Entrepreneur’s passion shines at campus presentation
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 10/30/2009
sponsored by
“Sell a pair today, give away a pair tomorrow.”
That was the original mission and logo of the shoe company founded by Blake Mycoskie, which was eventually shortened to TOMS. Mycoskie spoke Thursday night at Loeb Playhouse about his experiences with entrepreneurship and the history of TOMS Shoes.
Stephanie Shipley, sophomore in the College of Education and TOMS campus representative, said she was surprised to see so many people attend the event.
“It’s one thing reading on the Web site how passionate Blake is about the story of TOMS, but it is so much more powerful actually hearing him talk about it,” she said.
Although he started out as an aspiring professional tennis player, Mycoskie was inspired after an injury to become an entrepreneur. After starting several companies and participating in the reality television show “The Amazing Race,” Mycoskie took a trip to Argentina, where he first noticed children with a need for shoes.
Mycoskie returned to Los Angeles with a plan to start a company that would give shoes to children by implementing the revolutionary “One for One” business model, in which the business would give a child a pair of shoes for every pair that was sold.
After Mycoskie’s mission began gaining popularity and the brand sold 10,000 pairs of shoes Mycoskie returned to Argentina to give away shoes.
“We got on a Greyhound bus and went around for two and a half weeks and literally hand-placed every shoe on kids’ feet,” Mycoskie said.
Krin Baer, a senior in the School of Management, said he’s known about TOMS for few years and owns a couple pairs of the shoes.
“I like what he said about not starting out to just make money,” Baer said. “Just do what you are passionate about and the business and the money will come.”