Blake Mycoskie

Blake Mycoskie (born August 26, 1976) is an American entrepreneur and author. He is best known as the Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of Toms Shoes.

Television

Appearances

Mycoskie and his sister Paige competed as a team on the second season of CBS’ The Amazing Race. The Mycoskie siblings finished third overall after placing first in two of the three previous legs, missing first place by only four minutes in one of the show's closest finishes. The pair split the third prize of $25,000 after five weeks of filming. Following the race Blake and Paige vowed that they would return one day to Argentina to see more of the country. Since founding Toms Mycoskie has been interviewed on television stations including CBS Evening News, Fox news, CNBC, CNN, and was named person of the week by ABC World News in April 2011.

Reality Central

Following his stint on the CBS reality show, The Amazing Race, Mycoskie sought to create an all-reality cable TV network called Reality Central. At the age of 26, he cofounded the network with Larry Namer, founder of E! Entertainment Television. Much of the start-up money came from other previous reality television stars, including Ethan Zohn, Tina Wesson, as well as the team that had beat Mycoskie on The Amazing Race the previous year, Alex Boyan and Chris Luca. The plan was to produce original programming for half of its broadcast properties, while playing reruns of prior reality television shows for the other half. Mycoskie was the originator of the idea and served as Chairman of the company, while Namer served as President. Over thirty prior network reality show contestants agreed to appear on the network, for promos and other spots. Reality Central ultimately folded when Rupert Murdoch launched the Fox Reality Channel, outbidding Reality Central for advertisers and programming.

Business career

Small businesses

Mycoskie founded his first business while in college, when he founded a door-to-door laundry service on his college campus called EZ Laundry. In 1999, Mycoskie founded an outdoor billboard company based in Nashville, Tennessee, Mycoskie Media. Mycoskie ran the business for three years, when he sold the company to Clear Channel Communications. That year he competed in The Amazing Race and in 2003 he founded Reality Central. After Reality Central, Blake partnered with the founders of TrafficSchool.com to create Drivers Ed Direct, an online drivers education service and in-the-car training school featuring hybrid cars and SUVs. The money from the sale of the company allowed him to found his next company, Toms shoes (stylized as "TOMS shoes"), without the help of additional investors.

Toms shoes

Main article: Toms Shoes

While vacationing in Argentina in 2006, Blake spent a day volunteering with a local non-profit organization delivering used shoes to children in the villages outside of Buenos Aires. Blake’s self-described epiphany moment came when he realized that he could start a for-profit business, not a charity, to continually give new shoes to children in need. He would do so by selling an updated version of the alpargata. Blake created the One for One business model, which provides a new pair of Toms shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. Blake originally called his company “Shoes for Tomorrow,” but later shortened the name to “Toms Shoes.” In 2011, Toms Eyewear was launched using the One for One model. For every pair of glasses sold, people in need would receive prescription glasses, sight-saving surgery or medical treatment.

Other activities

Philanthropy

Mycoskie has worked with volunteers and NGOs to provide shoes to children in need located in developing countries. Mycoskie began providing eyeglasses and care to children in need as well in 2011. His efforts have drawn positive reviews from other philanthropists, as well as the US Secretary of State.

Writing

In 2011 Mycoskie published the book Start Something That Matters, in which he wrote about the virtues of social entrepreneurship and the concept of businesses using their profit margins and company assets to make charitable donations or make other charitable efforts. He argues that there are both intangible and real returns that can be made on building a business in this manner, using his experience with Toms as evidence. For every book sold, Mycoskie promised to give a book to a child in need (not one of his, but another title). Fifty percent of royalties from the book were then used to provide grants to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, and Mycoskie increased this to 100% in late 2012. The book became a New York Times best-selling business book, and a number one New York Times best-seller in the advice category. Mycoskie is also a contributor to The Huffington Post.

Honors

• Named among People Magazine's 2007 "Hero's Among Us"
• Secretary of State’s 2009 Award for Corporate Excellence
• Named among Fortune Magazine's 2011 "Top 40 Under 40"

Personal life

Mycoskie grew up in Arlington, Texas as one of three siblings, including his sister Paige and his brother Tyler. Paige is the designer of the fashion company Aviator Nation. He attended the Southern Methodist University on a tennis scholarship, however his tennis career was cut short due to an achilles tendon injury during his second year of college. In 2012 he married his longtime girlfriend Heather Lang.