Handmade shoes with upcycled tire soles became the embodiment of that idea.
Whether we fly to meetings in private planes or dig through other people's trash to survive, we all have the power to make brave choices. However, the deeper part of me keeps on wanting my life to stand for something bigger than my own footprints.Īnd what I realized as I drove in my car that day was that the little changes and decisions we all make every single day require bravery and courage. I completely appreciate the lure of seeking the easy way around difficult choices.Īfter all, we do enough, don't you think? Shouldn't there be some kind of appreciation for how far we have come rather than how far we have left to go? I'm a single Mom, a social entrepreneur, and a life that seems to be one big experiment of doing whatever you can with whatever is within your reach. It happens in the corners of our minds and begins to flow out to our actions and beliefs about what's possible. We can forget that big change happens, little by little. We often overlook the immense potential of simple choices. Instead, the question I asked myself was, "What could I do to inspire people to see the power of their choices?" That's not a fair question and it certainly won't inspire change.
So the question I was asking myself as I was driving home that day wasn't about how to make others feel remorse for what we all are responsible for. We are at odds with who we are meant to be. From environmental degradation to human exploitation, they pay the price for the rest of the world's addiction to convenience.įrom garbage dumps to polluted rivers and seas, our world is hurting our most vulnerable, over and over again. They are often left dealing with the choices of those in the world who hold the balance of power.
Millions of people around the world don't possess the luxury of choice in many areas of life. We should all be able to choose what is said and done on our behalf.īut, sadly, this is often not the case. In the end, this is our basic human right. We often get to choose the pictures they like and comment on, the moments they interact with and the carefully curated versions of our world that we want them to see. We get to choose what they know and what is perceived. The world around us is seeing the edited version of our lives.
Much of my path forward has felt less like confident steps in the right direction and more like fumbling in the dark for the light switch. I have been a social entrepreneur for nearly 20 years, but I felt a pull to tune in to what was next.ĭo you ever feel like you are fumbling forward in life? On the outside, everyone else thinks that you totally have it all figured out. I wanted to do the best I could with what I had in my hands. I was thinking about the people back in that garbage dump that were still working as I drove away. In early 2017, I was returning from hosting a group of volunteers at a local garbage dump in Dominican Republic. In fact, the name came to me long before the first pair of shoes ever rolled out the door. Truthfully, it wasn't that difficult with Brave Soles. How do you find a name that encapsulates your vision and helps people understand why you are here? Choosing a name for a company or idea is sometimes a difficult challenge.