By: Maureen Corbett
To continue my blog series that follows professionals who
achieved success with a liberal arts degree before turning 30, I’m going to point
out a common thread between all these individuals. The past several blog posts
have all featured driven people who can’t seem to keep their talents confined
to one industry. I’ve featured actors who moonlight as rappers, government
officials with TV talk shows, and an advertising agent whose passion lies with
art and design. Today’s successful individual is no different. His name is
Blake Mycoskie, but you know him as the creator of TOM shoes. Despite the fact
that he has worked for and even founded a variety of companies during his young life, Mycoskie
never fails to keep his passion for helping others at the heart of his work.
Mycoskie began his career as a dual major in philosophy and
business at Southern Methodist University in Texas. After he graduated, Mycoskie
launched his first successful business, EZ Laundry, in 1995. The company
originally targeted SMU students who had no access to on-campus laundry or
dry-cleaning services, but grew to eventually employ over 40 people, expanded
to three universities, and generated nearly $1 million in sales.
After he sold EZ Laundry, Mycoskie gained experience in a
variety of areas. Between 1999 and 2005 he founded an outdoor billboard company
called Mycoskie Media, co-founded the cable network Reality Central, helped
launch the driver’s education website DriversEdDirect, and was a contestant on
the show The Amazing Race. Then in
2006 at age 30, Mycoskie started the organization Shoes For a Better Tomorrow,
which was later renamed to TOMS. Since its beginning TOMS was an immediate success. Mycoskie was inspired to create TOMS because
of the poverty he witnessed in Argentina during The Amazing Race, and was one of the first professionals to engage
in a newly discovered business practice called social entrepreneurism. This for profit company operates on the one-for-one
business model: for every pair of shoes sold, TOMS donates a pair to children
in need. Today, TOMS has donated over 10 million shoes and operates globally in
over 1,000 stores.
For Mycoskie, even the success of TOMS shoes can’t make him
stop his attempt to serve others. He has since launched TOMS eyewear which
operates in the same fashion as TOMS shoes, and has also recently published his
first book Start Something That Matters.
For those students who want a career path that allows them to help others,
Mycoskie is an excellent role model who shows that creativity and determination
can get you anywhere in life.
Sources:
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