Toms Shoes is Now Toms One for One Company
I heart Toms. I love the messaging. I love the shoes (so COMFY – perfect for pregnant feet). I love the purpose and cause. Toms one for one movement is getting bigger.
Read: Toms vs. Skechers
At SXSW Interactive, Blake Mycoskie introduced the company is moving to a One for One company, no longer just a shoe company. After months of anticipation – today was the day. The big reveal on what Toms first One for One product would be.
And it’s SHADES! Well Toms Eyewear.
Toms shoes is now a one for one. Today, Toms Eyewear was introduced, the second one for one product.
The heart of the company continues to inspire me. Sure, they are overpriced. Just like the shoes, but they are cute, hip and stylish. If you can afford it – WHY NOT. Why not help someone else? If you can afford an expensive pair of sunglasses, make your money do more. By purchasing Toms Eyewear, you can save and help restore vision by purchasing this eyewear.
Interesting fact: In Nepal, 50% of the blind people are blind because of cataracts which can be cured thru a simple surgery.
“Why not stick to shoes?” a successful businessman asked me after hearing my announcement at SXSW. “You have such a great business and you are helping so many kids, why risk it by doing something else?” he added. Coming from a respected mentor, I had to pause and check my conviction. Luckily it was still there, for it was not a whim or spontaneous decision, but something I had been working toward for years.
TOMS started as a simple project to help get a small group of kids in Argentina new pairs of shoes in 2006. It was really just an idea without any case study or business model to rely on, and truth be told, I never imagined it would become what it is today. I simply wanted to help, and did not have the resources or the will to start a charity, nor did I believe being dependent on donors was the best way to insure the kids would continue to get the shoes they needed for school and their health. So I started a company with a One for One™ promise, and without any investors backing me, or the business community cheering me on, it was a risk — one that could have ended in a pretty public failure. Thanks to you, that was not our fate, and looking back now, that initial act of faith was the best and most meaningful decision of my life.
What Do you Think of