Their philosophy is simple: For every pair of shoes purchased, a pair will be given to a child in need. Not exactly your typical business formula for success, but that suits Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms Shoes, just fine. While visiting a remote Argentine fishing village in 2006, Blake was struck by the amount of children with cuts and sores on their feet, unable to afford the most basic of shoes. Having already taken a strong liking to the traditional footwear worn by local farmers, the lightweight and durable alpargatas, Blake had an epiphany of sorts and vowed to create a shoe company that for every pair sold, a pair would be given to a child in the village. Flash forward to 2008. Millions of units have been sold by over 300 stores and retail chains worldwide, with “shoe drops” now expanding into Africa and Asia. “I always thought I’d spend the first half of my life making money and the second half giving it away,” says Blake. “I never thought I could do both at the same time.” Click here to view Swell’s entire line of Toms Shoes.
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