From a friend in Haiti

I just received an email with a beautiful photo from my friend, Bryn who is currently in Haiti with Artists for Peace and Justice:

Hey guys,
Just ran into some friends who work with PIH. Was incredible...
Thanks Blake.
You made Jean's day.



You can read more about TOMS relationship with PIH on the TOMS blog: http://www.TOMS.com/blog/node/301

Big TOMS

This is actually the second over-sized TOMS shoe I've encountered over the past few months...



I spoke this week at a luncheon for Baptist Health Foundation's annual BOLO Bash in Little Rock, AK. Baptist Health Foundation is the largest not-for-profit health care system in Arkansas!

The large TOMS shoe was created by a Baptist Health Foundation volunteer/board member named Terri Snowden. Talk about creativity!

Life is never boring on the road

I spoke at University of Kentucky last night. Not only did the campus rep Emilee already have her One Day Without Shoes tshirt...



... the club also created HUGE 5-foot long TOMS shoes. Amazing.

Back on the course

I can count on one hand the number of days I was able to play golf on a weekday in the past year, but last week one of those rare, special days happened. With all the excitement leading up to next week's Masters, I could not have been more ready to dust off my clubs and take a walk on the green grass. I was in Tuscon for a speaking engagement and had the afternoon free, so I headed to The Stone Canyon, compliments of the lovely Candice Wolfswinkel at TOMS. Maybe I was looking a little pale last week and in need of some Arizona sun... so she not only she suggested it, but set the whole thing up. She even asking her dad and brother Ashton to join me, which made it all that much more enjoyable. Besides the Wolfswinkel clan, we were joined by Ashton's biz partner Jason and friend Ian Lopatin (a yoga guru who hits a very long straight ball), as well as the nicest golf pro I have ever met, Todd Huizinga. It proved to be the perfect day, and I could not help but to share some pics and a funny conversation I overhead between two business partners on the 4th tee box.

"How are we supposed to have interns if we cannot manage the one employee we currently have" ... says one business partner to the other while on the golf course on a MONDAY afternoon, beer in hand.

Too funny...

Have a great week, and get some sun if you have the chance. Spring is here :)

Custom TOMS at Radford

I'm continuing on my college speaking tour, and today I'm at Radford University in Virginia speaking to over a thousand students about TOMS and the One for One story. This morning, I met Laura who had a rad pair of custom TOMS.



She entered them in a contest we're running with Teen Vogue where fans can design their own pair of TOMS- keep your eye out for voting which starts next month. TOMS will make whatever shoe gets the highest votes!

Lakeland Style Your Sole

I was in Lakeland last week, speaking at Florida Southern College and also got to stop by a really inspiring Style Your Sole event. The community of Lakeland raised enough money to purchase 150 pairs of TOMS so they could host a Style Your Sole for these awesome kids that are supported by local organizations. Check out all the photos below!


Miracle, customizing her TOMS

When life gives you lemons

I have always believed that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. On my recent trip to Argentina, there was a lovely chandelier hanging in our rental. In an unfortunate accident the chandelier was broken and became quite an eyesore. Additionally, the landlord let us know that we would have to pay for the chandelier upon checkout. So here we had our lemon. Rather than let this opportunity for lemonade pass, we had each of our dinner guests throughout the rest of the trip write down their favorite quote, some advice, or a wish for the new year. When it came time to pack up and head home, I clipped the chandelier and put it in my carry on bag. Lemonade!