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am unwilling to give up. But,

1:01

I will start over from scratch

1:03

as many times as it takes to

1:05

get where I want to be. You just want to make

1:08

sure you will get knocked down, but just make sure you

1:10

don't get knocked out. So,

1:12

your only choice should be, go focus on

1:14

what you can control. Hi

1:17

everyone and welcome to the Cara of Golden

1:19

show. Join me each

1:21

week for inspiring conversations with some

1:23

of the world's greatest leaders. We'll

1:26

talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs,

1:28

and really some of the

1:30

most interesting people of our

1:32

time. Can't wait to

1:34

get started. Let's

1:36

go. Hi

1:39

everyone, it's Cara Golden from the Cara

1:42

Golden show and I'm super thrilled to

1:44

have my next guest here. Nealey

1:46

Woodson-Powell, who is the founder

1:49

and CEO of Charleston Shoe

1:51

Company. And, Nealey started

1:53

her journey with a very simple

1:56

idea to create stylish comfortable shoes

1:58

that can take way longer. women

2:00

everywhere from the cobblestone

2:02

streets of Charleston to the

2:04

bustling cities around the world

2:07

through travels and so, so

2:09

comfortable, so beloved. I know you're

2:11

going to recognize them as soon

2:14

as you go online and

2:17

see them, or of course, go

2:19

to Charleston or maybe even find

2:21

them in various locations across the

2:23

country as they've grown since their

2:26

first store, which was launched 27

2:28

years ago. We're going

2:30

to get into that. The

2:32

unique features consist of

2:34

the treaded soles and

2:37

elastic straps, their washability,

2:39

the designs are terrific, so

2:42

much good about the Charleston

2:44

shoe company. So Neely's entrepreneurial

2:46

spirit though and dedication to

2:48

her craft have not only

2:50

revolutionized the way so

2:52

many entrepreneurs think about what

2:54

they should be doing next, but I

2:57

can't wait to hear more

2:59

about Neely's journey. So without

3:01

further ado, welcome Neely. Thank

3:04

you, Kara. We're here. Absolutely.

3:06

We're four times those apart,

3:09

right? Exactly. Exactly.

3:12

So, well, tell us a little bit

3:15

about where did this

3:17

all start? So 27 years ago, you

3:19

opened up a store. You

3:21

just briefly told me it actually wasn't

3:24

in Charleston. It was in Savannah. So

3:26

tell me another great city, by the way,

3:28

but tell me a little bit about where

3:30

did this interest come from and did you

3:32

think you were going to be an entrepreneur?

3:35

Oh, no. I mean, I didn't even know what

3:37

that meant at that time, right? I was

3:40

in college and I

3:43

was just making money to go

3:46

buy clothes or something, but I started this

3:50

27 years ago. I

3:53

grew up, My mother had

3:55

a furniture business and my dad had a resort

3:57

that they both built from the ground up. I

4:00

probably didn't know the word entrepreneur but

4:03

I was destined to do that as

4:05

most of us are that are entrepreneurs

4:07

on a really didn't have a choice

4:10

said it didn't look that way then

4:12

I am. I started going to Central

4:14

Mexico with my mom when she started

4:17

her furniture business and in college to

4:19

make extra money. I

4:21

met this cobbler in Mexico and

4:23

I would bring home the shoes

4:25

and they were so magically comfortable.

4:27

And when I go to furniture

4:30

markets with my mom I realized

4:32

you were all these women walking

4:34

around the markets wearing uncomfortable shoes

4:36

and. That was said

4:38

kind of turning point of how this

4:40

all started because I realized there was

4:43

a need you know in the nineties.

4:45

Comfort was a bad word right? I

4:47

mean you are wearing easy spirits. Tennis

4:49

shoes are very uncomfortable. season now we

4:52

all have been. yeah and because of

4:54

it. By. I.

4:57

I decided to start bringing the shoes to

4:59

market and selling him to these women that

5:01

were on their feet for ten hours a

5:04

day. and I still wanted to look stylish

5:06

and comfortable and professional. And so

5:08

I go to the furniture markets with

5:10

my mom in college and I. I

5:13

would make a disaster in her bid.

5:15

It was like finally basement. And here's

5:17

my mom, writing orders to Neiman Marcus

5:20

and trying to be professional and I'm

5:22

on the floor with all these women

5:24

making a scene and on. By the

5:26

time I got out of college, I

5:28

had over two hundred wholesale as hell.

5:30

So. I knew I was on to

5:33

something on I didn't make a dime

5:35

for ten years and I think that.

5:37

It was more of an obligation to

5:40

bring the she's to the market. Than.

5:42

Anything you know if I showed

5:44

up without the shoes the women

5:46

would go where the shoes and

5:48

so I it was it was

5:50

navigation from to create fine and

5:53

give these women something that they

5:55

were excited about and and the

5:57

journey continued for the next twelve

5:59

years. I went

6:01

back to school when I was thirty

6:03

one in Savannah. And. Dot

6:05

my daughter was a year old ah

6:08

took her halfway across the country and

6:10

I'm have opened my first store in

6:12

Savannah, Georgia. I'm in two thousand

6:14

and ten. So. While.

6:17

And it was not called the

6:19

Charleston Shoe Company. Know it wasn't

6:21

It was called Savannah Shoe Company

6:23

because. While. I was in

6:25

college going to classes with these. You.

6:28

Know late teenagers, early twenty year

6:31

olds and thirty one. they're making

6:33

like. Six. Cents

6:35

Blue Suede started.

6:38

You. Know fashionable trendy shoes and handzus

6:40

trying to figure out how to

6:42

make something practical in cute uncomfortable

6:44

for mothers on the go. in

6:46

and all this. and I realized

6:49

in Savannah that they were all

6:51

these tourists and they were all

6:53

of you know, Paula Deen getting

6:55

biscuits and buying coffee muffin pan

6:57

out to give them something more

6:59

fun than that, Right and fell.

7:02

I. Said. Well what about

7:04

the shoes? Let's make that a

7:06

souvenir. So I open the store

7:08

with all these designs and I

7:10

called it Savannah Shoe Company. And.

7:13

You. Know it was the perfect souvenir

7:15

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7:17

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7:19

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backslash Kara Golden to

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subscribe for just 50

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cents per week for your first

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year. That's terrific and did you keep that

12:32

store? I kept that

12:34

store. I still have it. It was

12:36

an interesting beginning because I thought all

12:38

these people are flocking down the street

12:41

to Paula Deen and

12:43

I had to intercept them somehow because

12:46

no one knew who I was. I mean I'm starting a

12:49

brand from scratch and

12:51

I come out of the store and I

12:53

decided to put on two different shoes and

12:55

stand on the street and

12:57

I figured either they're going

12:59

to think I'm totally crazy and come in the

13:01

store and feel sorry for me or they're going

13:03

to think I'm cute and lovable and buy shoes

13:06

anyway. Somehow I'm going to get a

13:08

customer out of this humble

13:11

act. So I did

13:13

and one by one these

13:15

women came in and it was

13:17

just magical how it all happened. These

13:19

women would come in, they'd fall in

13:22

love with the shoes. I knew if

13:24

I could get it on their feet

13:26

because the comfort was so amazing that

13:29

I would have a customer for life. But

13:32

what I didn't realize is that when

13:34

these women left they'd come back with

13:36

friends and come back with strangers that

13:39

they passed on the street or met

13:41

at a bar. One

13:43

time these two women walked down the

13:46

street and about three hours

13:48

later they come back with the entire

13:50

tour bus of women and

13:53

it was just it was awesome

13:55

because I was doing something different

13:57

that wasn't your normal retail. and

14:00

women were having fun. And

14:03

the momentum just kept going. It was like

14:05

shopping in your best friend's closet. So

14:09

how many skus did you launch with when

14:11

you first were opening that

14:13

store? I launched with about 16 skus. So

14:17

I had four styles

14:19

in four colors each. I'm

14:22

not gonna tell you how many skus I have now because

14:24

it's terrifying and it's the one

14:26

way I was sleeping. Inventory,

14:31

HR and inventory. Those are my, that's what

14:33

keeps me up at night. HR

14:35

and inventory. I totally

14:38

agree. So was it difficult

14:40

to get, I mean, obviously this was

14:43

very comfortable and that you talked a

14:45

little bit about that, but to get

14:47

the style right, to get comfort with

14:49

style, I bet

14:52

that's really challenging, right? And then

14:54

things are constantly changing too. What

14:57

people want and it's

14:59

just, how did you kind of, how

15:02

did you figure that out? I

15:04

mean, I think my, so I went back to

15:06

my original cobbler that I'd met in the 90s

15:10

and he was already a magician of

15:12

comfort. He's a fifth generation cobbler and

15:15

I knew he knew how to do that. But

15:19

my biggest thing was designing for women, right?

15:21

You know, when I started in the 90s,

15:24

the term shoe dog was a real thing.

15:27

There were men in the

15:29

shoe market and they had all their

15:31

appointments and they're in their suits. And

15:33

I come into these shoe markets and

15:36

I'm wearing two different shoes and some

15:38

crazy headpiece and standing in the aisles

15:40

and talking to people. And

15:42

that wasn't really how it was

15:44

done then. Men

15:46

were shoe salesmen for women,

15:48

which never made any sense

15:50

to me. Kind of like, why did

15:52

a man invent a mammogram machine? You know,

15:55

I mean, it's the same thing. We

15:57

need to make shoes, women.

16:00

to make shoes for women, not only for

16:02

comfort, but a classic style

16:04

that's not trendy, that's timeless. I

16:06

mean, I'm selling shoes now that

16:10

I started 25 years

16:12

ago, and they're still getting recognition

16:14

because they never go

16:16

out of style. And they're comfortable,

16:19

they're classic, they're timeless. And

16:21

that's really what we do. And

16:23

so I don't design

16:25

based on trends, I design based

16:28

on what my customers request

16:30

and what they need. And that's why

16:32

I still work in my stores to

16:34

hear this

16:37

women's feedback. I work all day,

16:39

can you enclose this shoe? Or

16:41

I have bunions, can you make

16:43

more elastic here? And

16:45

so that is

16:48

the process. And it continues

16:50

to work every day

16:52

we come up with new designs based on

16:54

our customers and our employees. So

16:57

what are the most popular items currently?

17:00

And I guess

17:02

has that changed over time? It sounds

17:04

like you have some that have sort

17:07

of stood the test of time that

17:09

people just keep coming back for. That's

17:11

right. I mean, there are some, like I said, that

17:13

have been around for about 25 years.

17:16

I'll modify things here and

17:18

there that they remain the

17:20

same uppers sometimes and I'll

17:22

change the soul up. But

17:25

I think, at the end

17:28

of the day, it really, having

17:30

done this for almost three

17:32

decades, it's so true how

17:35

styles come and go and

17:37

come back and go back.

17:39

And so we're lucky in

17:41

that, that we've remained this

17:45

constant, steady

17:47

company that has been

17:49

able to watch the ebbs and

17:52

flows of design. I mean,

17:55

my favorite right now is an

17:57

espadrill called the cannon. We Having

18:00

about an inch lower called the

18:02

peach tree I think you've seen

18:04

that one and we. All.

18:06

Have masses have rubber soles so

18:08

it doesn't It looks like announced

18:11

the drones that it's rather sell

18:13

it never. phrase. And. That's

18:15

what makes it so comfortable and you can

18:17

from on the washing machine. So.

18:20

It's. It's. Amazing. That's.

18:22

Terrific. The you have

18:24

such a loyal community and following.

18:27

and obviously twenty seven years ago

18:29

when you first started there wasn't

18:31

you know Instagram and Facebook and

18:34

all the rest of the community

18:36

is ah the right it was.

18:39

You know people calling you on

18:41

the telephone saying hey I was

18:43

just visiting one your stores and

18:46

ah but how has that changed

18:48

for your business Overall I'd just

18:50

I just not only communicating with

18:53

your consumer. But also I guess

18:55

your direct to consumer business to. Yeah.

18:58

You know when I started I

19:00

mean I used have the facts

19:02

my orders to Mexico enough of

19:04

and I remember and that's really

19:06

how as says it in from

19:08

wholesale to retail. And fact,

19:10

my order of sixty pairs of black

19:12

shoes and I get a hundred pairs

19:15

of yellow one, you know, there was

19:17

not all only a lost. Translation.

19:20

From Spanish, the English, but there was

19:22

also just. Communication.

19:24

Obstacles all the time and

19:26

when you order something for wholesale,

19:28

you get all this. This is

19:31

what this store ordered. And

19:33

of for retail, accept them Sell

19:35

all those yellow shoes in the

19:37

sewer we're going to be as

19:40

I'm selling them direct to consumer.

19:42

He will sell. As really

19:44

you know, My dad

19:46

always said that you'd never have problems

19:48

and business, you only have opportunities and that

19:50

is always been a constant in my

19:52

life. If I'm gonna get a box about

19:55

one hundred pair of yellow she's I'm going

19:57

to figure out how to sell it

19:59

and I. to make it fun. And

20:02

it's the same thing, you know,

20:04

with everything I've done

20:06

throughout the years after

20:09

I opened Charleston shoe company or

20:11

Savannah shoe company, four months later

20:13

I opened a store in Charleston and

20:16

four months after that I opened

20:18

another store in Charleston. So within

20:20

the first nine months I

20:22

just kept seeing this need

20:25

and this excitement amongst these

20:27

customers that didn't necessarily, we have

20:29

cell phones then but we didn't

20:32

have Instagram and these women were

20:34

just coming into these stores and

20:36

they were my marketing group for

20:38

me. You know, they

20:41

would meet people out, the stories

20:44

just came every day

20:46

and they were funny and they were cute,

20:48

you know. I'm in an elevator with this

20:50

woman and I look down and there's three

20:52

other pairs of Charleston shoes and we all

20:54

bond about it and I

20:57

think that that was my marketing then

20:59

was my customers. I didn't rely on

21:01

Instagram, I didn't rely on the web,

21:03

I relied on retail,

21:06

I relied on building these

21:08

relationships because at the

21:10

end of the day regardless of

21:12

what business you're in, it's all

21:14

about the relationships that you

21:17

build. Not only from

21:19

your employees who are my family

21:21

but all of my customers

21:24

who invite me to their

21:26

weddings and their children's graduations

21:29

and they're the ones out there spreading

21:31

the word and letting strangers

21:33

try on shoes and

21:35

if that's not the best marketing ever I don't

21:37

know what is. Yeah,

21:40

no definitely. I think word-of-mouth

21:42

is clearly so important

21:44

for any brand especially a new

21:46

brand so that's

21:49

incredible. So when

21:52

you think about challenges

21:54

along the way in building

21:57

your business, what would

21:59

you say? What comes to mind what

22:01

has been probably the biggest challenge for

22:03

your business overall that

22:07

You obviously got through otherwise you

22:09

wouldn't be here today, but can

22:11

you share a little bit about that? I

22:14

mean, you know people always ask me

22:16

what my favorite thing about the business is

22:18

and I sarcastically say hr because it

22:21

isn't but at the end of the day it

22:23

is it's such a

22:27

Catch 22 because without without hr I

22:29

could never have what I have and

22:31

I love So

22:34

many of my employees there. Like I said,

22:36

they are like family to me um

22:39

And but that is a challenge, you know,

22:42

it's very hard to Get

22:44

people on your team that feel

22:46

as passionately about something as you

22:48

do and you know

22:51

regardless, we have this magical product that's

22:53

comfortable and it's easy to sell because

22:55

women just the minute they Slip

22:58

it on their feet. They just you

23:00

know, they're transformed um

23:02

But you're never it's going

23:05

to be very hard to find people

23:07

that are as that dedicated that you

23:09

know They they eat sleep and breathe

23:11

and you know still take out the

23:13

garbage and are still humble In

23:16

everything they do throughout the business Um,

23:19

I mean I remember in the early days. It

23:21

was hard to find it still is hard But

23:23

it was really hard then and I

23:25

was recruiting people like I

23:28

was on king street one day, you

23:31

know mind you i'm traveling from memphis

23:33

to savannah to charleston and back at

23:35

three stores I have a two-year-old at

23:37

the time and this woman comes

23:39

in she buys a couple pairs of shoes.

23:41

She comes back The next

23:43

day and I said are you here for some

23:45

more and she said no, I haven't slept a

23:47

week You've overwhelmed me so

23:50

much. Um And you

23:52

have to hire me and I was like, okay And

23:56

these women started coming out of the

23:58

woodwork to help You know one of

24:01

my best friends like healy you

24:03

cannot do payroll and pay the bills

24:05

and do all this and

24:08

so she at night after she put her

24:10

kids to sleep she do all my

24:12

books and You know

24:14

people started gravitating towards that. I mean, I

24:16

remember one trunk show I went to I

24:20

had my mom and my sister and my child

24:22

is building forts with shoeboxes

24:24

and my husband's in the corner

24:26

You know ringing up credit cards and all

24:29

I hear him say is oh, no Your

24:31

bunion doesn't look big in that and I

24:33

can't see your hammer toe You

24:36

know and I had no idea that he even knew

24:38

what those words were so But

24:41

I think all of that

24:44

is the journey right and

24:46

employees are They're

24:48

the lifeline of my company

24:52

and we've had some great stories and we've had

24:54

a lot of fun and and

24:57

you have there's a fine line

24:59

between delegation and trust and You

25:02

know, unfortunately, I trust everyone because

25:05

I feel like they're all my family and one

25:08

time I trusted my bookkeeper too

25:10

much and she stole half a million dollars

25:12

from me and you know,

25:14

I didn't have any money to make payroll

25:16

or pay my lease on ten stores and

25:19

You know, there are those challenges But

25:22

the opportunity in it is that I learned

25:24

how to do it differently and I got

25:27

on the road and I Inspired

25:29

all the employees I did have because

25:31

I went I am NOT coming home

25:33

until I sell enough shoes To

25:36

make payroll and keep this company afloat

25:40

And and I you know the

25:42

challenges are what make it Make

25:45

it grow and make it pivot

25:47

and make it stronger and and

25:49

make it sustainable in in the

25:52

next You know year

25:54

ten years, however long it takes That's

25:57

so true. So as a female on

26:00

entrepreneur in the fashion Industry

26:03

what advice would you give to other women

26:05

who are thinking I'm gonna go start my

26:08

business. I I love what Neely has done

26:11

What advice would you give to

26:13

those people before they actually? Maybe

26:16

before they start or maybe they're

26:18

they have just started What

26:20

are kind of the key things that you would say

26:22

to them? I? mean Look

26:26

like you if you you're so

26:28

blessed to be doing something that

26:30

you love I mean how lucky

26:32

are we right? and if you

26:35

found something that you believe in and you

26:37

want to quote unquote be an entrepreneur and

26:40

Make that dream a reality. I

26:43

mean, that's the biggest gift there

26:45

is Because we

26:47

get to do that every day and

26:50

so with that comes dedication

26:53

and hustle and humbleness

26:57

to be able to continue you

27:00

know this God-given

27:02

gift that that we all

27:04

are blessed enough to have it if

27:06

we decide to take that route in our

27:08

life and I Think if

27:11

you if you never lose sight of

27:13

that and you're dedicated and no matter

27:15

if you fail You have

27:17

to get up every day and try it a

27:20

different way, right? It again

27:22

back to opportunity If

27:24

I try something one way and it doesn't work the

27:26

next day I'm gonna try it a different way until

27:29

it does work and I think that that's

27:31

harder these days with the internet

27:33

and Instagram and all

27:35

these instant

27:38

overnight successes we forget

27:40

that in actuality,

27:43

it's really About

27:45

the journey and about learning how to

27:47

do something to the best of your

27:49

ability and enjoy it Enjoy the journey

27:51

enjoy the ride and and

27:53

it's not a sprint and it's

27:55

not to cross the finish line

27:58

that it's just to to

28:00

be thankful for this life we're given.

28:04

You can't sweat the small stuff. I'd

28:07

make myself crazy if I went home at

28:10

night and took home

28:12

all 20 employee issues I

28:14

had that day or the

28:16

customers that need help or

28:19

the bills I have to pay. I

28:21

think that taking

28:24

it all step-by-step

28:26

and easily and not really

28:30

focusing on those big

28:33

things and making them all seem smaller if

28:35

that makes sense. I really I'd go crazy

28:38

if I didn't. Yeah

28:40

and I think to your point

28:42

too you have to really love what

28:44

you're doing because I think if you

28:47

don't those hard days will really get

28:49

you because there's

28:52

going to be some. I think

28:54

you really have to really have

28:56

a passion and you

28:59

obviously had a purpose.

29:01

You were trying to bring your

29:03

shoe to a lot of other people.

29:06

You've expanded beyond your few stores. Do

29:08

you want to talk about that a

29:10

little bit? Not only how many stores

29:12

and obviously online too but you're also

29:14

working within stores correct? I

29:17

am. Yeah. We

29:20

expanded that first year. I opened three stores

29:22

and then pretty much every year for the

29:24

next five or six years I opened one

29:26

to two. If I had

29:28

a crystal ball I probably wouldn't have opened

29:31

15 stores in 2019 which put us to

29:33

32 stores in March of 2020. Which

29:40

was amazing, a little

29:43

of me and my amazing team

29:45

of about 250 women and three men. Women

29:53

are built to be mothers and if there's

29:55

anyone that's going to do a job and

29:57

be an entrepreneur it should be a woman.

30:00

because we do like 45 more

30:03

things than a man can to the one. So

30:05

I totally respect all of my employees

30:10

because I know a lot of them are mothers

30:12

and they're trying to balance things as well. But

30:15

we really expanded the

30:18

retail footprint. We

30:20

also sell to about 700 retailers

30:22

around the country. And

30:26

we have a big web business now

30:28

which really took off during COVID obviously

30:30

because we had to close about,

30:33

close all of our stores for a

30:35

period of time. And then we closed

30:38

about eight stores permanently. Since

30:40

COVID we opened two

30:43

stores last year, our first stores

30:45

since COVID and then three so

30:47

far this quarter, which is

30:49

very exciting because I love retail. We

30:53

also, you know, for about five

30:55

years I was on QVC. So

30:58

I fly to Philadelphia and

31:00

sell shoes on online like

31:02

Joy and her mops and

31:04

had a lot of fun doing that as well. So

31:08

we also do a huge trend show

31:10

business which is where I started because

31:13

that was kind of instead of

31:15

Instagram, that was the, you

31:18

know, how we got out and tried

31:20

different markets and met new people without

31:23

advertising in magazines and online

31:25

and all of that. We did

31:27

trunk shows. So we

31:29

do about 70 to 100 trunk shows a year. And

31:33

then home shows for women like Tupperware

31:35

parties, we do that as well. So

31:38

we're always trying new things and doing

31:40

new things. And yeah, it's

31:43

exciting. That's terrific.

31:45

I mean, I love how innovative

31:47

you've been and not, I

31:49

mean, oftentimes people will just open a store and

31:52

close stores if they're not working, but it

31:54

seems like you've tried a lot of different

31:57

things. And I think that the other thing

31:59

that people show. that always think about too

32:01

is that, maybe you're

32:03

not gonna do a trunk show

32:05

in that city again, but

32:08

if you like the shoes, then

32:11

they're gonna become customers, right? Or the

32:13

next time they're in Charleston or they

32:15

see one of your many stores that

32:17

you've opened up. So that's really terrific.

32:20

So looking to the future, this is

32:22

the last question, what can we expect

32:25

from Charleston Shoe Company? And

32:27

I know you've expanded a

32:29

little bit beyond shoes too,

32:31

but if you could talk a little bit about

32:33

that. Sure, yeah. So

32:36

I actually, in

32:39

2020, I launched a professional line

32:43

because I found a lot of women love

32:45

to wear our sandals and, but they wanted

32:47

to wear them to work because like

32:49

you said, they're all day wear, I mean,

32:52

you can take one shoe to Europe and

32:54

only wear that on a travel abroad.

32:57

And so I started this line for

32:59

professionals in the hospitality

33:02

business, in the medical field, because

33:05

they're machine washable, they're comfortable,

33:08

they're slip resistant. And

33:11

in 2020, I went to launch

33:13

the line and COVID happened. So

33:15

all of my conventions were closed.

33:19

So I decided to, in a

33:22

way to bring all my employees back to

33:24

work, I decided to start giving

33:27

away these shoes to hospitals around

33:29

the country and nurses

33:31

on COVID floors. And

33:34

so we started this nonprofit called Shoe

33:36

Joy because we found anytime we gave

33:39

a woman a pair of shoes, she

33:42

was joyous. And there

33:45

was something different about, they

33:47

weren't just getting free pizza, they were getting

33:49

a free pair of shoes and these women

33:51

were just ecstatic. And

33:53

it was a way for me to bring employees

33:55

back because I had to furlough all

33:57

of them pretty much. And

34:01

And so they would figure out which

34:03

hospitals to give to and, you

34:06

know, do all the logistics to get

34:08

all the products there. And after

34:11

COVID, I said, well, we have to

34:13

keep this going. This is amazing what

34:15

we're doing and the joy we're bringing.

34:17

And what other organizations

34:20

can we give to? And,

34:22

you know, how can we

34:24

keep this shoe joy going?

34:27

And so we have really, we've

34:30

given over $2 million worth of

34:32

shoes in the last three years to

34:35

countries all over the world and

34:39

to women that are starting businesses

34:41

and need capital to start their

34:43

businesses. They sell our shoes. And

34:47

you know, at the end of the day,

34:50

this is just one more of those relationship

34:52

building and bigger than shoes

34:54

kind of things that, you

34:56

know, makes you excited and makes you

34:58

proud. And if

35:00

anything, you know, I look back

35:02

over the duration of the

35:04

27 years I've been in business

35:07

and it used to be about shoes. And

35:09

I realize now that it's just so much

35:11

bigger than that. And

35:15

I can sleep better at night

35:17

knowing that I'm doing something more

35:20

than selling shoes and

35:22

creating jobs and creating inspiration

35:24

for my customers and my employees

35:26

and giving shoes to people that

35:28

need them. That's

35:31

terrific. So, Nealey Woodson-Powell, founder and

35:33

CEO of Charleston Shoe Company, thank

35:35

you so much. We'll have all

35:37

the info in the show notes

35:39

as well. But if

35:42

anybody is interested, go online right

35:45

now and also pop into one

35:47

of her many stores too. Thank

35:50

you so much and congratulations on everything.

35:53

I appreciate it. Thank you.

35:55

Thanks again for listening to the Kara Golden

35:57

Show. If you would, please give us a

35:59

review. and feel free to share this

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36:09

Just a reminder that I can be

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36:14

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36:16

feel free to DM me. And if

36:18

you want to hear more about my journey,

36:20

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36:22

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36:27

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36:29

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36:31

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36:35

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