I met one of the most inspiring people i've ever met tonight and at the same time saw God tell a funny story to mankind. Who do you know that can cure a disease with a shoe? Tonight I met a guy that God enabled to do just that.
His name is Blake Mycoskie and tonight a documentary about his company debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival which Grant (via a friend of the family who knows Blake-Blake actually made a guest appearance at Grant's 13th birthday party, he was on the Amazing Race) got us tickets to. Anyway, Blake created a company called TOMs. TOMs is a company that makes shoes, but for each pair of shoes it sells it donate a pair to a child in need.
Now, the story in itself is interesting. A guy who really didn't know much about business went on the Amazing Race and saw a lot of people without shoes and wanted to change that. In fact, he even took the shoes off of his feet and gave it to a man he met along the way, running the rest of his day without them. This ordinary guy started a company that sold 10,000 shoes its first year, 50,000 in the next, and 200,000 in its third year. He has donated 260,000 pairs of shoes to children in need. Next year they head to Ethiopia where they are attempting to eradicate a disease. With some profits from the shoes, they will buy antibiotics. Shoes themselves will remove the leading cause of the disease. I don't know the exact name of the disease, i'll google it later, but I have yet to get to the best part of the story.
So to recap, thus far we have an ordinary man who went on a reality t.v. show and was inspired to give shoes to the world. This man with no prior experience was able to start a huge company. As his documentary debuted at the film festival I watched as he modestly talked about his company. Thus far I think he's a pretty cool guy and i'm inspired by his work, but it wasn't until afterward that I really decided I liked him. There was a Q and A session with the directors after the films. Someone asked him what the key to success. was He answered that we would have to ask God. Afterward I heard him talking to two people from Texas (not us) who had asked him if he was religious. He is one of the most friendly men I have ever met and I feel like I gained something out of just meeting him for a few moments-maybe its inspiration?
So there you have it. God took an ordinary guy, inspired him, blessed his business, and used a documentary to spread his word. He's using shoes to cure a disease. Not only that, but he's helping thousands of his children along the way. I thought you all might be interested. I am fully endorsing this company having personally met the man and am going to try and go on a shoe drop sometime next fall.
The website is http://www.tomsshoes.com/. I will be buying baby some.
The website is http://www.tomsshoes.com/. I will be buying baby some.
-Kato
