Well in this case it’s actually one million plus pairs of shoes. And that’s just one of the things that put TOMS founder, and chief shoe-giver, Blake Mycoskie, lands on the list of TrustedCEOS.com most trusted and socially responsible CEOs.
TOMS is one of the best known companies that has made social responsibility its by-word. While it’s a for profit company, giving and charity are the company’s lifeblood.
Mycoskie, pioneered a new business model—the One for One model. We all know how it worked: You buy one pair of TOMS shoes (He says it stands for “tomorrow,” but couldn’t fit it in the spot on the shoe where he needed to put it), and the company donates a pair of shoes to needy people in far-flung corners of the world.
He created a revolution in the business world with his new idea—born from a trip to Argentina. It’s one that other companies such as Smile Squared and Blanket America have copied. TOMS has even inspired the creation of TOMS clubs on college campuses across the nation, which are dedicated to volunteerism and social entrepreneurship.
TOMS wasn’t Blake’s first business. By the time he started TOMS, he’d started, built and sold five different companies, including a laundry service back in his college days. Blake also had a run on the NBC show, the Amazing Race with his sister Paige. They came within a few minutes of winning the $1 million prize money.
One of the hallmarks of a winner and true leader is to recognize when a mistake has been made and correct it. It was discovered that TOMS’ efforts at putting shoes on people in the world’s underprivileged areas was actually having an adverse affect on local businesses, particularly cobblers. Once they learned this, adjustments were made, and now TOMS works to source the shoes with local producers and businesses. With this TOMS not only provides shoes for the poor, but also is helping the local economies by creating jobs.
Another hallmark of a true leader is to always be looking for new ways to grow and change, never being content to rest on the successes of yesterday.
TOMS has grown their One-to-One giving into many different areas.
After the shoes, Mycoskie added TOMS Roasting Co. Coffee. For every bag of TOMS Roasting Co. Coffee sold the company gives 140 liters of water—one week’s worth of water—to a person in need. Water is the foundation of life, and almost 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to clean water. By providing the water to people in the same regions where they source their coffee beans, TOMS is not only helping the local economies by providing jobs but also giving a definite boost to health and hygiene.
Then came TOMS eyewear. The purchase of TOMS sunglasses—priced around $150 a pair—brings needed vision care to people in 13 countries. This care comes in the form of prescription eye glasses, medical treatment (sometimes it’s as simple as getting the just the right eyes drops or medicine to eliminate inflammation), or sight-saving surgery.
And then they added bags to the catalog. With the purchase of every TOMS bag, the company donates a birth kit to help in the sanitary delivery of children. The kit includes a pad, sterile gloves and sterile equipment to help deliver babies. Post partum infection is one of the leading causes of death of newborns as well as their mothers. The company touts having helped save the lives of over 25,000 newborns and their mothers.
From their inception, TOMS has been passionate in finding others who wanted to join them in their mission to use the economic engine of capitalism to change the world and lift and bless the lives of others around the world.
To do this, TOMS has take two significant steps.
One of these was to start TOMS Campus Clubs. These were born when Mycoskie and company toured US colleges in a van to spread the word. They found so many students interested in joining the cause to help spread the word and find ways to share and enrich lives throughout the world, TOMS Campus Clubs were born. These clubs help students find new ways to give and focus on service-minded entrepreneurship.
And then there is the TOMS Social Entrepreneurship Fund. It’s a for-profit business that looks to help new businesses get started. These businesses must be for-profit ventures that have a direct social mission to change the world, starting in their own little corner of it.
And here at home, TOMS is working to help eliminate bullying in schools.
As Mycoskie has expanded his vision and reach, he and TOMS have partnered with more than 100 giving partners in over 70 countries around the world. Blake and his team have certainly changed the world for the better.