlid in Argentina?
The answer is yes, but was it easy? Absolutely not.
He came home and had a goal of giving out TOMS to the 250 kids that he met in his trip to Argentina. He considered this goal a part of a passionate project he was involved in rather than a "company" as it would later develop into.
Now here comes my favorite part about his story: the building of his "office" and interns.
He built his first office right in the very center of his studio apartment in Venice and then searched on Craiglist for a group of interns who wouldn't mind buying their OWN laptop and crashing at the "Chelsae Inn" (aka his friend Rachel's couch) in New York when he and his interns met with the buyers. I bet their friends and family thought they were crazy to join something so unsure and undeveloped. I wonder what they're saying now...
Within a year, these six were able to collect more volunteers and deliver MORE THAN 10,000 PAIRS OF TOMS in their first Shoe Drop event in Argentina. Now, over 300,000 pairs have been delivered to Argentina, Haiti, Ethopia and Southern U.S.
I always say the best moments in my life are those moments when I was moved to do something, and Wycoskie's story was definitely one of those moments. It just makes me believe that no idea is too little or too big. In his blog, Wycoskie admitted that most people laughed at him when he first started vocalizing his idea, but I'm glad that didn't stop him, because neither would I or the children in Argentina be wearing our TOMS right now.
Seriously, I can't say it enough: power of the shoes.
Watch the video below to get an inside of the Shoe Drop event in Argentina. I love it at 2:25 minutes of the little boy's face. It's absolutely adorable. Enjoy!
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