TOMS

“The first year in business, I want to say we did about 300,000. In the second year, we did about three million. And the third year, we did Like, fifteen million, and the fourth year we went to, like, sixty million.”

“The shoes were, frankly, not that good of quality. They didn't last as long as we had hoped they would.”

“So I did interview her, told her the story, you know, emailed her a picture of one of the shoes, and the next Sunday, it was like on the cover of the calendar section of the LA Times, and that day we sold 2200 pairs on the website.”

“It was like, okay, there's 250 kids in this village. I want to come back by Christmas and give them all a new pair of shoes. So I'm going to go sell these shoes, and I'm going to come back, and then we'll figure out what we're going to do. Like, it was not a b…”

“When it came time to put a tag on the shoe, we couldn't fit the word tomorrow's onto the tag, because the tag was really small on the heel, so we shortened the word tomorrow's to toms, and that's how the word toms came.”

“Back in 2014, Blake sold half of the company to a private equity group. Up until then, Tom's had never had a single investor.”

“Tom's has given away more than seventy million shoes in 70 countries around the world.”

“We went from basically from zero to four hundred and fifty million dollars in sales on an annual basis in, like, seven years.”

“Dependent on other people's donations, and what if they don't do it, and, you know, that doesn't seem like a very sustainable way to give these kids shoes, and then that led to, you know, well, what if there was a business, you know, instead of a charity and d…”

“But ultimately, back in 2000, I think it was, no, 12, actually, we made a pledge to manufacture as many shoes as we could in the countries that we give in, and today, we're manufacturing over 40% of our giving shoes in countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, India you…”

“No fashion company or shoe company had ever, like, given something away every time they sold it”

“That's, once again, dependent on other people's donations, and what if they don't do it, and, you know, that doesn't seem like a very sustainable way to give these kids shoes, and then that led to, you know, well, what if there was a business, you know, instea…”

“At that point, we were, I mean, we did the first year in business, I want to say we did about 300,000. In the second year, we did about three million. And the third year, we did Like, fifteen million, and the fourth year we went to, like, sixty million. Wow. I…”

“Without any work on our own, we just started seeing celebrities wearing these shoes, and they started getting photographed by the paparazzi, and then it started showing up in things like People Magazine, and Us Weekly”

“Back in 2000, I think it was, no, 12, actually, we made a pledge to manufacture as many shoes as we could in the countries that we give in, and today, we're manufacturing over 40% of our giving shoes in countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, India you know, lots of d…”

“No fashion company or shoe company had ever, like, given something away every time they sold it”

“By the way, Tom's has given away more than seventy million shoes in 70 countries around the world.”

“Back in 2014, Blake sold half of the company to a private equity group. Up until then, Tom's had never had a single investor.”

“And it was actually after about being down there for about three weeks when I met serendipitously a few women that were in a wine bar that were talking in English, which was nice, because most everyone was speaking Spanish, and I didn't understand most of what…”

“Yeah, I mean, in the early days, I think that's the primary driver of why people bought Toms. The shoes were, frankly, not that good a quality. They didn't last as long as we had hoped they would. I mean, you know, they were different, they were stylish, et ce…”

“When it came time to put a tag on the shoe, we couldn't fit the word tomorrows onto the tag, because the tag was really small on the heel, so we shortened the word tomorrows to toms, and that's how the word toms came.”

“And the next Sunday, it was like on the cover of the calendar section of the LA Times, and that day we sold 2200 pairs on the website. But I only had like 80 pairs in my apartment.”

“It was, I was inspired by Warby Parker, my classmates in school. I was inspired by Tom's shoes and I thought, you know, this is a way I can make a meaningful impact in the world.”

“Paige actually designed the logo for Blake's company, Tom's.”

“By the way, according to Paige's mom, Paige and her brother Blake started their respective companies on the very same day in 2006, February 26, to be exact, which also happens to be Paige's birthday.”