case study shoes

Its Value Network is strong and there is no reason for it not to continue. However, why restrict it to donating shoes? Isn't it possible to create value in those South American countries by getting things made there, which can then become a self-sustaining for-profit/not-for-profit and help progression of and lend pride to the people who contribute and are a part of it? The strong family culture is good, the values are fine. But families grow, have different thoughts and the parent has to look at how they are allowed to spread their wings.

While TOMS has been successful in product additions - sunglasses, bags - its consideration of the lifecycle aspect of the customer seems to have been low. Ideally, a teen to 40+ should be covered via different approaches and content. A teen or collegegoer would be more prone to share content on a variety of platforms in an innovative manner. However, as you grow older, your offline reach becomes stronger and you create content that extends to disproportionate reach. Say, for example, a teen begins with buying a shoe twice a year, shares, engages, encourages five of his peer group to purchase shoes. As she/he grows, the possibility of drifting away remains (say half of the six) and this has to be brought back in via different platforms, products, engagement and sharing. A local offline ambassador programme could help generate content and awareness, in addition to the celebrity endorsements. Remember, on social media everybody is a celebrity in her own right and the influence extends in different directions.

TOMS's work on non-competing alliances also seems to have been slow. Here one does not mean selling of the product but more in terms of reach, engaging socially aware or, more importantly, aware but too-lazy-to-dosomething-about-it target groups. Similarly, with a substantial online reach and base, it becomes relevant to focus on offline, low-cost or zero-cost activities that translate into reach, engagement, creation of fresh relevant content from additional target group.

The use of social media for marketing is nice. However, from a like/love status the brand needs to move towards achieving cult status, thereby ensuring competition does not catch up. The cult status is a difficult proposition when only online space is used, given the fickle nature of the beast. The time has come when social media needs to become supportive, unique, testimonial with offline doing its aggressive bit. Competition may move in fast if there is a single differentiator - socially aware target group - but the need is to splice this group into regular, innovative engaging aspects, maybe even flip it around. For example, contribute monthly or weekly for a shoe donation and get your shoe when it is completed. And many more.

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The rise and fall of the buy-one-give-one model at toms.

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It would be wrong to say TOMS shoes invented the Buy-One-Give-One model when it hit the market in 2006, but students of purpose marketing would agree that it quickly became the best-known company associated with that form of embedded giving.

That is why it struck so many so hard when TOMS – which had gone into such a steep business decline that it almost went bankrupt in 2019 – announced recently that it had completely moved away from linking the sale of its shoes to giving shoes to poor people ( Now the company pledges it will give 1/3 of its profits to organizations creating grassroots good  – a much more amorphous concept.)

I’ve followed the rise and fall of TOMS’s BOGO program with great interest over the years. For most consumers the great appeal of TOMS was the apparent simplicity of the offering “you buy a pair of shoes, we give a pair to a person in need.” But it didn’t take a very deep study of the LA-based company to realize that giving away shoes on a mass level was anything but simple.

During the early years when the TOMS story took off like a rocket and its BOGO story electrifyied millions of consumers, TOMS tried to keep out of the spotlight the fact that it was having tremendous difficulty giving away as many shoes as it was selling.  Instead of being transparent, the website was very scant on details. The TOMS team discovered early on, as founder Blake Mycoskie later told me, “Giving is really hard.”

Although the company was distributing a lot of free shoes with a network of nonprofit partners (over the lifetime of the program TOMS reported giving away more than 95 million pairs), critical articles appeared questioning the manner in which TOMS managed that enterprise.  Common questions included  whether TOMS hurt the footwear industries of nations where it gave away shoes; whether distribution partners were improperly requiring recipients to participate in other programs to be given shoes; or, cutting to the very core of the program, whether giving away shoes really made a difference in the lives of recipients.

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By 2012-2013 it appeared that the company had caught up with many of the problems associated with trying to run such an enormous giving enterprise. A substantial team had been hired to work exclusively on giving and was conducting research to try to better understand how to improve their impact. For example, the company arranged for many shoes to be manufactured in the countries in which they were to be given away. TOMS shared information on its giving practices more freely. In fact, I was so impressed with their progress and achievements that  Engage for Good, the organization I run, recognized TOMS with an award at our 2014 conference .

Master roaster at TOMS Angel Orozco and founder of TOMS Blake Mycoskie attend TOMS' Austin Store ... [+] Opening on March 11, 2014 in Austin, Texas.

For several years Mycoskie and his team tried to expand the TOMS BOGO concept to other product lines such as sunglasses, coffee and backpacks, but none of those efforts really caught fire.  Footwear competitors created less expensive versions of TOMS core Alpargata line and even created their own BOGO programs. A 50% share of the company was sold to Bain Capital in 2014 for a reported $300 million and Mycoskie went from company leader to figurehead. Unfortunately, the new management was not able to reverse the company’s decline and in 2019 TOMS’ debtholders took control of the company, reportedly in lieu of having it file for bankruptcy.

New management led by CEO Magnus Wedhammar has been working furiously to create a workable model for TOMS including overhauled product design and the new giving model. The pandemic’s negative impact on bricks and mortar retail sales hurt although the company reportedly had a record year for online sales.

Whether all these changes will result in a company that produces profits and substantial social impact remains to be seen. I certainly hope so.

Based on numerous interviews I’ve recently conducted, TOMS’ abandonment of the Buy-One-Give-One does not spell the end of that format. A series of upcoming posts will explore how some companies are endeavoring to make the BOGO model work on a sustainable level for their businesses.

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Business Case Study: Zappos, A Success Story of Customer Service, Culture & Holocracy

Zappos: a case study in building a successful business, introduction:.

Zappos, an online shoe retailer, has become a household name in the world of e-commerce. Founded in 1999, the company has gone on to achieve great success, attracting attention from business experts and industry leaders alike. This case study will examine Zappos’ journey from its early days to its current status as one of the most successful e-commerce companies in the world.

Market Condition and Opportunities:

When Zappos first entered the market, the e-commerce industry was still in its infancy. Despite this, the company saw a huge opportunity in the online retail sector, particularly for shoes. At the time, most online retailers were still focused on books, music, and electronics. Zappos saw an opportunity to differentiate itself by focusing solely on shoes, offering a vast selection and outstanding customer service.

Early Wins:

Zappos' first few wins were a result of its focus on customer service and its unique company culture. The company's commitment to providing the best possible customer experience, combined with its willingness to take risks and try new things, helped it stand out in a crowded market. For example, Zappos was one of the first companies to offer free shipping and free returns, which helped to build customer loyalty. Additionally, the company's focus on employee happiness and well-being helped to create a positive working environment and contributed to its success.

Management Decisions:

Zappos' management team made a number of key decisions that helped the company achieve its early wins and reach new heights. One of the most important was its decision to focus on customer service and create a unique company culture. The company also made strategic investments in technology and marketing, which helped to build its brand and reach new customers. Additionally, Zappos was able to attract top talent by offering competitive salaries and benefits, as well as creating a positive and supportive work environment.

Secret Sauce:

Zappos' secret sauce for early success was its focus on customer service and its unique company culture. The company's commitment to providing the best possible customer experience, combined with its willingness to take risks and try new things, helped it stand out in a crowded market. Additionally, Zappos' focus on employee happiness and well-being helped to create a positive working environment and contributed to its success.

One famous story that showcases Zappos' commitment to customer service is when a customer called in to purchase a pair of shoes for her wedding, but the shoes did not arrive in time for the event. The customer service representative she spoke with went above and beyond and overnighted her a new pair of shoes, at no extra charge, so that she would have them in time for her wedding. The customer was so impressed with the level of service she received that she shared her story online, and it quickly went viral, bringing a lot of positive attention to the company.

Another example of Zappos' commitment to customer service is their "WOW" philosophy, which states that employees should do whatever it takes to make the customer happy, even if that means going above and beyond what is expected. This philosophy has led to many memorable moments for customers, such as a customer service representative spending over two hours on the phone with a customer, helping them find the perfect pair of shoes.

Capitalizing on Early Wins:

Zappos was able to capitalize on its early wins by expanding its product offerings and improving its website. The company also made strategic investments in technology and marketing, which helped to build its brand and reach new customers. Additionally, Zappos continued to focus on customer service and employee happiness, which helped to maintain its competitive advantage.

Scaling the Company:

Zappos was able to scale its business by expanding its product offerings and improving its website. The company also made strategic investments in technology and marketing, which helped to build its brand and reach new customers. Additionally, Zappos continued to focus on customer service and employee happiness, which helped to maintain its competitive advantage.

Sustaining Competition and Economic Times:

Zappos faced intense competition from established players in the online retail space such as Amazon, but the company found its unique selling proposition in its company culture and customer service. Zappos focused on providing an exceptional customer experience through fast and free shipping, a 365-day return policy, and 24/7 customer service. This differentiation strategy allowed Zappos to stand out in a crowded marketplace and to continue to grow despite the 2008 economic downturn.

In 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion, but the company continued to operate as an independent subsidiary. The acquisition allowed Zappos to leverage Amazon's resources to further expand its reach, but the company remained true to its roots and continued to prioritize its unique company culture and customer-focused approach.

Unique Approach to Management and Organizational Structure

Zappos adopted a unique management style called Holocracy in 2013, which aimed to eliminate traditional hierarchical structures and promote self-governance. This innovative approach aimed to empower employees and encourage them to take ownership of their work. Instead of traditional job titles, employees were organized into autonomous teams and given the freedom to make decisions that impacted their work. This allowed Zappos to foster a culture of creativity and innovation, where employees were encouraged to think outside the box and come up with new and innovative solutions. The results were significant, with increased employee engagement, improved productivity, and a more streamlined decision-making process. Holocracy also helped Zappos stay true to its core values of putting the customer first and promoting a fun, quirky and engaging workplace culture. To this day, Zappos continues to be a leader in adopting alternative management styles and continues to be a case study for businesses looking to promote employee engagement and organizational efficiency.

The Fundraising Journey of Zappos:

Zappos is known for its quirky and unique approach to business, and that extends to the way they raised funds for the company. In the early days, Nick Swinmurn, the founder of Zappos, had a tough time raising funds for his startup. But he eventually found success by approaching Tony Hsieh, a successful entrepreneur, who invested in Zappos in 1999. Hsieh was impressed with Swinmurn's vision and the potential of the company, and he saw the opportunity to apply his own experience in online marketing to help grow the business.

Zappos continued to raise funds through later rounds, including a Series C round led by Sequoia Capital, which brought in $35 million in 2004. This funding allowed the company to invest in infrastructure, marketing, and growth initiatives.

One interesting story about Zappos' fundraising efforts is the company's decision to turn down a $200 million offer from Amazon in 2000. Zappos' leadership team saw the potential for the company to become much bigger than what Amazon was offering, and they decided to go it alone. This decision proved to be a wise one, as Zappos continued to grow and eventually sold to Amazon in 2009 for a whopping $1.2 billion.

This story highlights the importance of vision and the willingness to take calculated risks in business. Zappos' leadership team believed in their vision and took a bold move by turning down a large sum of money in order to achieve their long-term goals. This decision was a testament to the company's commitment to building a unique and successful brand, and it helped lay the foundation for Zappos' success as a company.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Prioritize company culture and customer experience to create a sustainable competitive advantage.
• Leverage technology and resources to expand reach, but remain true to company values and approach.
• Continuously innovate and experiment to stay ahead of the curve.
• In conclusion, Zappos' success story serves as a shining example of what can be achieved through a customer-focused, culture-driven approach. By following in the footsteps of Zappos, companies can position themselves for long-term success and create a positive impact on their customers and employees.

"10 Things Every Business Student Should Learn From Zappos"

Zappos, the online shoe and clothing retailer, has become a leader in the e-commerce industry through its innovative and customer-centric approach to business. As a former advisor at Y Combinator, I have seen firsthand how Zappos’ success can be a valuable source of inspiration and learning for business students. Here are 10 things that every business student should learn from Zappos:

• Customer Service is KeyZappos’ commitment to providing exceptional customer service sets it apart from its competitors. The company’s approach to customer service is so unique that it is often cited as the primary reason for its success. For example, Zappos’ call center employees are empowered to do whatever it takes to satisfy customers, even if that means spending hours on the phone with a single customer.
• Embrace Culture and ValuesZappos’ company culture and values are central to its success. The company places a strong emphasis on creating a positive and enjoyable work environment, and it encourages employees to be themselves and have fun at work. This has resulted in a team of highly motivated and engaged employees who are committed to delivering exceptional customer service.
• Prioritize Employee HappinessZappos recognizes the importance of employee happiness in driving business success. The company has implemented a number of programs and initiatives designed to promote employee wellbeing, including a “Paid Time Off” program, which allows employees to take paid time off whenever they need it. This has resulted in a highly motivated and engaged workforce that is committed to delivering outstanding customer service.
• Innovate ContinuouslyZappos has a culture of innovation and is always looking for ways to improve its products and services. The company regularly launches new initiatives and experiments with new business models, which has allowed it to stay ahead of its competitors and maintain its position as an industry leader.
• Focus on People, Not Just ProductsZappos’ success is built on its focus on people, not just products. The company places a strong emphasis on building relationships with its customers, employees, and partners, which has helped it to create a loyal and engaged customer base.
• Encourage Employee EmpowermentZappos empowers its employees to make decisions and take risks, which has helped to foster a culture of innovation and creativity. The company encourages its employees to share their ideas and provides them with the resources and support they need to bring their ideas to life.
• Foster a Sense of CommunityZappos has a strong sense of community and encourages its employees, customers, and partners to engage with one another. This has helped to create a loyal customer base and a positive company culture, which are key to its success.
• Lead with PurposeZappos is driven by a clear sense of purpose, which is to deliver happiness to its customers, employees, and partners. This purpose guides all of the company’s decision-making and helps to keep it focused on its goals.
• Embrace FailureZappos recognizes the value of failure and encourages its employees to take risks and embrace failure as a learning opportunity. This has helped the company to innovate and continuously improve its products and services.
• Focus on Long-Term GrowthZappos is focused on long-term growth and has a long-term perspective on its business. This has helped it to weather economic downturns and remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry.

In conclusion, Zappos success is a result of its innovative and customer-centric approach to business. From its commitment to exceptional customer service, to its focus on employee happiness and empowerment, to its continuous innovation, Zappos is a valuable source of inspiration for business students. By incorporating these lessons into their own approach to business, students can build successful companies that are driven by purpose, innovation, and a focus on people.

“The author generated this text in part with GPT-3, OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model. Upon generating draft language, the author reviewed, edited, and revised the language to their own liking and takes ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.”

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Schuler Shoes

A staple of Minneapolis-Saint Paul and D2C footwear, Schuler Shoes has set trends for 134 years. The company called on MarketSmiths’ copywriting for content and branding strategy, starting with well-timed email campaigns. In 6 months, our email copy generated a 63% increase in clicks—and helped Schuler surpass an email revenue milestone for an ROI of over 6,500% on our work. Now, our growing partnership encompasses video and web copy, with more initiatives on the horizon.

“I wanted Schuler’s voice to be distinct—not just another variation on standard retail.”

Since 1889, Schuler Shoes has outfitted Twin Cities residents with comfortable, stylish footwear. As a thoughtful brand that’s willing to evolve with the times, the independent retailer has served families across four generations, blossoming into a regional D2C brand with nationwide reach. 

In 2022, Creative Director Kari Palmer came to a pivotal realization: to drive sustainable growth, she needed a humanized brand voice—one that could turn heads and propel rapid action.

For Kari, the initiative was personal. “I’m the daughter of an English teacher, so words matter to me,” she explains. “I wanted Schuler’s voice to be distinct—not just another variation on standard retail.”

“MarketSmiths is very good at taking feedback. They don’t cling too tightly to the original idea—they’re open-minded, very open to the idea of who the customer is.”

— Kari Palmer, Creative Director, Schuler Shoes

“MarketSmiths ultimately won me over with their quality of work.”

Prior to partnering with MarketSmiths, Schuler had worked with other content partners to develop large-platform creative copy. While pleased with the results, Kari knew that Schuler’s upcoming initiative—emotionally driven email campaigns targeting in-store and online sales—entailed specialized B2C copywriting expertise.

“It was a very different challenge,” she says. “Some [writing partners] are more talented than others when it comes to the particulars.

“We needed things to be high-level, intentionally worded, and consistent with other campaigns,” she continues. “What would make our customers open an email?”

Initially hesitant to work with a copy agenc y outside its key geographic market, Schuler decided to give MarketSmiths—and our fresh perspective—a shot.

“MarketSmiths ultimately won me over with the quality of work I saw,” she says. “That, and the team’s willingness to collaborate. I sensed that from the beginning.” This is especially high praise, given that Kari has experienced a variety of agency collaboration styles. With us, she has repeatedly called it an ideal fit. 

Shared Success

“while giving us a new and innovative edge, marketsmiths made sure to hang onto our [original] brand tenets and voice.”.

The decision paid off in stunning time. In 6 months, MarketSmiths generated a 63% increase in clicks , helping Schuler surpass a new revenue milestone and achieve a head-turning 6,500% ROI on our work. 

“With MarketSmiths, we’re landing at about a 3.8% CTR—with some emails exceeding a 4% CTR,” Kari says. That’s a nearly 72% improvement over the previous average of 2.33%. 

The wins don’t end there: Schuler’s March 2023 Spring Event campaign achieved a 3.9% CTR and drove $50,427 in revenue.

Since kicking off our partnership in 2022 with a poignant holiday email series, Schuler has scaled up to a monthly cadence of 10–15 emails. 

One key ingredient? Our unique ability to tell the story right —on brand and with intention, as if written just for you . To get there, MarketSmiths made sure to evoke the brand’s underlying ethos: Schuler isn’t just about shoes. It’s about the spirit of adventure, the promise that the right footwear can take you anywhere—up summits, down coastlines, and through city streets. 

Our messaging—which reshaped Schuler into a storied and inspiring lifestyle brand—has yielded outsized payoffs. Through clever and playful headlines like “Take a hike,” “One for the boots,” and “Your holiday head(to toe)quarters,” Schuler got to debut its new, irresistibly fun side—and customers couldn’t get enough.

Excited to see where else MarketSmiths could take the brand, Schuler expanded the original scope of our partnership by tapping us for web copy and video scripts to promote its fall 2023 ad campaign. 

“The content channels Schuler’s brand voice without ever feeling stagnant or repetitive,” Kari raves. “MarketSmiths has taken the emotion of these brand ads and trickled them down into everyday emails and web cop y. While giving us a new and innovative edge, MarketSmiths made sure to hang onto our [original] brand tenets and voice.”

Kari also cites our flexibility and meticulousness as crucial success factors. 

“I can tell that MarketSmiths is reading the additional material I’m giving them, whether it’s a brand script or something else,” she says. “They continue to go back to the playbook to make sure we’re right where we’re supposed to be.

“MarketSmiths is also very good at taking feedback,” she continues. “They don’t cling too tightly to the original idea; they’re open-minded, very open to the idea of who the customer is.”

As for the road ahead, Schuler is optimistic. 

“We look forward to getting work from MarketSmiths every single time,” Kari shares. “I know it’ll be spot-on and take such a huge load off my shoulders.”

She quickly cites another memorable success—a campaign we wrote promoting Schuler’s travel event, which usually coincides with the company’s lowest-earning month of the year.

“There were two feet of snow on the ground,” Kari recalls. “Yet total revenue that day exceeded $36,600—all associated with that email.

“Everyone on our team is on the same page about MarketSmiths,” she adds. “We’re excited to continue working with you.”

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Case Study: TOMS Shoes and the One for One model

Today’s guest is Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS shoes. He made the slip on shoes that got everyone’s attention because every time somebody bought a pair, he donated a pair to somebody in need.

The company has donated 86 million pairs of shoes over the years. They’ve added other products, also using the one for one model. They helped restore eyesight for 600,000 people. They’ve provided over 600,000 weeks of safe drinking water, and supported safe births for 25,000 mothers.

He sold a portion of the company at the time when it was valued at $625 million. I want to find out how he did it.

Blake Mycoskie

Blake Mycoskie is the founder of TOMS Shoes, which designs shoes — as well as eyewear, coffee, apparel and handbags. Blake launched his newest venture, Madefor.  Madefor is a ten-month program that applies the principles of modern neuroscience, psychology and physiology to make your brain and body better.

Full Interview Transcript

Andrew Warner 0 :04 Hey there freedom fighters. My name is Andrew Warner. I’m about to interview the guy who’s got the best COVID haircut that I’ve ever seen. Dude, you didn’t cut that yourself. Did you

Blake Mycoskie 0 :11 know I was actually down in Mexico quarantine and the only person that I got to see besides my ex wife and my kids was a trainer because he lived right next door. And so one day we were boxing and I was like I’ve always wanted a mohawk He’s like, now’s the time if ever so he shaved me a mohawk and yes, Oh, look at that.

Andrew Warner 0 :31 Yeah, kind of a wide Mohawk.

Blake Mycoskie 0 :34 I feel like outside Mohawk Yeah, I think he was a little bit nervous. It was the first haircut he ever gave. Maybe his last and so he didn’t want to go too narrow so but it was also a little while ago it’s grown out so it was a little bit more intense.

Andrew Warner 0 :47 Just wrong to say he had got you know, good looking guy to say that as I was looking at your at your book, reading your book. I looked at a photo of your family. Every frickin one of them. It looks good. Even your mom nobody’s mom. Good. Like when you’re an adult, you’re 29 years old in that photo your mom,

Blake Mycoskie 1 :04 your dad, good. brother, your sister. I’m actually talking to my mom later today about some stuff. So I’m going to tell you said that that’s embarrassing.

Andrew Warner 1 :11 All right, let me introduce the person whose voice you just heard. His name is Blake Mycoskie, Mike my kowski excuse me, why am I adding a W to it? That’s fun. Blake Mycoskie, he is the founder of TOMS shoes. Sky made I made the slip on shoes. That kind of got everyone’s attention because every time somebody bought a pair of shoes, he donated a pair of shoes to somebody in need. The company I just checked their website they donated 86 million pairs of shoes over the years. They’ve added other products which means that also using the one for one model, they have helped restore eyesight for 600,000 people. They’ve provided over 600,000 weeks of safe drinking water, supported safe birds for 25,000 mothers sold the company For reported while half the company reported, well, I guess at the time it was what $625 million in value. Wow. And you sell the whole company eventually or just have to buy in at that valuation?

Unknown Speaker 2 :11 Yeah, just have to be.

Andrew Warner 2 :14 Alright. And today he is here, not because he wants me to evaluate the looks at his family and his COVID haircut, but

Unknown Speaker 2 :20 he’s got a brand new product.

Andrew Warner 2 :22 It’s called made for and his goal is to help people improve themselves. He’s got a 10 week program. And it’s not one of these 10 week programs. It’s just online video and online email. He’s actually sending you something in the mail. And

Blake Mycoskie 2 :38 it’s totally analog. There’s no digital app, there’s no website that you interact with, besides when you sign up. That’s the only time you’ll ever kind of be online with made for in our program. It’s 100% analog and it comes to your house, which is great during

Andrew Warner 2 :54 to get something to play with it. Yeah, it’s not your phone. Like what what’s an example of something that you mail out to people

Blake Mycoskie 3 :00 So yeah, so like we focus on basic habits and practices that frankly, we’ve all heard and we all know about, but so few of us actually have integrated into our life in a sustainable way. So one of the simplest months of the 10 months, but one that really helps from a neuroplasticity standpoint of get you accustomed to doing something every day with intention is the hydration month. And so we found that when we did a bunch of research and met with a bunch of scientists, as we were building this program, that 65% of Americans are chronically dehydrated, and they don’t even realize it. And and what that does is it affects everything in their life. It affects your sleep, it affects you know, how their organs work and affects their energy levels. And so we have a whole month that literally is about drinking water and how much water to drink and debunking some of the myths around electrolytes.

Andrew Warner 3 :50 What do you send me and before I say that, I should tell people that this interview is sponsored by two great companies. The first is Click Funnels. They don’t want me to tell you that they’ve got a great landing page that will turn strangers into email subscriber And customers instead, they want me to tell you that I’ve got a new podcast called Traffic Secrets. And the second if you’re trying to create your own business, I’m going to tell you later why you should sign up for hostgator. My goal for this interview is to find out a little bit about Blake’s backstory, the stuff that he did, the businesses that he ran before he launched Tom’s, and then to understand how he took his story, his vision, and he, he made a tangible for people, he created events or people created events he created. Well, he made news and I want to know how he took his story and got all of us to talk about it. I’ve got this great example from my wife and what she did. And then also to find out a little bit about what he’s doing now. So the question that I was asking you before I interrupted with that intro is, why can’t you just say to me, Andrew, drink more water. Here’s the danger of non drinking water. Good luck. You’ve got a cup at home, you got a water bottle. What do you What

Blake Mycoskie 4 :48 are you sending me because everyone has done that. And still we have an issue with 65% of people are chronically dehydrated. So what we send you each month is a kit that includes three things. The first thing is about it’s a little book, it’s about 20 to 25 minutes to read. It’s all a consolidated science on why water is so important. And it really gives a stronger case. And really not that it would scare you by not drinking water, but it really shows how critical This is in your life. The second thing is, is we’ve designed a tool. In this case, it’s a specific water bottle that keeps track of how much water you’re drinking throughout the day. So a lot of people carry a water bottle around and at the end of the day, if I asked you how many bottles Did you drink, you might have no idea. And one day you might have drank in five or six and you feel great that day and the other day, you don’t feel so good and you don’t realize you only drink one bottle that day. So we have a water bottle in this case, it’s a beautiful glass bottle with a silicone cover and keeps track of how much water and then the third thing in the kit is the challenge card. And that’s kind of a way to keep track of how you’re progressing throughout the month and it also has a little bracelet that you wear on your wrist that reminds you of your commitment that month and so each week month, we focus on a different habit or practice that will have an impact on your either physical, mental or kind of spiritual life. And what we do is we send these kits once a month. So you have the whole month to work on it.

Andrew Warner 6 :12 Got it. And you’ve tested this, you’ve got some interesting results. I want to

Blake Mycoskie 6 :16 Yeah, it’s been found that and we we work with the head of the neuroscience lab at Stanford when we started building the program. And then he introduced us to, you know, several other labs across the country and many different disciplines. With at Harvard, we work to the head of psychology, we worked with the woman at at UC Davis on sleep. And so what we’re finding is now that we’ve done 1300, beta testers, the most interesting thing is focusing on people’s baselines. He’s very simple as habits and practices actually have effects in people’s lives that we never even anticipate in the program. So you know, two of my favorite ones is, you know, one of the things that’s fascinating is there’s nothing in the program about weight loss But we have so many people that say I finally lost the 20 pounds that I’ve always wanted to lose. And we have nothing about weight loss, but because they started focusing on all these other things, sleep, gratitude, breath, you know, hydration with more intention, that that intention naturally changed their, their mindset from a fixed mindset of I cannot lose 20 pounds to a growth mindset of if I can change my habits around water and hydration and sleep, you know, 20 pounds. So that’s kind of an example of something that’s not necessarily in the program. But the benefits come from changing people’s mindset through these intentions.

Andrew Warner 7 :37 I get that I get it. When I make progress in one area of my life, I feel more confident and more capable. And that momentum also builds in other parts of my life. Let me ask you something. Were you somebody who was a kid was listening to a lot of self improvement people do you have those Tony Robbins CDs at your house? You did?

Blake Mycoskie 7 :54 Zig Ziglar and yeah, I was I mean, it’s funny. I don’t know really as a kid. I would say what happened to me in my entrepreneurial story is I was wanting to be a professional tennis player my whole life. All I did is train for tenants. The tenants academies in high school, didn’t even live at home improvement tapes and books around tennis. It was all focused on tennis. And then I had an injury that stopped my tennis career, my sophomore year in college, and I broke my I had a really bad injury to my leg. And I in the process ended up starting my first business because I did add all this free time and that was a laundry business. And I did that because I couldn’t do my own laundry because I was on crutches. And I realized a lot of kids didn’t want to do their laundry and I went along with that. What was the laundry business, it’s called easy laundry, and pickup and delivery laundry on college campuses. And we did it at about five universities and, and I and I bring that up because what happened was is I dropped out of college my sophomore year, and I never knew anything about business. You know, my dad wasn’t in business. I was in business and so I really kind of zeroed in on reading biographies of successful entrepreneurs on and what I also did was I realized that a big part of being an entrepreneur was like your mindset and positivity and being able to sell and present yourself well and so that’s when all the zig ziglar tapes and Tony Robbins tapes and all this stuff infiltrated in my brain and I’m super thankful that did because I mean really, that is I mean that stuff it works like if you really your your mind is such a powerful tool.

Andrew Warner 9 :31 How did you apply it back then I remember listening to it and it would just put me in a good frame of mind but other than taking Tony Robbins CDs and going through his assignments in a Word doc I don’t think I did much.

Blake Mycoskie 9 :44 Well you know, you know if I think about it, I’m not sure if I did a lot as much as I just think it helped me think differently. You know, I think it I think, you know, listening to those things I used to listen to him like in on like cassette tapes in my car, which is old. Right. And so I think it was more of, you know, just having positive thinking constantly funneling through your brain, at least for me, versus just zoning out on country music or something when I was living in Nashville at the time, like that, I think had an effect and they just created that positivity and that I can do attitude. But you have I’m really honest, I think most of my entrepreneurial drive and discipline really comes from my tennis days. I mean, I was like the most at age 13 1415. I mean, I was so focused on on trying to be a professional athlete. And so why

Andrew Warner 10 :37 don’t you become cynical? Why don’t you say I tried, I gave it everything. They say if you give it everything, then you’re going to make it I believed in myself. I thought that I was going to do it. I failed. It doesn’t really matter anymore.

Blake Mycoskie 10 :50 Well, I never really and maybe this is the tapes. I never really see anything that didn’t work as a failure. You know, like don’t be bitter

Andrew Warner 10 :57 that you did this tennis experience.

Blake Mycoskie 11 :00 Gary had a great I got to travel the world I got to have incredible experiences and you know wins and losses and learn a lot about myself. And you know, when I was 19 years old and had this injury and realize like, okay, that’s the writing on the wall, then I was able to apply it to something else. And I don’t think I was like introspective at that age. You know, now it’s easy to look back and kind of, you know, even almost like retell the story with a great more deal of introspection, but I think it was just like, wow, like, okay, I can’t play tennis anymore. My laundry is piling up. I don’t know how to do it. Because I’m on crutches, I can’t carry it to the laundry place. I’m gonna start this laundry business. And then before I knew it, I had 40 employees and it was like a real business. And then I was like, shit, I got to learn about business. I started reading, you know, you know, all these great biographies, whether it was you know, Sam Walton, or Richard Branson, or Howard Schultz or Mary Kay. I mean, these were the things I started reading. And, and I learned a lot from their journeys and their stories. And I know we’re going to talk about story at some point. Want it? Yeah,

Andrew Warner 11 :59 cheers. Let me go through a little bit more backstory here. You told Fortune magazine about 10 years ago that you sold your share of easy laundry and then you went and created an outdoor media company. Who else was there? If it’s if it’s not just your share? I mean,

Blake Mycoskie 12 :15 my roommate, my roommate was my partner. Yeah, got it.

Andrew Warner 12 :18 Alright, so you sold it. Your roommate stayed on.

Blake Mycoskie 12 :20 Yeah, he stayed on and yeah, you ran it for many years after then he sold it to another company and still runs today. I mean, you got it. You go to these universities, you’ll see those trucks driving around.

Andrew Warner 12 :29 And that’s something you started.

Blake Mycoskie 12 :30 Yeah. 20, say 1943 24 years ago, it’s still in business. what’s the what’s the outdoor media company, that Clear Channel eventually bought up? So that was an interesting thing. So I went to Los Angeles, I was thinking about actually going back to college, because I didn’t finish in Dallas at SMU and I’d sold the laundry business and I was, you know, at that time, I was 20 or 21 years old. And I thought, you know, a lot of my friends are still in school. Maybe I’ll go back but I didn’t want to go back to Dallas. I say Maybe, you know, West Coast. And I was in California in Los Angeles. And I saw these massive advertisements on the sides of buildings, you know, like they have in Times Square. And I had never seen that we didn’t have any of those in Texas and Dallas, where I grew up. And I was amazed at how powerful they were like you could not avoid, you know, and then day where you can block out so much advertising, you could not avoid this massive dinosaur for the New Jurassic Park movie on the side of the building. And so I was just fascinated that how effective that was, and that that didn’t exist and the cities that I had grown up in, and at the time, I had just started one of my laundry businesses in Nashville, Tennessee. And part of my deal was when I sold it, that I would continue to manage that operation until we found a GM and that was probably going to be six months to a year. And I noticed that in Nashville, that you had every country music artists that live there, and they all had, you know, pretty big egos. And so I had to say that idea that if I put one of them on the side of a building, and the other one said to drive by and see Garth Brooks every day, and they would want their own building, because they would not want just Garth to have his his face on the side of a building, and it worked. So I actually went around the city, and I got contracts to rent the sizes of all the big buildings downtown. And I went to the music labels and said, Hey, I can put the Dixie Chicks for their next album release. And, and I was getting like, 20 $30,000 cash a month per building. I was crazy. And yeah, because I mean, this was the greatest advertising, you know, in the city, and we had the ego factor. And so yeah, I started that. I ran it for a couple years. And then the channel bought out and that was my first, I would say kind of financial success as an on how much was that? ultimate is about $4 million. So what do you do? How did your life change when you had $4 million in your 20s? Well, I didn’t have it. The deal was it was a toy like because the way that outdoor advertising works is You know, a lot of it is based on permits from the city. And so you can’t represent you’re going to get the permit every year like you got to be. You got to be on good standing with this city and make sure you’re not putting up anything that’s distasteful. And so at that, so the way a lot of times out or advertising companies get sold, especially small ones, is it’s like a multiple, so I got checks for like, 18 years or something. So there was no change my life it just gave me a nice allowance, so to speak. You know, every month, did it give you the confidence then to say I can do anything because I did this and I’m not gonna go poor. I got money. Yeah, no, definitely. Definitely. That was the moment when I was like, Okay, I can now really set out and try to start interesting things. And live as an entrepreneur. I moved out to California. I kind of never looked back.

Andrew Warner 15 :46 You had a DMV business, but before or now a driver’s ed business. But before that, after the outdoor media company, what was the next thing what was a third business?

Blake Mycoskie 15 :54 I tried to start a reality cable channel. So one of the I really looked up to as Ted Turner still do. Yeah, I’ve read all his books I lived on a sailboat myself, was an avid sailor. He obviously got his start in outdoor advertising. I got my start an hour, two hours. And so I thought, well, Ted could start cnn at such a young age. And maybe I could start a reality cable channel. Now this is when the reality craze was just at its all time high. I was on a reality show The Amazing Race. So I had a first hand experience of kind of the 15 minutes of fame. And so yeah, so I convinced the founder of the channel to join me and we set out to launch a cable network, which proved to be an incredibly difficult thing to do. And after about three to four years, we were basically out of business ran out of cash. So now why do you think, well, Rupert Murdoch and Fox, about two years into our journey, announced that they were going to launch Fox reality and they did. And so all the operators They don’t need to reality channels, though. We were we were we were funded but not funded at the level of Fox. And Fox had so much of the programming already in the can. So it just became very clear. And so we had a really hard time getting distribution deals if you don’t have distribution deals, you can’t get advertisers, advertisers out of business. So that was a, that was a big public failure. I lost, you know, a lot of money myself, other people lost a lot of money. It was a really challenging experience. And you know, there were some dark days after that,

Andrew Warner 17 :33 the dark day, let me just not put you out there as the guy who looks great has success after success. And when there’s a failure, you just see it as a learning experience. I see even the way that you’re carrying yourself as we’re talking about this. It was painful. What’s the dark day for you?

Blake Mycoskie 17 :46 Well happened. I’ve had two real bouts with I would say very mild, not very mild, but mild depression. And one of them was then and then one of them was in 2015, which we can talk about, because that led to made for But this time specifically what it was for me was I just felt so bad, I felt so much personal responsibility for the 40 plus employees, I had to let go. And they had, you know, left jobs that were quite secure to join this cable startup based on my vision in my promises, because I had no anticipation of anything but success. And so that was really weighed on me. And I was young, I was 2625 26 years old. And so I just had a tremendous amount of pressure on myself. And that led to things like not eating, not wanting to get out of bed over consuming alcohol to kind of numb it and deal with it in a non healthy way. And and that went on for, you know, a couple months and eventually, you know, like all things they passes and just pass it on its own. Yeah, Yeah, I did. You know, it was really I went to a therapist, I did some traditional stuff. A lot of it really was, you know, just taking the time to, you know, really process everything, and then also being really well supported by the employees that I had to let go. And them really showing me that, that they had no hard feelings and that this happens. And, you know, just kind of learning some grown up entrepreneur lessons more than anything else. And so it did eventually pass and part of what past is kind of like a relationship, right? Like, one of the best ways to get over a heartbreak is to find someone else, right. And so that’s kind of in the entrepreneur world. That’s kind of what happened to is that’s when I started the the drivers online driver’s ed company. And I had a big question about that. Let me take a moment because you explained it in your book, which then made me write.

Andrew Warner 19 :50 Let me first talk about my first sponsor, and then come back and ask you my big question about the driver’s ed thing. The driver’s ed business. My first sponsor is a company called hostgator. Let me ask you this. We’re now going through a recession, maybe a dip crushing, but still creators are creating online businesses. If you were to start over today with no money, nothing except for a hosting package from say, Hostgator, my sponsor, what idea would you have? Or how would you get started? If you were starting from scratch? You just had the time to build a site, build a movement, build a story and create something, what would that be?

Blake Mycoskie 20 :20 In terms of what type of business or

Andrew Warner 20 :22 business idea? Is there an approach you would take?

Blake Mycoskie 20 :25 I mean, I think the most, you know, essentially, I think the most important thing right now is I mean, your your website is the I mean, it’s, you know, business cards used to be somewhat important back in the day when I first started. But I mean, now your website is everything, you know, I mean, it allows anyone in the world know what you’re doing to understand what you’re doing allows, you know, people in the countries you sell in Dubai. And so having a dependable website is critical.

Andrew Warner 20 :49 I would even say, a website, even for little ideas that are kind of flimsy. I’ll give you an idea of what I’m talking about. The other day, my kids at night, couldn’t stop asking me questions about insects. Now I got Google. So I started Googling but Number one, not everything’s in Google like, apparently nobody is asked an answer the question of what happens if a bee Stinger ends up on the floor and you took it and you stuck it into somebody’s finger? Would they then get a bee sting? And the same, same thing? Couldn’t find the answer to that. So I went on Twitter and I said, Does anybody know of an entomologist who can answer all these frickin questions that my kids can’t answer? Somebody said, Yes, I do know someone introduced me to Dr. Drew from the San Diego Zoo. I said, Would you get on zoom with my kids? He gets on zoom with my kids, because we know Yeah, unbelievable. Yeah, he gets on zoom with my kids and then I invite a couple of their friends on it not a big crab are just a couple of their friends. And the answer is that sure enough, you know what, like, if you do find a stinger and you put it into somebody’s finger, yes, absolutely in the stinger, is that that stuff and yes, they will have the same the same experience. Wow. Here’s the other thing you should know don’t just take out the stinger with tweezers. What you want to do is take a credit card and squeeze out the the stuff that the B puts in your thumb anyway, this guy was fantastic. even brought a little Snake that he had in his house who was supposed to eat how to eat a little tiny mouse so my kids can see that showed us all those animals at home.

Blake Mycoskie 22 :06 Oh, lovely guy. I love these stories that are happening during COVID-19 it’s like so yeah, open so generous with their time and, and, and connecting online like this. I mean, I know there’s so much suffering, but there’s just those stories just warmed my heart.

Andrew Warner 22 :20 He loves it. And he’s trying to think of what do I do next? So I said, Let’s get on a call later this week and we’ll just talk through one of the things I’ll tell him is put up a website and how you will do this daily for people let them pay to get on I paid have my kids he was so entertained for an hour, and then see where that goes. Alright, if you’re listening to me, and you’ve got any ideas, don’t look for the great idea. Just go and put out anything. Think of it as a sketchbook. One of the best things that I saw from Blake was an old notebook where he sketched out the first version of what his shoes would look like if he grew the company. That’s the way you should think about your website, not this thing that is put out there on the world for forever and ever just sketch and then see if it takes off the way that Tom’s did after Blake sketch. All right. If you want to get started with it, they’ve got a hosting package. It’s super cheap, very reliable, super inexpensive, I should say and reliable. And they’ll give you the lowest price possible if you go to hostgator.com slash mixergy hostgator.com slash mixergy. Alright, so I’ve got your book here starts something that matters. In it, you say I had to leave my driver’s ed business to go and start to sold this this, this shoe company. Here’s the thing. You describe it as an online driver’s ed company. That is, what was it that

Blake Mycoskie 23 :31 it’s the type of car that it’s Prius is that was the very first hybrid? Yeah,

Andrew Warner 23 :36 right high, right, the height the people needed to have hybrids and do online. How does all this work together?

Blake Mycoskie 23 :42 Well, the, you know, the real secret sauce to the online driver’s ed business was really two things. One was this was right when all the teenagers were on MySpace, even before Facebook. And so it was very easy to reach kids. very targeted and let them know that they don’t have to go into Do the boring classroom stuff anymore, they can do it online. And we had a pretty fun interactive kind of class. And from a testing perspective, it actually got better results because the kids had to pay attention and pass the quizzes to get to the next section. So that was a real like technological technologically, that was a breakthrough because it’s the first time that kids didn’t have to go to like an old department store or Sears or somewhere to do drivers that

Andrew Warner 24 :22 way. And you you would teaching them the written part of the tablet, not the not the driving part.

Blake Mycoskie 24 :28 The driving was the real innovation, because we did teach them driving just like every other driver’s ed company in the country. We had the written part and then we had the driving part. But the biggest complaint that we heard from teenagers, about their drivers instructors, was they were boring. They’re like retired people. They had nothing in contact with you know, with them and and like they don’t even go as far as they like it’s no man that stinks like I you know, they just did not enjoy that experience. So I don’t know when I got this idea. I was trying to shower or something, you know, random, but I thought what are teenage girls and boys care the most about and that is, you know, good looking people. And so I hired Abercrombie and Fitch models on their time off to be driver’s ed teachers. So I had like the hottest driver ed teachers. I mean, like, literally, these girls would like swoon for their drivers. They would all want pictures with them, then they would put them on MySpace, and then those pictures would go viral. And then that’s how the advertising happened for the drivers in person. Yeah, yeah. So we just because I was in LA, and so there are all these models and actresses that need extra revenue, right. And they have they need flexible schedules, because they have castings all the time. So we could offer very flexible work, great hourly pay, and yeah, and we became, I mean, the fastest growing driver’s ed company in California like overnight.

Andrew Warner 25 :49 Got it. I thought it was an all online thing.

Blake Mycoskie 25 :51 sold on Bing you did with this model. Oh, that’s all right. That’s amazing.

Andrew Warner 25 :58 All right. Why don’t we do a quick summary of how Tom started, I was gonna do it, but I feel like you should do it. And then I want to move on to the stories that you created. And you You brought to life as you built up Tom’s? Well,

Blake Mycoskie 26 :11 Tom’s, you know, it’s interesting. I mean, it’s now 14 years ago when I started it. And like you said, we’ve given almost 100 million shoes away. And it’s been this just incredible journey and experience and has affected so many ways that entrepreneurs think and building purpose into their business. But if you go back 14 years ago, it started from a very, very humble idea. I mean, I was basically in Argentina on vacation. I saw lots of kids on the streets that should have been in school, they didn’t have shoes. I inquired about it because I’m so curious person, and found that many of the kids couldn’t afford the school uniform, which included a pair of shoes to go to school. And at the same time, I discovered this slip on shoe that all the farmers and polo players and polo players girlfriends were wearing around town. that I thought was super cool. You know, all I knew about slip ons is really vans back, you know when I grew up and this was very different looking very light. Oops, mischievous off. And, and so anyways, so I had this idea. It was really simple. I said, What if we took these shoes that are everyone’s wearing in Argentina that no one’s wearing in the United States, we brought them back, we changed the design a little bit, made them a little bit more substantial, more comfortable. We sell them in the US and every time we sell a pair in the US we give a pair to a kid here in Argentina so they can have the shoes they need for school. And it was just a really simple idea. And I did it. I didn’t even call it a business. I called it a project. It was called the shoes for tomorrow project. And, and it was really just something that I thought would be fun. I was kind of at a stage where I’d been starting and building companies for at that point 10 years already. And I really was connected to some of these people that I met in Argentina. I love being down there myself. So it was lifestyle wise it was great. And started very simply just making the shoes in a guy’s garage in Argentina and selling them out of my apartment in Venice, California. Why didn’t you think this is going to be a distraction? I’ve got a business going. I’m traveling I think at the time you were retracing this, your footsteps through The Amazing Race. Great show, by the way. I haven’t seen in years but it’s great. Why? Why did you say I need this other thing? I’m going to learn how to make shoes. I’m going to learn how to sell shoes. I think for me, I’ve always been driven by my curiosity. And just like disruptive ideas, like it’s never ever been about making money or business or business plan. I mean, I didn’t. That’s not my background, our training like when I started the online driver’s ed it was because one of the people that worked for me and the reality cable channel at a at a company barbecue, I talked to her 15 year old son, and he was like complaining about his driver’s ed experience. And I was thinking, wow, like, you know, this kid’s not that engaged when he’s learning to drive that, that makes our roads even less safe. You know, went on the highways because he’s probably not paying attention and you know, so all my ideas I mean from laundry to you know, outdoor advertising that capitalized on country western egos trying to start a reality channel to driver’s ed then Tom’s they’ve all been in industries that I have no experience in. I you know, I don’t have any credibility and sense, but they’ve all been driven by kind of just falling in love with an idea when I had this idea for Tom’s about a shoe company that would sell a pair and give a pair so that people who needed shoes would get them when people bought shoes that they wanted. It just was like, it was like a butyl I mean, it sounds a little cheesy, but it was like this beautiful like equation had been like, like uncovered in my mind. And I was like, wow, this is like now looking back because so many companies have emulated similar models. And it’s such a part of our business culture. But back then it was so radical. I mean, people were like, you’re going to do what? How are you going to make money? Like come up with that idea now?

Andrew Warner 30 :10 Yeah. Would you come up with that idea?

Blake Mycoskie 30 :11 On the farm? You know, I was on the farm. I was drinking some coffee in the morning, I was thinking about some kids that just nonprofit was helping get shoes and how their model was not very sustainable because it was all based on donations. And I just had the idea, I wrote it in my journal.

Andrew Warner 30 :28 It wasn’t it wasn’t something that you seen anyone else do is just

Blake Mycoskie 30 :33 it’s more like a what if it was going, What if there was a shoe company that every time they sold a pair, they gave a pair? And then I shared the idea with my Polo teacher of all people who became my business partner. And he’s like, that’s an amazing idea. You should do it, because he knew I was an entrepreneur. And I was like, yeah, it actually could be a business and let’s, you know, why not? Let’s give it a try. And like I said, it started with such humble. I mean, we weren’t thinking about starting a company. We’re thinking about You know, helping hundreds of kids, not millions of kids saw that it was just a few hundred shoes. Yeah. 200 shoes. 200 is

Andrew Warner 31 :06 200. This is a laiho needy, needy. Yeah. Did he end up continuing to own a piece of the business?

Blake Mycoskie 31 :13 For about Gosh, I think he was involved the first three or four years and it was just he got married and it was very hard for him to travel as much and so I ended up buying him out. And he’s been retired polo player ever since.

Andrew Warner 31 :28 So you bring it back to the US in a duffel bag, right? Yep. You have to go and figure out how am I going to sell this? I look, I remember living in Los Angeles. Everybody seemed to either be in the movies or want to be in the movies, or they wanted to be in in fashion somehow. Yeah, it’s hard to get anyone to target buyers to pay attention to you when you’re trying to sell new clothes. How did you get anyone to pay attention to you?

Blake Mycoskie 31 :51 Yeah, so you know, I went to several places at first and did not have any luck. And then I went to a store called American rag which is on labrea is a very popular store in terms of kind of the latest trends and fashion. And I went in the shoe buyer. And, you know, the first thing I did rather than pull out the shoes out of my bag is I pulled out some pictures from the kids that I had given shoes to. And I told her the story. And I mean, it probably didn’t matter what the shoes look like, after I told her the story, she was totally hooked. And she said, I’ll do it. And that became my first customer.

Andrew Warner 32 :28 Alright, so then that brings me to the way that you tell your story. You said over and over in your book, how important stories are and I agree with you, I feel a lot of entrepreneurs don’t get that when they sit down here with me. All they want to do is go through facts and bullet points and preach and nobody is going to listen to that they want to hear the story and learn for themselves. What you did though, as I as I researched your story was I noticed you keep bringing stories to life. Like for example,

Blake Mycoskie 32 :56 maybe one of the earliest things that you did was you wore mismatched shoes. That’s kind of a small example. Why did you wear mismatched shoes? Because if I were a pair of red Toms on the left foot, a pair of blue Toms on the right foot, then for sure, without a doubt, like I did this a lot in the subway in New York City, because that was where, you know, it was a lot trying to sell the shoes. Someone’s going to ask you, they’re like that no one does that, like what’s with the two shoes, you know, like that just becomes it caused them to ask. And if someone asked you then now that gave me permission, you know, to use kind of a Seth Godin term, I gave me permission to tell them my story. Well, I’m wearing these two different shoes because I started this company called Toms and every time we sell a pair, we give a pair to a child in need. And I happen to like both these colors. And so I put two what two on today. I mean, it’s like that simple. But it’s amazing how if you get if you create opportunities as a business or as an entrepreneur, for people to ask you, I think this is a critical part. And I don’t know if I cover this in the book because that was written, you know, 10 years ago and I’ve, I think further crystallized My thinking around story is, it’s you need to. I mean, I believe firmly that having a really authentic powerful story is worth its weight and gold in starting in business. But also what’s important is to find natural ways for people to inquire because like you said, people don’t want to be preached at. And so, you know, finding ways for people to ask you about the story is I think super important. And that’s where I wear the mismatched shoes. Okay, the airstream. You traveled for what? Let me see 60 days. What did you do in the early days? 60 days in your Airstream? Ah, man, those are good memories. Oh, man. Yeah. So I mean, we didn’t have any money really for marketing. We had a bunch of shoes. We had some new stores across the country that signed up with us. And I knew I mean, let me just say this first. The quality of the original TOMS Shoes was crap. Like these shoes didn’t always fit very good. They weren’t that comfortable. I mean, we were just learning how to make them. We were making me in this guy’s garage in Argentina. So if you just put the shoe on the shelf next to a vans or a Converse or Birkenstock, I don’t think very many people are going to buy this shoe. What sells this shoe is the story. And so we were getting a lot of press. And so we’re selling a lot of shoes online. And because of that, you know, some department stores and stores wanted to carry us because they saw, you know, we were in Vogue magazine, we were in Elle Magazine, we were in LA Times. And so I said, Great, I’ll sell you the shoes, but unless you have a way of sharing the story, I don’t think they’re going to sell it just on their own, like their shoe itself. And their early day wasn’t going to do that. And so my idea was is for me and my intern Zach to go in this Airstream and to visit every single store from LA in New York and back in 60 days, and the store would host a party where people would come and I would share a slideshow of my trip to Argentina and we would tell the story. And that was how we launched the business because not only Every person come emotionally connect the brand to me to the story and buy one or two pairs. But they were all like, never heard anything like this. So then they would post about it on Facebook or MySpace or whatever back then. And then they would learn about it. And then they just it just it was amazing. I mean, it’s, it’s so interesting talking about this now because so much of businesses has caught on to this now and so many people have, you know, are now doing it, unfortunately in an inauthentic way. But back then it was just raw, it was powerful. It was disruptive, and people couldn’t help but share it with everyone they knew. And the wrong powerful part was,

Andrew Warner 36 :39 yes, we’re a business but I’m not going to sell you shoes. I’m going to tell you about these people who don’t have shoes and why it matters, how sick they can get from the dirt that they’re walking on how they care score,

Blake Mycoskie 36 :50 Tony osis are lots of diseases you get through your feet. Yeah.

Andrew Warner 36 :53 And by the way, a good way to help is if you buy a shoe we give away shoe that was the thing how it was How’d you get anyone to even show up to these events to come to the

Blake Mycoskie 37 :03 nice thing was as a stores did all that, right? Because the stores that bought the inventory, so they had a very big vested interest in selling the shoes. Okay. And, you know, most people who own shoe companies don’t offer to come hang out at your store for the evening. And so that they were like, wow, you’re going to show up like in an Airstream and like, answer questions and like, take pictures of people. And I mean, so it was pretty easy for them to, you know, back then to, you know, put fliers up and say, Hey, the founder of this company is coming and, and yeah, and new started travel. I mean, you know, that’s right. When that was like, literally 2007 was when YouTube went live when Facebook started going off campuses. I mean, this was the birth of social media. And so we naturally just, totally, I mean, we were such a native company in social media. I mean, now I think about how social media is such a huge part of everyone’s marketing. like back then it was just us telling the story and helping other people tell our story. And it was so authentic and raw and and it just was

Andrew Warner 38 :00 core philosophy that allowed you to innovate on social?

Blake Mycoskie 38 :04 Well, that’s the thing. There was no, like, all these challenges that, frankly, you know, that we try to think about now, even with the new company made for, like those weren’t even. I mean, there was no it wasn’t even a thought about strategy or innovation or whatever. It’s just like, there’s this new platform where you can put videos and people will watch them. So let’s make videos of us giving shoes to kids and people will watch them and then all sudden, they shared them millions of times. And then next thing you know, you’re getting more impressions and Nike is with their ad budget.

Andrew Warner 38 :35 And it’s because you just said we’re going to tell our story, and then we’ll see where it goes. And then I remember talking to Guy Kawasaki around the time that you launched. And he said, nurture your thunder lizards. I said, What do you mean, he goes, these are the people who are just so rabid in their devotion to your company that that you want to almost push them away because they’re a little too eager. Yeah, they come up with the great ideas. In fact, one of well you know, before I say what One of your Thunder, Thunder lizards came up with Let me take a moment to talk about my second sponsor. And then I also want to know would this work today with made for in a world where everyone seems to be, let me talk about my firt my second sponsor, it’s a company called Click Funnels, they’ve got a podcast all about marketing for people who are listening to me it’s called Traffic Secrets. If you’re listening to this, and you guys like what we’re talking about here, when it comes to marketing, they do social media marketing and other marketing. In fact, like one of the things that Russell Brunson, I think he’s gonna build a billion dollar business, he’s probably close. He’s over 100 million dollars in revenue now annually from this landing page creation software, creating stories. One of the things that he did when he started he said, You know what, I’m not a developer, I can code this thing up. What I’m going to do is I’m going to make a list of my hundred people who I idolize, who I ideally would like to work with, I’m going to then find ways to get into their lives, call this dream 100 and just keep staying on top of them until they bring me into their world. And so we had people like a Facebook group moderator that had his audience and Tony Robbins and so on and so forth. And since then, not only is he gone to all these Facebook Because he did this by infiltrating the people by people’s lives and getting together with them, but by one of the things that he did by being in their world was he got his marketing but he also started doing business with him. I see him with Tony Robbins at Tony Robbins events now all the time. Now Tony uses him as an example of what could be done if you if you follow Tony’s ideas. Anyway, it’s the dream 100 idea. And that’s just Episode Number 10 of this podcast. His whole podcast is full of techniques that he and his customers have used what’s work? What’s interesting, what’s exciting if you’re into listening to what we’re talking about here. You guys should go check out Russell Bronson’s podcast It is called Traffic Secrets and it’s based on his book and the techniques that he is used over the years himself. I think you dig him as a person by the way All right. Um, so one of the ideas was day without shoes I saw Charlie’s the Ron was doing was doing this Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Nordstrom Microsoft a well I keep seeing their name. What What was that? Or what is day without choose? And then where did it come from?

Blake Mycoskie 41 :03 Yeah, just a really simple idea that we had some college students at University of Pepperdine. They were big fans of Tom’s they were the thunder lizards as you just referred to it. Yeah. And, you know, they realized that a lot of people who just didn’t know about Tom’s we were really small them. And a lot of people didn’t know about the most important part in that was that we were built to help kids get shoes. And so they decided to kind of in a in a not in a protesting way, but in a way to get attention just to spend a day not wearing shoes on campus. And every time someone said, hey, why aren’t you wearing shoes? They would say, well, there’s millions of kids around the world that don’t have shoes. And there’s this company, just down the street that is doing something about it, and they would tell our story. And it was it was genius. And so we caught on to it. They were in the newspaper and we were like, wow, we invite him to the to the warehouse, which was our office at the time and and then the next year, we said hey, let’s challenge others. colleges to do this. So then they challenged, you know, other colleges and then it was a college thing for a while. And then companies got involved like AOL and Microsoft, and, you know, all these different companies started doing it. And, you know, before we knew it, we had millions of people around the world going barefoot and it was truly at the height of it, which was probably 2012. I mean, it was a phenomenon. I mean, literally, you would have kindergarten teachers in Korea, going barefoot in Wall Street traders going barefoot and Demi Moore going on the Jay Leno show barefoot, and we didn’t know any of these people. I mean, they just caught on to the idea because of social media and thought, this is a cool thing. I’m going to partake in it. And sometimes if you just give people an opportunity to activate on something that they find interesting or important, it’s amazing what what can happen and so daily that’s used was you know, that I would say the most important thing to know about day without shoes. For anyone who’s listening, that is, you know, in marketing or entrepreneur is this happened in the spring. And on this day we specifically did not Mark do any sales marketing. We didn’t send out any emails. We didn’t have any promotions. We didn’t say by now by now by now, on the website, the whole website was dedicated all of our socials dedicated to just showing people barefoot, right? So we purposely did not try to sell shoes on this one day of the year. This day was always our biggest sales day of the year, even bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Unknown Speaker 43 :42 Wow.

Andrew Warner 43 :44 All right. So can this now happen today is

Blake Mycoskie 43 :47 Yeah, I think Patagonia did it recently, you know, last year or two when they said you know, you know, we’re gonna close our stores and then you know, I mean they did it, you know, or I think that was Rei Patagonia. We’re gonna give away 100% of the profits today. Like, I think when we do something that is authentic to your brand, and that is connected to a bigger purpose, even today now needs to be creative. You know, it can’t, it can’t be something that someone else has already done. So it’s harder. But yeah, I think it absolutely can happen today. And, you know, in a big part of, you know, story and sharing story is what we’re doing with made for. And that’s why we spent a year after the program is done, we could have just started launched the company over a year ago. But instead, we invited 1300 people from all walks of life to do the program. And now we’re taking their stories and their successes and the changes and transformations that happen in their life. And that’s exactly that’s the only thing we’re using to market made for now is their stories. We’re not, you know, out there kind of honking our own horn. We’re just sharing the stories of our members and the changes have happened in their life and that’s how we’re getting more members.

Andrew Warner 44 :55 I want to know how that’s different from everyone else, then who’s selling their success stories? Who shall You can get fit if just like these people who took our shakes who drain our vitamins who went through our exercise program.

Blake Mycoskie 45 :09 Okay. Yeah, I think it’s a good question I think a lot of it is, is who’s telling the story. So I should be more specific. And that, you know, what we’re finding is that are made for members themselves are sharing the story and sharing the months as they go through them on their own social media without any prodding from us. So it’s different, I think if we are the ones who are pushing it that could be effective to in a Facebook ad or an Instagram ad. But the most effective thing is when your customer themselves are the ones who are sharing the story like the kids going barefoot at Pepperdine. And so what we’re finding is, is that someone does the program, and we had a lot of HR professionals do the program initially because I gave a speech in Vegas two summers ago, and it was an HR convention and so I told him about what I was working on in my speech and Many of them signed up for the beta. And we’re finding is they did the program and a lot of their co workers, you know, saw them engaging with these unique water bottles or tools. And they asked about it. And then they shared ultimately how it affected them. And now we’re seeing like whole, you know, kind of teams sign up for the program in larger companies or someone has a program and then their wife wants to do it, or their partner wants to do it or they want to get it, you know that you want to get their college age kid to do it. So a lot of it is just really based on people sharing their own story versus us kind of pushing the story ourselves.

Andrew Warner 46 :34 You know what though, when I looked at how it’s being promoted online, I see you telling other people’s stories a lot. I think in fact, the call to action on the site is subscribe to our email newsletter while you’re here these stories right yeah. When I see how people report on you, it’s all about the guy who created Tom’s is now going to make you into a better person. It feels like that’s the first story my right like here’s a person Made it now he’s going to show you how to make it you respect how he made it. He’s going to make you feel that comfortable with the way that you’re going to make it.

Blake Mycoskie 47 :06 Well, I think I think my personal story has become a big part of the initial I think media that came out one because I think it was, you know, surprising to people that I was leaving Tom’s and the second thing is, is what led to made for and kind of meeting with all these different scientists from around the country was my own struggle in 2015 with having mild depression again, you know, I sold I sold half of Tom’s in 2014, stepped down from day to day responsibility. And, you know, 18 months later, I found myself not feeling that fulfilled, not feeling that engaged with life, like kind of asking myself these big questions and feeling like Gosh, I did everything that society told me to do. I, you know, built a great company help lots of people got married, have these wonderful kids have this, you know, wonderful home and I still don’t feel fulfilled and so I recognized that there were A lot of things that I had skipped over in working so hard to build Tom’s, and a lot of those things had to do with my own personal wellness. And as I started thinking about like, what could I do to take control of my own wellness, like with the same tenacity and, and being proactive like I did in business? What I found was there were people who were really thriving, and there were common practices and habits they were all practicing. And specifically what I found, and this was really with my my business partner, Pat, who was a, you know, in the military, he was a Navy SEAL for nine years is a very kind of structured focused brain on facts, and what does science and what is proven to work is what I found was is that there was actually a lot of science on personal well being, and it just wasn’t being communicated in a way that people could actually apply in their lives. And so as I started getting Meeting with these different labs around the country because I couldn’t get access to them because of my Tom resume and sharing them that I was personally suffering. But I found was there was like a lot of very basic things that I kind of knew, but had never fully committed to integrating into my life. And that’s when I realized that we could take this and create a program that could teach people in a different way in two of the biggest things we learned was, you could only learn one thing at a time. So you know, you couldn’t learn this in a podcast or reading a book and learn all 10 things in a weekend at a at a at a retreat or something, you really need to take your time and learning and go through a deep learning process. And the second thing we learned was that digital was one of the biggest enemies and learning a new habit or practice. So as many new meditation apps and and productivity apps and habit apps that there are out there right now. You know, I would be surprised to find very many people that find them really effective because they’re constantly being interrupted with The different notifications and all the other things on their phone. And so that’s the other big thing, we realized that it had to be analog. And so we built the whole program on those two tenants is one thing a month, really focused on learning one new simple basic habit. And it’s got to be completely analog. And I think that’s what surprised a lot of people.

Andrew Warner 50 :19 You know what, though, as I’m interviewing people, I see that a lot of them are kind of nuts, that they’re at least in the period where they’re where they’re building up. And it seems like maybe you had some of that experience yourself where you knew there things you needed to do, but you just didn’t do them. And I feel I’m thinking about entrepreneurs who make themselves sick almost by working so hard. Isn’t that the right way to go to go so hard on one thing that you exclude every other aspect of your life from your mind and make yourself sick almost while you’re trying to make

Blake Mycoskie 50 :50 it? I don’t think so. I think that is that’s the myth and that’s the you know, that’s the story that is that that creates this incredible dramatizing the entrepreneur experience. I mean, I do think there are times in which that’s necessary. And I think that’s why you see most, you know, new breakout companies are started by people in their 20s because they don’t have anything else to do. But But I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary. I definitely don’t think that’s the way you want your workforce working. And most people aren’t entrepreneurs, most people have jobs and responsibilities and manage people and you want those people to have a really strong Mental Health Foundation. And so yeah, I really I find that now you know, kind of launching made for and in having just as much energy to share what we’re doing there as I did when I started Tom’s but now practicing this stuff, I find that I can kind of do it all. Now I can actually be incredibly effective in building this business and helping a lot of people but also I can be a great dad and I can have, you know, a great social life and I think it all comes from taking control of my Life first letting my business kind of control me.

Andrew Warner 52 :04 Do you think now the the one for one model will work with made for or that there’s any kind of giving program that will that will stand out in a world where it feels like everybody’s got a given program?

Blake Mycoskie 52 :16 Yeah, I don’t think we know we’re not really using a giving program per se to market made for but we do have a very important program that we committed to called made for everyone where we never wanted price to be a deterrent for someone to do the program. And so we have a very generous scholarship program where anyone can apply and we give scholarships, everything from, you know, completely free to, all you have to do is pay for the shipping to, you know, 25 or 50% off. And so we’ve had a lot of people take us up on that if someone’s listening right now and they’re like, gosh, I’m really in a rut. I really could use something like this, but I’m also really financially struggling because of what’s happened, you know, in the last couple months with COVID-19, then definitely go to the website. Click on the made for everyone tab and apply for a scholarship because it’s something that we’re really proud of. And that’s our way of innocence, creating a business that helps people but also doesn’t exclude people who can’t afford it. I thought you’re gonna send them to what’s the URL that you guys created? You created a URL to give people some discount off of the program. Do you remember what the discount is? And I think the Yeah, it’s 20% off the program. And really, I just got information from Casey, you just go to made for calm and when you check out, you just type in mf mixergy and you get 20% off. Got it.

Andrew Warner 53 :36 The thing that I remember about us is when we were living in LA, I guess it’s been about a decade ago, maybe a little more. My wife organized an event for TOMS shoes. What are you organizing an event for a shoe company for? She did she just believed in what you were doing at the time was just radical and she was she gravitated towards that model. To this day, I texted her I said I’m about to talk to the founder. Tom’s what was the event that you were going to choose? You’re putting me on the spot and taking care of the kids. I don’t remember but I do know was for Tom’s I organized it. I thought wow, this is such an amazing brand that she just organized something she remembers the brand more even than the things she organized. And then since then I have to say that was when she was kind of when she was volunteering and she was exploring this whole model. She has then gone on to help for profit companies here in Silicon Valley in San Francisco with their nonprofit mission. So she ran Yahoo for good for a few years. She’s now running pager duty.org I think no one who’s not a debt in DevOps understands what pager duty is. But they’re a well known company that I got to watch go go public on the New York Stock Exchange, and they are now trying to do good in the world too. And I feel like this model that you innovated beyond the the direct numbers that we could attribute to you the eyesight that you’ve helped people with the shoes you’ve given me by feel like you’ve created a model for other businesses.

Blake Mycoskie 54 :59 I mean, no, it’s I mean, to me that is, you know, that is one of the things I’m most proud of is all the companies that I’ve seen, you know, follow suit, whether it’s just having a mission that is connected to helping people or the planet or one for one model. And I think, you know, there’s very few entrepreneurs today that go in and launch a company without considering how they’re going to have impact with their success and their revenue. And I think, you know, there’s been a lot of amazing companies in this space and I think that it’s the way of the future I don’t think it’ll ever go back because ultimately, customers have so much choice now more than ever, of the companies they support and they want to feel good about the companies that they support and that’s how you can build that connection with your customer.

Andrew Warner 55 :48 When I dig about how I should never go to made for calm, it’s actually get made for calm, I should never go there when I’m talking to someone because it’s just so beautifully built. Like look at this frickin thing my kid is i was i was prepping for it. This conversation this morning, watch me scroll and do the this this part right here where the box opens up Isn’t that great? Like

Blake Mycoskie 56 :08 how many times you do that over and over, we’ve got a lot of time. I mean you’re making it’s so funny because you know the difference between starting and company when you have nothing and starting a company, when you have a lot of resources. It’s just the amount of time it takes like, because when you don’t have any money and you have to start a company, like we went from literally having the idea for Tom’s I had the idea on a farm in Argentina, in February, into February, and I sold my first pair of shoes on Cinco de Mayo, okay, so March, April, May two and a half months later, I go from an idea on a farm to selling a shoe on a website. Okay, made four, we spent two and a half years. A lot of it was because we had to do a lot of work with scientists to really prove that these things would work. But then just building everything just takes so much more time. Because you’re, you know, you have the resources and you want it to be perfect. And so I would say, I appreciate the compliment on the website. And there’s a lot of hard work that went into it. But to entrepreneurs that are out there, it’s kind of like you said earlier with your sponsor, like it’s a sketch, you know, and sometimes a sketch is better than trying to make something perfect, because you’re going to get feedback and you’re learn and there’s already things on the website, we want to change. So it’s really funny that you brought that up.

Andrew Warner 57 :30 The website for people who want to go check it out for themselves is get made for.com. I just think your stuff just looks beautiful. And I understand the model. And I understand that in a world where everyone is coming at us digitally that you’re coming at us at with analog, they’re coming at us with it’s not just even when I see the hourglass, not just an hourglass that you physically hold your hand, it looks like something from I don’t know the MoMA or someone’s grandfather’s desk, right?

Blake Mycoskie 57 :56 Like Yeah, we I mean that’s, I give the credit. It my my partner there Pat like he is so fixated on just quality and and in detail and every single tool we design is like a piece of art. I mean like you know, here’s so this is like the water bottle here and you can see like, I mean it’s beautiful glass, bamboo it’s got the beads to keep track every time you drink a bottle.

Andrew Warner 58 :24 That’s how it keeps track of it. I thought maybe you had a digital counter I know there’s no all analog bead.

Blake Mycoskie 58 :29 Yeah, little beads that you move and there’s a there’s actually some real neuroscience behind the kind of serotonin release that you get when you move a bead. Like the physical tactile moving of it of like I just finished a bottle, I got to move a bead. There’s real science behind that what’s happening in your brain when that happens. So if it was a digital, you know tracker wouldn’t have near the same impact.

Andrew Warner 58 :53 I noticed that I noticed as I travel around the world, no matter what culture I went to, they seem to have some kind of beads either on their hands or in their pocket. It’s right are just trying to have it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. All right. It’s I wish I could just say made for calm but some Spanish company has that it’s hard to

Unknown Speaker 59 :12 get made for. So yeah,

Andrew Warner 59 :14 it’s get made for calm go check them out. And I want to thank the two sponsors, the sponsor that we just talked about enlike into sketchpad. It’s, it’s Hostgator if you need a website hosted go to hostgator.com slash mixergy if you’re with a hosting company, and you want to cut costs an easy way to cut costs right now. Hostgator comm slash mixergy And finally, now that this podcast is over, go check out my friend Russell Bronson’s podcast, it will give you a bunch of ideas, again, all related to through stories for how you can get more traffic, more people to pay attention what you’re doing. It’s called Traffic Secrets and whatever podcast app, you’re listening to me, it will be there. And if you’ve got a smart speaker like I do, you can play it there too. Like Congratulations, and thank you so much for being here.

Blake Mycoskie 59 :54 Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s really fun talking today. Bye. Bye, everyone.

Transcribed by https ://otter.ai

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O.j. simpson's fbi file released, agents studied italian shoe at length, o.j. simpson fbi file released ... feds deeply studied italian shoe.

O.J. Simpson 's FBI file just got released -- and right off the bat, what stands out is the fact agents went to excruciating lengths to study the shoeprint found at the murder scene.

The feds dumped their records on the late O.J. Friday -- and there's dozens of documents within it ... most of which pertain to the infamous 1994 murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson ... for which O.J. was the prime suspect and put on trial, only to be acquitted.

As we all know, there was a shoeprint left in the ground that was matched up to a Bruno Magli shoe -- something FBI agents testified about at the time ... but the process of examining it is now being shown in full through this file -- and you can tell they dove in.

The feds actually flew to Italy to analyze replica shoes -- and based on the photos they've attached to the file ... you'll see they were well into the weeds on measurements/forensics.

Because the murderer was determined to have been wearing that type of shoe on that fateful night -- which was incredibly rare -- FBI agents were cross-referencing the soles of two types of models of the BM shoe that were sold in the U.S. at the time ... and it's intense.

The FBI compiled a comprehensive list of all of Bruno Magli's stores in the States ... and you can see they were dissecting shoeprints to compare what had been found at the murder site.

In the end ... the feds testified that O.J.'s shoe size matched up with the print found -- and it was considered a key piece of evidence that many felt implicated O.J. in the crime. However, as we all know, the jury didn't buy it ... and they found him not guilty of the murders.

Now that the 30-year anniversary is approaching, it's interesting the feds are dropping his file. O.J. died earlier this year from prostate cancer.

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