When Blake Mycoskie's new company, TOMS, was featured in the Los Angeles Times, 2,200 pairs of his revolutionary shoes sold the day the story was published. There was just one problem: he only had one staff member - himself - and 140 pairs of shoes at company headquarters - his apartment.
Mycoskie shared this anecdote and many more in front of an estimated 3,500 Thursday night as the third installment - following David Brooks and Laura Bush - of UB's Distinguished Speaker Series.
Mycoskie was 30 years old when he needed a break from his job. He was burnt out after starting an online driver's ed company - he knows how ridiculous it sounds - and convinced his business partners to let him take a one-month vacation. That month turned into seven weeks, and his vacation in Argentina turned into TOMS Shoes.
He overheard a few strangers who spoke English, a rare trait in Argentina, at a coffee shop near the end of his designated four-week stay. Those strangers were there on a service trip, and Mycoskie - bored with experimenting with tango, trying to learn to play polo and sipping red wine - asked if he could tag along.
"Before I know it, I'm in a van with a bunch of strangers going to give shoes to kids who've never had them," Mycoskie said.
You buy a pair (averaging around $55); he gives a pair to a child in need of shoes. It's that simple. Mycoskie knew the business could sustain itself.
"Every single woman in my life spent a lot of money on shoes," he said.
He discussed how he survived the overwhelming first summer of business (TOMS sold over 10,000 pairs when Mycoskie's goal was 250) with just three workers - unpaid college interns - and how he burst into a shoe shop in Argentina to prepare his first batch and yelled, in Spanish, "I need many shoes quickly!"
He said there are three lessons he likes to share with college students:
First, "giving feels good and it is good for business." He said everything you give comes back to you because people are attracted to selflessness, and nothing could be better for your personal brand.
Second, CEOs are looking to hire young people engaged in social causes who have true passion and know how to communicate with other young people.
And third, business is all about meeting great partners, and when you're working for something bigger than yourself, those partners will want to see you succeed.
Mycoskie finished his speech saying: "If we all incorporate more giving, the world will be a better place."
TOMS Shoes sold its one-millionth pair in September. The company launched a new initiative - one pair of prescription glasses, sight-saving surgery or medical treatment for each pair of sunglasses sold - in June and had already given away 100,000 pairs by August.
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