Who is Tom? There is no Tom. If we sell a pair of shoes today, we give away a pair of shoes tomorrow. Originally we thought of “Tomorrow’s Shoes,” but I could only fit “TOMS” on the label. I had no idea everybody would want to meet him. There is no Tom; it’s an idea for a better tomorrow.
~ Blake Mycoskie
Vogue Magazine did something really interesting here: They made me look like a guy who knows exactly what I’m doing.
~ Blake Mycoskie
Born on August 26th, 1974 in Arlington, Texas, Blake Mycoskie would go on to become a successful young entrepreneur starting as many as five businesses. The first of which was a laundry service which he would then sell.
In 2002, Blake and sister Paige competed in the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race” coming in 2nd barely losing the 1st place and the 1 million dollar purse by a sliver.
It was this very race that took Blake to Argentina where he vowed to one day return to explore the country in depth. It was in January of 2006 that Blake would return. There he learned about the “alpargatas”. It is a form of footwear worn by farmers and polo players in Argentina; a simple canvas slip on shoe that he would eventually wear.
It was during this visit that he was exposed to children running barefoot in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He would then learn that this indeed existed beyond one community, village or country. In fact, it is estimated that about 40% of the world’s population is barefoot.
Blake then had the wonderful idea “I said, I’m going to start a shoe company, and for every pair I sell, I’m going to give one pair to a kid in need.“
A Shoe That Fits Many Souls – Time Magazine
True to his word, Blake founded TOMS a for profit company whereby for each shoe sold, one is given away to the needy. As you may imagine, most investors would balk at a company that was giving away half its revenue. However, Blake insisted that this particular giving model be worked into all the financial scenarios for his company.
To date, over 2,000,000 of these canvas shoes have been given to children in 40 countries worldwide, including the United States, Argentina, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guatemala, Haiti, South Africa. TOMS are sold at more than 500 stores nationwide and internationally, including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Whole Foods Market, which include shoes made from recycled materials.
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