The New Movement = TOMS Shoes

On April 5, TOMS Club at TAMIU organized the "One Day without Shoes" event. The event created awareness amongst TAMIU students on the lack of shoes in certain countries. By walking barefoot around campus, students experienced and sent a message of the importance of having shoes to carry out daily activities.

The man whom Bill Clinton has called "the most interesting entrepreneur I've ever met" started his company almost by accident. In 2006, Blake Mycoskie took a trip to Argentina. While in Argentina, he met a group of Argentinean's who collected shoes for children who didn't own shoes. This idea inspired him to create a company that would later become more than successful at just selling shoes.

Shortly after founding the company, Mycoskie returned to Argentina to deliver shoes to the children who were the basis of his original inspiration.  As of 2010, TOMS, has donated over one million pairs of shoes in over 20 countries.

TOMS is short for Tomorrow's Shoes, and yes it is!  The shoe company has a simple mission, and that is: to give a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes sold.

At the SXSW Interactive Festival, Blake Mycoskieannounced the release of a new production on June 7,and he clarified that it won't be shoes!

Mycoskie, gave an afternoon keynote speech about the growth of TOMS and to set the stage for what's next. But Mycoskie also gave us some business lessons. His message to the crowd was that businesses must incorporate giving into their strategy. And, the reasons are simple:

-Customers become your greatest marketers; because they have a story to tell

-It's better for attracting and retaining employees, because people want to be part of something.

So, young entrepreneurs, that is a new strategy to think about!