Blake Mycoskie TOPICS: Motivation Life Balance Entrepreneurship Partnering Leadership FEE CATEGORY:* 20.0k to 25.0k TRAVELS FROM: California Video Profile Program Outlines Request This Speaker

Blake Mycoskie: Profile

Blake Mycoskie redefines the idea of walking in someone else’s shoes. Since he founded TOMS Shoes for Tomorrow in 2006, he has donated more than 10,000 pairs of Argentine-style alpargatas to impoverished children in developing nations, from Argentina to South Africa. He has been featured in the pages of Vogue and lauded by legendary fashionista Karl Lagerfeld. And former President Bill Clinton personally tapped Mycoskie to be a partner of the Clinton Global Initiative, which unites world and business leaders from a variety of backgrounds to channel the capacities of individuals and organizations to end poverty and unify the global community. Not a bad start for a young entrepreneur who visited Buenos Aires as a volunteer and returned to the United States as an entrepreneur whose business grew from three interns and a loft office in Venice Beach, California, to more than 40 employees and 600 stores around the world.

Mycoskie speaks enthusiastically about his journey into the heart of the third world and to the hearts of consumers who participate in his effort to provide shoes for those without. His “one for one” program—through which he donates one pair of alpargatas to a shoeless child for every pair sold—is a touchstone of his presentation. A self-described entrepreneurial missionary, Mycoskie shares how his commercial inspirations feed his philanthropic aspirations with audiences great and small, from international corporations, to nonprofit organizations and college students looking for direction and inspiration.

Before his travels led him to the fashion industry, Mycoskie and his sister were contestants on the CBS reality show The Amazing Race, which is a televised scavenger hunt around the world. They came within four minutes of winning the $1,000,000 prize.

While in college, he started a pre-paid laundry business and owned an outdoor advertising firm in Nashville, Tennessee. He later assisted in the creation of DriversEdDirect, a driving school featuring eco-friendly cars, personable instructors, and a step-by-step, organized curriculum.

Then he trekked to Argentina where his life was forever changed. He compromised his well-paying job to start TOMS Shoes for Tomorrow there, where he was motivated to give a pair away for every one sold. After countless hours meeting with Argentine shoemakers and driving down dirt roads with potholes the size of watermelons, he crammed duffle bags with shoes for protecting the feet of hundreds of children whose livelihoods depend on walking along polluted, disease-ridden streets. As Mycoskie explains it, these efforts give the underprivileged a leg-up in the world, and provide them with necessary tools to safely pursue their own goals each day, one step at a time. His presentations are high-impact lessons on building a startup company, testaments to the human spirit, and proof that businesses can be good community citizens.

* Please note that while this speaker's specific fee falls within the range posted at the top of this page (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change without notice. Also note that most celebrity keynotes begin in the $25,000 and up range (most list "Contact for Fee Schedule"). For current fee information or international event fees, please contact your Speakers Platform representative.