Entrepreneur, philanthropist and creator of TOMS shoes, Blake Mycoskie was welcomed to Oakland University on April 5 by the Student Life Lecture Board, as part of the SLLB lecture series to more than a thousands, students, volunteers and community members.

“For me, having the opportunity to speak to students allows me to connect with some of the greatest minds out there,” Mycoskie said. “It gives me the chance to get reenergized about the mission of TOMS as well as share our story and hopefully inspire others.”

TOMS has become famous for their “One for One” business model, in which TOMS gives one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes sold.

Mycoskie spent the first part of his lecture speaking on the early days of TOMS.

The beginning

Before TOMS, Mycoskie was working on producing Driver’s Education software that would allow students to learn how to drive through the computer program.

Mycoskie explained to the crowd that after working long hours on the software project for several months, he told his partners he needed to take some time off. With the time off, he decided to return to Argentina, a country Mycoskie had visited while on ABC’s hit show, “The Amazing Race.”

While he was on the race, Mycoskie explained he didn’t get to experience the culture of the places he visited, which compelled him to return to Argentina.

During Mycoskie’s trip to Argentina, he met a coupe in a café who were also visiting the area. When he asked them what they were doing in Argentina, he was told they were there for a shoe drive.

During the shoe drive Mycoskie learned a group of people would travel around the wealthy areas of Argentina, collecting gently used shoes to give to children in poor villages around the country. Because of this experience, Mycoskie was compelled to give children in need shoes.

Mycoskie thought that it would be a great idea to start a for-profit company that would give a portion of the product it sold to people in need.

With the help of some friends Mycoskie had made in Argentina, he hand-assembled 250 pairs of shoes in three weeks, put them in a couple duffle bags and flew back to Los Angeles, where Mycoskie was living.

After three weeks of trying in vein to sell his shoes to various retailers around L.A., one store owner bought the shoes and displayed them in the front of the store along with a picture and the story of Mycoskie’s One for One business model.

TOMS breaks through

Noted Fashion writer Booth Moore wrote a story about Mycoskie and TOMS after seeing the shoes in the retail store.

Mycoskie explained that after Moore’s story appeared in the L.A. Times, the company took off.

By 2 p.m.  on the day the story was published, Mycoskie had received 2,200 orders on TOMS website.

Mycoskie only had 130 pairs of shoes in his apartment and to fill the order, Mycoskie headed back to Argentina. He once again enlisted the help of the friends he had made on his previous visit and got to work.

Mycoskie returned to L.A. with the shoes necessary to fill the 2,200 orders and ended up selling 10,000 pairs of shoes their first summer in the business.

Sticking to his “One for One” business model, Mycoskie stayed true to his word and 16 of his friends, family and co-workers boarded a plane bound for Argentina to give away shoes to under privileged children and families.

For two weeks, the group went around to various villages giving away shoes.

Mycoskie said the turning point in his life came when he saw his mother, in the corner of a school where they were giving shows away, cleaning the feet of children who did not have shoes, and then giving them a new pair of TOMS.

Upon returning to L.A., Mycoskie decided he had wanted to focus on TOMS full time and agreed to be bought out of his share of the drivers education software company he had helped found.

With the money Mycoskie received from the buy out, he invested in factories and personal to produce TOMS shoes more effectively.

Mycoskie explained that TOMS has stayed true to the message through all of the success and has not bowed to the wishes of any advertisers or retailers.

TOMS expands

In June 2011, Mycoskie launched TOMS Eyewear, which follows the same “One for One” business model as their shoes.

“With every pair you purchase, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need, through medical treatment, prescription lenses or sight-saving surgery,” Mycoskie said in an interview with The Oakland Post.

“We started by helping to give sight to people in need through medical treatment, prescription glasses or sight-saving surgery in three countries, Cambodia, Nepal and Tibet,” he said. “Because of the success made possible through our loyal supporters we have recently announced that we are now expanding our giving into six more countries, including the U.S., Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Guatemala and Ethiopia.”

Mycoskie’s message

When you incorporate giving into what you do, Mycoskie said you attract people who want to help you.

“It is simply amazing what Mycoskie was able to accomplish with TOMS in the time he did it in,” Alisha Shelton, a student, said.

Mycoskie said he hopes his story inspires others to create a story of their own, which involves making a difference.

“It was very inspiration hearing how Mycoskie developed a company like TOMS in five months,” said OU junior Rachel Jay.

The future

“Right now we are concentrating on eyewear and shoes, but also keeping our eyes out to other needs that we can address in the future,” Mycoskie said.

“There are many moments throughout the history of TOMS, where I do take a step back to soak everything in and I am humbled by what we’ve accomplished so far,” Mycoskie said. “However, with every triumph we make, I am already thinking about what we can do next, how we can do things better, what need we can address next, how we can make even more change.”