TOMS in DC

In 2007, TOMS Shoes was the proud winner of the Cooper-Hewitt People’s Choice Design Award. I cannot tell you how moving it was to be recognized in such an amazing way. A couple weeks ago, I received an invitation to attend brunch at the White House with the First Lady, along with other honorees from the National Design Awards. After the Hotel Café event last week, I hopped on a red-eye to the east coast and met up with my Mom in DC Monday morning. After being shuffled from one room to the next, taking photographs and chatting with some incredible people, we sat for brunch in the State Dining Room at 11am. Check out my pics below…

The first lady and I at the White House

Me, the First Lady, and my Mom, Pam

The East Room, where the presentation was held

Although the White House brunch popped up in the schedule rather quickly, we had another event previously planned out that I was really looking forward to. The City Tavern Club is a landmark in DC that John Adams stayed at while the White House was being constructed in 1800. We gathered a crowd for a screening of our documentary For Tomorrow at this amazing venue and got a lot of people really excited about TOMS. Leading Authorities (my speaking agency) co-hosted the event, which was sponsored by Surreal Vodka, Casa Noble Tequila. We couldn’t have pulled it off with out the extraordinary help from our friends Elliott Bisnow (check out this website) and Katherine Kennedy. The evening was such a success that Leading Authorities is going to be sponsoring another event in DC and also a large gathering in NYC!
And just to add even more excitement to the trip, Katherine and Elliot took me to a Kastles Tennis match and introduced me to Ted Leonsis, one of the founders of AOL. He has started a new really cool company that you should all go check out: snagfilms.com.

Me with Katherine Kennedy and friends

Elliott Bisnow and his mother Margot with my mom Pam and I

Hotel Cafe

This week kicked off with a stellar night at Hotel Café on Sunday night in Hollywood. 15 incredible musicians, all of their fans, and our TOMS family gathered to support Friends of TOMS: our non-profit entity which gives essential necessities to the communities we serve and also connects those who want to get involved beyond the product. 100% of the $10 cover charge went straight to Friends of TOMS! Thanks so much to everyone who showed up and rocked out.

Special thanks to Heidi and Katie for setting everything up, and to Kelly Dalton, Tim Bader, Kai Brown, Michael Mazochi, Paul Dillon, James Webb, Chris Joyner, Terra Naomi, Holly, Buddy, Steve Reynolds, Meiko, Greg Laswell, Carey Brothers, and Butch Walker for taking time out of their busy schedules to play a set for Friends of TOMS!

Aspen Ideas Festival

About a month and a half ago I was asked to be a part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. Every year, hundreds of influential people get together to discuss the issues that mold our lives, cultures, and communities. I headed out to Aspen on the 4th to engage in some great discussions and speak on a panel with Facebook co-founder Sean Parker. We also screened our documentary, “For Tomorrow,” which definitely brings the TOMS story to life.

The highlight of this past weekend was joining President Clinton and the trustees of his foundation for dinner both nights in Aspen. Not only did I get a little one on one time with the President, I met some of the most amazing people at the dinners. His trustees and good friends are very committed to the work of his foundation and to making the world a better place, and this inspired me greatly.

For those of you who might not know, TOMS committed to providing shoes for 50,000 children in South Africa and at least 25,000 in Ethiopia with in a 12 month period as part of the Clinton Global Initiative.

I spent the following days with my family in Colorado, and will return to my TOMS family in Santa Monica end of this week!

Aspen meadows resort, at the aspen institute campus, super cool, where I stayed

Facebook co-founder Sean Parker and I


President Clinton and I

Welcome to Santa Monica

Join Us!

When TOMS first began in 2006, I put an ad on Craigslist for interns. Those first interns became some of TOMS’ greatest employees. Since then, our internship program has grown incredibly, and runs every Fall, Spring, and Summer semester. We invite the best students from around the country who are passionate about TOMS to come live in our intern house and work with us full-time in Santa Monica, CA. Our current intern class is well into the summer now, and working on some amazing projects. I just want to say THANK YOU, and also invite all the college students who want to make a difference at TOMS to apply for a future headquarters internship with us! The spirit of volunteerism has always been a huge aspect of TOMS Shoes, and I am continually impressed with the multitude of people who want to get their hands in and help out.

We are gearing up for our Fall recruitment of High School and College ambassadors, too. If you want to spread the word and create a positive buzz about TOMS in your own campus community, we would love to have you on board!

Click here to Join the Team!

Carpe Diem.

Ethiopia

I have had many incredible experiences since starting TOMS, but none have been more moving or humbling than the twelve days that I recently spent in Ethiopia.

It’s hard to believe, but thousands of children are dying every year in Ethiopia because they do not have proper footwear. Podoconiosis (or Podo, for short) is a terrible disease caused by a certain type of contaminated soil. Podo causes massive swelling, ulcers and deformities in the feet and lower legs – leaving young children with feet the size of elephants. Those suffering from Podo are treated like Lepors in their communities and have no chance to hold a job, get married or raise a family. At this very moment, between 500,000 and 1 million Ethiopians are suffering from Podo and 11 million total are at risk of contracting the disease. The statistics are mind-boggling.

The solution to this problem, however, is tragically simple: SHOES.

We want to completely wipe Podo off the face of the Earth by hand delivering a tough and durable shoe to kids at risk of contracting the disease. Show your support and visit our Causes page on Facebook!

Whole Foods Eco Vegan Shoe!