Tom's Shoes, a 3-year old company started by serial entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, is based on a simple, yet extremely sustainable idea: for every pair of shoes purchased, Tom's donates a pair to a child in need.To date, the company has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes away and plans to give away a whopping 300,000 this year alone. Their goals include protecting the feet of children around the world, especially in places where walking is the primary mode of transportation, but also eradicating the deforming foot disease podoconiosis in Ethiopia.
Where did the idea come from? In 2003, he and his sister were contestants on "The Amazing Race" and a few years later, they revisited some of the places from the show. When they visited Argentina and saw aid workers distributing shoes that didn't fit the recipients, he decided to do something about it. In addition to producing inexpensive and fashionable espadrilles, they have created a strong network of supporters on college campuses, giving top members free trips to drop off shoes. The site is also best-in-class with great use of video and real-time chat-driven customer support.
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