The journey is the destination... being inspired by Dan Eldon

Of all the collections that TOMS has made, none have resonated deeper in my soul than the upcoming spring line inspired by Dan Eldon.

Dan was an artist, adventurer and activist who lived every day as though he was creating a work of art. In 1992, amid reports of widespread violence and famine, Dan drove from his home in Kenya to Somalia to witness the devastation with his own eyes. What he discovered was a country in chaos - villages turned into war zones and kids left in the street to beg for food. The photos that Dan took were picked up by news agencies around the world, and at age 22, Dan became one of the youngest photojournalists in the history of Reuters.

Dan's photos helped to trigger a global response to the unfolding tragedy in Somalia, and he stayed on to cover the story when the U.N. began sending food and peacekeepers to the ravaged country. But in 1993, disaster struck. After a botched military raid that left hundreds wounded and dead, angry Somalis attacked journalists who had arrived on the scene to cover the story. Tragically, Dan Eldon and three of his colleagues were beaten and stoned to death on July 12th, 1993.














In the aftermath of Dan's death, his mother, Kathy Eldon, published an incredible book, The Journey is the Destination, which compiled the photography, artwork and poetry of Dan's journals. I happened to see this book at a bookstore a few years before starting TOMS and read it cover-to-cover, completely mesmerized by Dan's life. Then, in 2008, I attended an Invisible Children rally and heard Kathy speak. It wasn't until after the event, however, that I put two-and-two together and connected Kathy with Dan and the stunning book that I'd discovered several years prior. I asked the IC guys to connect us... and Kathy and I spent a wonderful day together at her house in Malibu.

Finally, about a year ago, I was packing for a surf trip to Costa Rica and once again stumbled upon Dan's book. As I pored over the book on the plane, it struck me that the TOMS community should know Dan's story and that his life and journals would be a great inspiration for a future collection.

Today, I'm proud to announce that this vision has finally become a reality. Our new collection will officially be launching in February, and I really hope it inspires you to follow your creative dreams and use your talents to become a creative activist like Dan - transforming your bold ideas into positive action. May we all live with such boundless curiosity, optimism, and wild spirit...













PS - To learn more about Dan Eldon, go to DanEldon.com. You should also check out the Creative Visions Foundation - an organization created by Kathy Eldon and Amy Eldon Turteltaub to inform, inspire and empower the next generation of creative activists.

What makes a great employee?

The funny thing about starting a new business (or really any new project, for that matter), is that the most valuable interns and employees are sometimes the ones that have the least experience in what you're trying to accomplish. If you're following a set path, it makes sense to hire people that have seen-and-done what you're trying to do; but with new and innovative ideas, there is no "right way" of doing things, and when the path to success is unclear, the worst thing that you can have are preconceived notions.

When I was first starting TOMS, I pitched the idea to a college professor who said that I would need a million dollars to get the company off the ground. I spoke with veterans in the shoe industry that saw every reason why the idea would fail. "The math just doesn't work" they would say, or "the retail business is dying," or "there's no market for canvas slip-ons," and on and on. At the time, TOMS was comprised of myself, a few duffel bags of samples, a polo instructor pretending to be a shoemaker, and a handful of interns that I hired off of Craigslist. The idea was crazy... but my interns didn't know that. All they knew was that we were having fun, and that with a little creativity and resourcefulness, we could accomplish just about anything.

As TOMS has grown, we've continued to look for these same traits in the interns and employees that we hire. Are you passionate? Can you creatively solve problems? Can you be resourceful without resources? Do you have the compassion to serve others? You can teach a new hire just about any skill... but you absolutely cannot inspire creativity and passion in someone that doesn't have it.

Would you agree?

Making a difference... one kibble bit at a time.

In my last post, I wrote about facing fear and how the timing is never perfect for going after what you really want in life. As I was writing this blog, I stumbled across a really incredible website FreeKibble.com and the inspirational 14-year-old (Mimi Ausland) behind it all. Mimi's story proves that all of us - no matter where we are in life - have the capacity to start something that matters.

When Mimi was 11, she discovered FreeRice.com - a website that donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme for every trivia question that you answer. Mimi liked the site so much that we showed her family, and soon all of them were glued to the screen answering question after question.

Growing up in Bend, Oregon, Mimi has always shared her life with animals. In addition to caring for the family golden retriever (Aspen), cat (Dorothy), hamster (Sunny) and horse, Mimi started volunteering at the local Humane Society when she was 7. Mimi knew that she wanted to help out in a bigger way... but it wasn't until she discovered FreeRice.com that Mimi had her epiphany: If FreeRice is such a success, why not create a similar website that gives free kibble to homeless dogs and cats for every trivia question that users answer? And with that, FreeKibble.com was born.

Fast forward three years later, and Freekibble.com has helped to provide nearly 4.5 million nutritious meals to dogs and cats and the site is the largest contributor of food to 13 animal shelters across the country. This past summer, Mimi was the catalyst for 320,000 people sending letters to President Obama in support of naming April 30th "National Adopt a Shelter Day." Mimi has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, named a "Hero Among Us" by People Magazine, and voted "Kid of the Year" by the ASPCA. Simply amazing.

Thank you Mimi for being such an inspiration... and for showing us that you're never too young to accomplish something great.

PS - Back home in Arlington, my parents have two golden retrievers (Noah and Sadie), four cats (Polka, Mr. Dot, Cupid and Shilo) and an opossum named Winnie (which Sadie rescued from our pool skimmer last April). According to my mom, all the animals get along great :)

Facing Fear and the Unknown

"A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are built for." ~ John A. Shedd

We all have our reasons for not going after what we really want. "The timing isn't right," we might say to ourselves, or "I'm just waiting for XYZ to happen," or "Everything needs to be perfect." The list goes on and on...

Should you jump head-first into every big idea that comes to mind? Of course not. Regardless of what you're looking to create (whether a business, a non-profit, or a challenging new hobby, etc), it pays to be analytical, do your research, and have a solid sense of what you're getting yourself into. The problem is, no amount of research or planning can prepare you for the unknown of starting something new. Our bodies are programmed to fear the unknown, and no matter how many times we've succeeded in the past, this fear never goes away.

Says my friend Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week: For all the most important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn't conspire against you, but it doesn't go out of its way to line up all the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. "Someday" is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it's important to you and you want to do it "eventually," just do it and correct course along the way.

So this New Years... what do you really want to accomplish in 2011? Another year will pass, but the fear of making changes will not...

Are you ready to start something that matters?

(PS - Thank you Esther Havens for allowing me to use your wonderful photograph above. Check out her website at www.estherhavens.com)

The Power of Storytelling

What makes a company, or a non-profit, or a person worth evangelizing about?

In my last blog, I talked about Movember and how for 30 days I wore a mustache that made me look like a cross between a police officer and a professional wrestler. Why? What is it about Movember, or Apple, or non-profits like charity: water and Falling Whistles that inspire such an incredible army of supporters?

I believe that the answer lies in storytelling.

A mustache isn't just an awkward clump of hair on a man's upper lip, it's a means of drawing attention and creating a conversation.

There are tons of cheap MP3 players out there, but the iPod just feels different. It's simpler, sleeker, and designed to create an emotional reaction.

The war in Congo may feel distant and beyond our control, but when you meet someone with a whistle around their neck, you can't help but think that all of us can be "whistleblowers for peace."

When TOMS was first getting started, we shared my story of going to Argentina and how our goal was to give 250 pairs of shoes to the children that I met. As TOMS has grown, however, this story has evolved to include all of our incredible fans and evangelists. You are now as much apart of the TOMS story as I am. When you buy a pair of TOMS, it's you that that's helping to put a pair of new shoes on a child's feet. You aren't just a customer, but a storyteller. Every time that someone says, "hey, I love your shoes, what are they?" it's you that's helping to spread the word and inspire others to join the One for One movement.

Whether we know it or not, all of us is telling a story... is yours worth spreading?

The Art of Mustache Maintenance

After a month of making me look like a police officer, my mustache has been trimmed and gently faded into my normal facial scruff. In my 30 days with a ‘stache, I got used to the funny looks and starting conversations with "I don't normally look like this..." but through it all, I hope that I raised awareness for an amazing organization (Movember) and a cause that doesn't get talked about nearly enough (men's health).

For those of you that missed out, Movember is a non-profit that encourages men to grow a mustache every November to raise awareness for prostate cancer and depression in men. In 2005, a group of buddies were sitting in a bar in Adelaide, Australia, when one had the idea to grow a mustache to raise money for charity. Since then, the idea has snowballed from 30 guys that first year, to a worldwide movement of hundreds of thousands of participants and more than $100 million dollars raised.

Thank you Movember for allowing me to tell your story and be apart of such an incredible tribe... and no, I didn't give out any speeding tickets last month :)

PS - I took the picture above using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. Lens: Lucifer VI, Flash: Off, Film: Ina's 1969.

A Voice of Change

"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world." -- Buddha

I recently had the pleasure of speaking at the Creativity World Forum - a really cool conference held in Oklahoma City. That morning, nearly 200 students from local colleges held a barefoot walk to raise awareness for the global need for shoes and clean drinking water. Before I addressed the crowd, a slam poet named David Bowden performed a piece that was so raw, and so powerful, that it gave me chills. I was so moved by the poem that I asked David if I could share his words with the entire TOMS community.

Thank you David for putting together this incredible video and for using your voice to raise awareness and inspire others. This is truly fantastic stuff...

To see more of David's work, check him out on Facebook and YouTube