TOMS Shoes on CNBC "The Entrepreneurs" hosted by Donny Deutsch

Being a guest on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show "The Entrepreneurs," was an incredible honor. Since the TOMS Shoes segment first aired, I have been overwhelmed by all of the kind words and well wishes. If you missed it, "The Entrepreneurs" repeats on Sunday, April 5th at 10pm ET and Friday, April 10th at 1pm ET.

I want to share an email I got from a TOMS Shoes supporter and friend. It reminds me that not only are we making a huge difference in the lives of children around the world, but we’re making a huge impact on ourselves, our families and friends, and how we decide to live our life – to the fullest.



From: Rick Liebling

Date: April 2, 2009 7:04:04 PM PDT

To: Blake Mycoskie

Subject: Re: Blake from TOMS

Blake,

The CNBC piece was terrific. I watched it with my 10-year old son and there was more for him to learn in that 30 minutes of TV than he'll get in a year of school.

The big takeaway for me: You're not in the shoe business, you're in the helping people business. You just choose to do that by giving away shoes. If you were in the shoe business you would never have created TOMS. Maybe ten years from now TOMS shoes doesn't work anymore. You'll still be in the helping people business.

I told my son about the Element shoes (he loves skateboarding) and the Rugby shoes (he loves skull & crossbones) and he desperately wants a pair. I realized that buying it for him would be the wrong thing to do, he wouldn't learn the real purpose of TOMS. I'm going to make him earn the money to buy them for himself so that he can know that he helped someone else. That's more important than the shoes, and it will last a lot longer.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your Top Secret plans, the suspense is killing me!

Best wishes,


Rick Liebling
http://twitter.com/eyecube
http://eyecube.wordpress.com/
Insight, Innovation & Ideas

Exciting news...tonight I'm being interviewed on CNBC's "The Entrepreneurs" hosted by Donnie Deutsch at 6:00 pm PT / 9:00 pm ET. This is so exciting for TOMS and I keep thinking about how we got here all thanks to YOU sharing the story of TOMS.

So thank you for continuing to spread the word -- here are three ways you and/or your company can get involved NOW in the TOMS One for One movement!

1. Email your entire contact list. Every journey starts with a single step (or email).

2. Participate in the One Day Without Shoes. Yes, on April 16th, socks only in the office. To find an event in your area check out One Day Without Shoes.

3. Help keep TOMS Vagabonds on the road by sponsoring our next Vagabond Tour, pretty please! They need gas, food, lodging (or free sandwiches!).

Or just email blake@TOMSshoes.com your idea, there is a good chance it will be well received.

Thank you in advance for your support. I look forward to hearing all of your wonderful ideas!

Carpe Diem,

Blake

DeFeet follow up

Here are some photos and a link to the presentation I did at the Clinton School of Public Service last week. These artists put out some of the most creative TOMS I have ever seen...

http://www.clintonschoolspeakers.com/lecture/view/toms-shoes-better-tomorrow/

Today in Little Rock

Recently, The Clinton Foundation invited me to come visit Little Rock, AR for a couple events. Connie Falls, philanthropist, stylist, designer, and amazing supporter of TOMS, put together this incredible fashion show titled DeFeet, to "walk all over poverty." Project Runway contestant Korto Momolu, Little Rock local Erin Lorenzen, and young students will be sending their work down the runway, and the models will be wearing TOMS that have been styled by the designers. All of these TOMS are going up for auction, with proceeds benefiting the Clinton Foundation and Heifer International.

(They're also auctioning off a pair of hand-painted Peter Max TOMS I might need to bid on for my Mom- shes a huge Peter Max fan.)

Friday, I will be talking to Government officials, philanthropists, and students of the Clinton School of Public Service. The school of Public Service is one of a kind, "focusing its teaching, research and policy-making exclusively on the emerging field of sharing and giving." Can't wait to share TOMS and our One for One business model with them and hear what projects they have in the works.

Have a great weekend.

TOMS + Dave Matthews Band

A couple months ago, an amazing opportunity landed on our door step. I have to be honest, we're fortunate to have a lot of great individuals approach TOMS and want to do collaborations or partnerships, but this one in particular was really cool, and we knew right away we had to move forward.

Dave Matthews Band has been pioneering the music industry for over 17 years. They have sold over 35 million albums worldwide and have toured thousands upon thousands of miles all over the world. For this, and many other reasons, we knew they would be a great compliment to the TOMS Vagabond Tour.


The Spring 2009 Vagabond Vans have been out for a few weeks and if you've already made it to one of their events, you've seen the DMB seal stamped on the side that says, "Official Soundtrack." So what does that mean? When you watch the Vagabond's weekly videos on the TOMS YouTube channel, you'll hear Dave Matthews Band tunes... as well as some exclusive content. The band has also given us a stack of concert tickets to their shows, which the Vagabonds will be giving away at their events all semester long. You can see the Vagabond Tour schedule on the Events tab of the Facebook Page and DMB tour schedule here.



Its so neat to have one of the most influential, progressive, forward-thinking, change-making bands in American culture supporting the TOMS One for One mission? It's just amazing. We hope to soon see millions of Dave Matthews Band fans sporting TOMS and becoming part of this movement with us!

More in DC

Just left the meeting - pretty inspirational. The administration really does want our input, each gave their personal email addresses and encouraged dialogue. This photo is of me in front of the White House with my new friend Jake, who started Threadless. We're hatching some ideas to grow the One for One movement and get our TOMS community more creatively involved. More to come!

One for One + Obama

At an all day meeting with senior leadership from the Obama administration, along with a group of the top young business leaders in America, to present tangible solutions and ideas re: economic policies. What an unreal opportunity!