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Blake Mycoskie

Founder, Toms

The social entrepreneur pioneered the ‘one for one’ giving model with his footwear start-up, which donates shoes to needy children.

Biography

Since founding ethical footwear company Toms, Chief Executive Blake Mycoskie has donated over ten million pairs of shoes to children in need through an innovative ‘One for One’ campaign that has received widespread recognition and a dedicated global following. In 2014, Mycoskie sold a 50 percent stake in the business to Bain Capital, which valued the company at an estimated $625 million. 

The for-profit company launched in 2006 and has since extended its product range to include eyewear, providing essential eyecare for each pair of eyewear sold. In 2018, more than 86 million pairs of shoes had been donated to children. A pioneer of social entrepreneurship, Mycoskie’s philanthropy and business model earned him the 2009 Award of Corporate Excellence by then US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

The inspiration for Toms came when Mycoskie was touring around Argentina in early 2006, following a day spent volunteering at a local non-profit organisation in Buenos Aires. Working from a traditional Argentinean slip-on shoe, Mycoskie built a prototype and set an initial goal to donate shoes to 250 children by selling stock in small local boutiques and stores in Los Angeles. By 2010, shoe sales had reached over 1 million pairs and they were stocked in all major retailers. Despite eschewing traditional forms of advertising, Toms also quickly garnered a strong fan following, currently boasting nearly 3 million followers on social media sites.

A serial entrepreneur, Mycoskie established his first business in the mid '90s with EZ Laundry, a door-to-door campus laundry service for students, as a freshman at Southern Methodist University. Following his graduation, Mycoskie relocated to Nashville in 1999 where, inspired by the booming billboard industry, he set up his own outdoor media company, Mycoskie Media, securing prominent billboards around the city.

In 2002, having sold the business to industry giant Clear Channel, Mycoskie took part in the reality TV show "The Amazing Race" with his sister Paige, finishing just shy of winning the grand prize of $1 million. Mycoskie pooled his resources with his sister to launch "Reality 24/7", an all-access TV channel providing non-stop coverage of reality TV shows. The duo had secured over $2 million in funding and signed up contestants for promotional shoots when media mogul Rupert Murdoch launched Fox Reality Channel, causing Mycoskie to lose prime advertisers.

Actively engaged with NGOs and a frequent guest at global conferences on philanthropy, Mycoskie also plays a pivotal role in promoting social entrepreneurship start-ups. Along with providing one book for each purchased copy of his first book, Start Something That Matters, Mycoskie also offered 50 percent of royalties to provide grants for up-and-coming businesses, increasing the donation to 100 percent in 2012. In November 2018, Mycoskie announced on the Jimmy Fallon Show that Toms would "evolve our giving model" to give "considerable resources [...] to issues of our time," starting with donating $5 million to organisations seeking to end gun violence — the largest corporate gift to end gun violence in the history of the US. 

Career

Toms

Toms

Founder

2006 - Present

Santa Monica, California

Reality Central

Reality Central

2003 - 2006

Mycoskie Media

Mycoskie Media

Founder

1999 - 2003

Nashville, United States

Education

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Vital Statistics

Born
26 August 1976
Nationality

United States

Location
United States
Member since
2013

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The people shaping the global fashion industry, curated by the editors of The Business of Fashion, based on nominations and on-the-ground intelligence from around the world.