A newsletter in my email caught my attention today with the subject line: What a difference 10 years make. TOMS is celebrating 10 years of giving and because I’m thinking that not everyone is on their mailing list, I wanted to share some of it with you.
It’s been 10 years since TOMS launched with their line of shoes and One for One, a business model that helps a person in need with every product purchased. For each pair of shoes purchased, a pair of shoes is given to someone in need. Over the years the One for One has grown to include TOMS Eyewear in which for every pair of eyewear purchased, TOMS would help give sight to a person in need. Then came a collection of bags through which purchases provide medical support for safe births and healthy babies.
So, what difference does 10 years make? THIS: 60 Million pairs of shoes to kids in need, sight restored to 400,000 people, 335,000 weeks of safe drinking water and safe births to 25,000 mothers and babies.
AWESOME, right? I’ve done a bit of reading and wanted to share a couple of things that I found really interesting about TOMS that I really connected with. Many of the things that I talk about in my keynote speeches are part of the story of TOMS.
A personal experience creates a passion
It’s important to have a personal connection to your issue. Sometimes having a personal experience is what makes something your passion. This is how TOMS started. In 2006, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie was travelling in Argentina and there he saw many things that were difficult for the people there – like children who did not have shoes. What he saw and felt stuck with him and he came up with the idea to create a business that would be able to provide shoes to children who needed them.
Over time ideas grow, change is created and impacts are bigger than imagined
I also talk about the idea that most people who create big change don’t start out with the idea of changing the world, but their impact gets bigger over time and for some, it is bigger than anyone ever imagined. Blake set out with the hope of being able to provide shoes and as you now know, the impact that he has had has grown to include sight, water and safe births for mothers and babies in huge numbers.
It takes a community of support to create change
Every person who has bought a pair of TOMS shoes, eyewear or a bag is part of this celebration of great change. I know a lot of people who really think about the impact that they can make everyday and making purchases that create change go a long way. It feels good to know that when you buy something that you need, someone else is getting something that they need.
TOMS also has partnerships with more than 100 organizations and businesses in more than 70 countries that support their work. The One for One giving model begins when you buy your shoes and then the partners step in to make sure that the right shoes make their way to the children who need them. You can read about the process of making it happen on the TOMS website here. It’s a huge community that makes this kind of change happen.
I should tell you that I don’t have a personal relationship with TOMS, but I do have their shoes. They have a special hashtag #travellingTOMS that you can use to share where your TOMS are taking you and I can tell you that my #travellingTOMS have taken me to WE Day and I’ve just ordered a new pair that are taking me to Kenya.
Congratulations to Blake, the team at TOMS and all of the partners that have been part of the huge change that all began when an issue became a passion.
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