RE3EL STANCE

I tell ya, Blake Mycoskie makes this whole entrepreneurship thing look easy.  And, well, he makes this whole “changing the world” thing look easy too.  He started Toms Shoes back in 2006 and it has absolutely exploded. Now, I’m not a math whiz but I do know that 2008-2006 is 2 and that means that he has turned his little idea into quite a massive company in less than two years.  Sure, there are businesses out there that do that - mostly in the tech space - but it is decidedly rare.  To get a business flourishing in such a short amount of time takes passion, an idea whose time has come, a decent amount of luck and….most importantly….the ability to trust your gut.    Toms Shoes is truly an inspiring business.  Blake decides to head to Argentina to knock around.  He discovers this kind of shoe that many locals wear and also discovers that in the most poverty-stricken areas, many children can’t even afford a pair of shoes.  Never before having worked in the shoe business and never before really being an entrepreneur he instantly makes a decision.  He is going to have the local people in Argentina make shoes for his business.  He’s then going to sell his shoes to shops near his home in Venice, California.  And, for each pair of shoes he is going to sell, he is going to donate a pair to an impoverished community to end “shoelessness”.  Seems pretty straightforward - and, that’s why it’s brilliant.   You see, had Blake written a massive business plan, done focus groups and talked to a whole host of advisors about the right direction to go, he would still be trying to get the company off the ground.  Instead, in his gut, he knew there was a market and he knew he could make a difference.  From there, he didn’t hesitate a bit.  He was up and running almost immediately and continued to trust his gut each step of the way.  He trusted it when he decided to just ask his fashion forward friends which stores he should sell in rather than doing a full market analysis.  He trusted his gut when he decided that there were opportunities to sell these all over the world rather than just in the L.A. area.  And, now…he and his little idea has become a big idea…a world-changing idea.  An idea which has flourished into winning the “People’s Design Award”, gaining distribution in Urban Outfitters, Bloomingdale’s and a host of the trendiest shops in the U.S., Italy,  Japan, Korea, etc…So, what’s to be learned: 

1)  Your gut knows well: your gut listens to your life experience sometimes more than your head.  In other words, as you have grown you have distilled all of your experiences into patterns and those patterns have enabled you to know right from wrong, good from bad, big opportunity from bad opportunity.  So, trust it.

2)  Your gut is simple: When you get your mind too much into decisions you will complicate things.  Good businesses are simple businesses solving simple problems.  

3)  Your gut is fast: To succeed, you have to be fast.  You can’t over-analyze.  You have to make decisions quickly and move on them and your gut is a good guide in doing so.

4)  Your gut is smart: Even if you trust your gut and you make a wrong decision, it’s okay…Your gut will know quickly that you’ve made a wrong decision and you’ll be able to change and go quickly while your head is still trying to make it work.   

Mycoksie is an inspiration for so many reasons and Toms Shoes will continue to flourish, but only so long as he continues to trust his gut.