Being a guest on Donny Deutsch’s CNBC show “The Entrepreneurs,” was an incredible honor. Since the TOMS Shoes segment first aired, I have been overwhelmed by all of the kind words and well wishes. If you missed it, “The Entrepreneurs” repeats on Sunday, April 5th at 10pm ET and Friday, April 10th at 1pm ET.
I want to share an email I got from a TOMS Shoes supporter and friend. It reminds me that not only are we making a huge difference in the lives of children around the world, but we’re making a huge impact on ourselves, our families and friends, and how we decide to live our life – to the fullest.
From: Rick Liebling
Date: April 2, 2009 7:04:04 PM PDT
To: Blake Mycoskie
Subject: Re: Blake from TOMS
Blake,
The CNBC piece was terrific. I watched it with my 10-year old son and there was more for him to learn in that 30 minutes of TV than he’ll get in a year of school.
The big takeaway for me: You’re not in the shoe business, you’re in the helping people business. You just choose to do that by giving away shoes. If you were in the shoe business you would never have created TOMS. Maybe ten years from now TOMS shoes doesn’t work anymore. You’ll still be in the helping people business.
I told my son about the Element shoes (he loves skateboarding) and the Rugby shoes (he loves skull & crossbones) and he desperately wants a pair. I realized that buying it for him would be the wrong thing to do, he wouldn’t learn the real purpose of TOMS. I’m going to make him earn the money to buy them for himself so that he can know that he helped someone else. That’s more important than the shoes, and it will last a lot longer.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about your Top Secret plans, the suspense is killing me!
Best wishes,
Rick Liebling
http://twitter.com/eyecube
http://eyecube.wordpress.com/
Insight, Innovation & Ideas
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Tags: CNBC · Donny Deutsch · The Entreneurs · toms shoes
Categories: Chief Shoe Giver1 Comment
1 response so far ↓
Blake,
I too was impressed by the CNBC piece. I will be on my way to Nordstrom this weekend to pick up my first pair.
Not too long ago, I helped participate in a shoe drive for the homeless. As a foot specialist and surgeon, I know first hand how important providing shoes for those in need can be especially for people with diabetes, poor circulation, etc.
Have you ever considered letting a foot specialist assist in one of your shoe give-aways? Providing some basic instruction on foot care and possibly even setting up a mobile foot clinic to provide basic free care for those in need might complement your current mission.
Please feel free to contact me at any time if I can be of any help and keep up the great work!
Kind regards,
Dr. Adam Shapiro
Fellow American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
Diplomate American Board of Podiatric Surgeons