TOMS: Changing the world one step at a time

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TOMS

Can a business really improve lives? Does there always have to be a divide between “doing good” and being profitable? TOMS Shoes seems to have the answer: for-profit charity. Full Frame Contributor, Sandra Hughes, went inside TOMS to explore how erasing the line between profit and philanthropy has enriched the lives of the company’s employees, consumers, and those in need.

TOMS: Changing the world one step at a time

Can a business really improve lives? Does there always have to be a divide between “doing good” and being profitable? TOMS Shoes seems to have the answer: for-profit charity. Full Frame Contributor, Sandra Hughes, went inside TOMS to explore how erasing the line between profit and philanthropy has enriched the lives of the company’s employees, consumers, and those in need.

Created in 2006, TOMS was one of the first companies to introduce the one-for-one business model — a promise that for every pair of shoes sold, a new pair of shoes would be donated to a child in need. Through this model, TOMS has proven that, like shoes, business and philanthropy can make a perfect pair.

Hughes met TOMS’ Creative Director, Tracy Feith, who has a unique, and sometimes daunting, responsibility – creating shoes that will sell in trendy stores and also be given away in impoverished communities.

“It’s actually a huge undertaking in not only the giving of the shoes, but the manufacturing of the shoes because you are manufacturing shoes that are climate-appropriate,” Feith said.  “TOMS is earthy, TOMS has its own earthy, hand-made quality.”

The company’s unprecedented success in uniting charity and entrepreneurship has transformed the simple idea of a one-for-one business model into a powerful global movement.

Today, TOMS has given the gift of shoes to more than 10 million children and recently applied their business model to other products, including eyeglasses.

On her visit, Hughes also learned that one of the most remarkable opportunities that TOMS’ employees receive is a chance to go on a shoe giveaway every year.

Follow TOMS on Twitter @TOMS