I can’t say I know a lot about women’s footwear, besides the fact that my wife has a lot of it.
What I can say is that I respect a great idea when I see one.
New York University students Susie Levitt and Katie Shea, like many women (from what I hear), had a problem: When they had to walk around the city during work hours, high heels made their feet hurt. From Entrepreneur:
“They were killing our feet, but we didn’t want to give them up because we aren’t the tallest people out there,” says Levitt, 22. “So we came up with the idea of emergency footwear.”
Back at NYU for their senior year, Levitt and Shea designed a stylish, foldable black ballet flat with a carrying case that could be tucked in a handbag and pulled out when their dogs started to howl. They gave the shoes a catchy name, CitiSoles, and a reasonable price, $24.99.
Things really lined up nicely for these two entrepreneurs, who (not considering tuition) had a wealth of free help at their fingertips. The school offered them a library for research and development. Business professors could serve as consultants. NYU had lawyers who would work with the students pro bono. And what school’s public relations and marketing department, knowing a couple of their own students have a brilliant business idea, wouldn’t want to promote the living heck out of it?
Sure enough, the two were able to acquire intellectual property rights for CitiSoles, formed the company, called CitySlips, began selling, and landed articles in numerous articles in various media outlets, including the New York Times and (obviously) Entrepreneur…and offshoot blog posts such as this one, of course.
How cool.
As a man, I can’t say I’d ever think to start a women’s shoe company. The story of Levitt and Shea is not only a case of people being in the “right place at the right time,” because executing a plan like this takes smarts. Entrepreneurship like they display is rare, and it’s not for everyone. Who knows where it will lead these women in their lives. Heck…their lives are just beginning.
We enjoy hearing about entrepreneurial success stories. If you have a story you’d like to share — particularly if you have overcome a business challenge or took advantage of the market like Susie Levitt and Katie Shea did, simply go to the “tell us yours” page and submit yours. We’d love to hear from you.
