In 2006, while travelling in Argentina, young
entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie encountered children too
poor to afford shoes, who developed injuries on their
feet that often led to serious health problems. Blake
knew he wanted to help, but rather than start a charity,
he went against conventional wisdom and created a for
profit business to help the children who he met. With
the help of a local shoemaker, Blake struck out to merge
activism and fashion in the form of a local canvas shoe
worn by farmers and gauchos alike, called the alpargata.
Blake called his creation TOMS Shoes (which stands for
''Tomorrow's Shoes'') and promised to give a pair of new
shoes to a child in need for every pair that he sold.
Starting with only two hundred pairs of handmade shoes,
optimism, and entrepreneurial charisma, Blake
successfully launched TOMS into the high fashion world.
They can now be seen adorning the feet of celebrities
such as Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson, and Tobey
Maguire. Blake's mission is to prove that you can
achieve financial success and make the world a better
place at the same time.In this book, he shares the six
counterintuitive principles that have guided the growth
of TOMS for the past three years: Make business personal
Be resourceful without resources Reverse retirement Keep
it simple Stay humble Give more, advertise less The
result is an inspiring account of a young man whose
entrepreneurial spirit was able to affect change in the
world, and a call to others to be inspired to do the
same. As part of the One for One initiative, Random
House will provide a new book to a child in need with
every copy of Start Something That Matters
purchased. |
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