I never set out to make shoes. I am a tall woman who wears US size 12 shoes. For over 25 years, I struggled buying shoes. I had just two alternatives: buy something trendy but too tight or buy a comfortable but clunky pair. I would walk into shoe stores and I could tell, the few shoes they had in US size 12 and above were afterthoughts. It seemed normal that everyone else could find the perfect fit without giving up on style, elegance or comfort but I could not.

Until it was not...

Something finally snapped when I walked into a shoe store in April 2023 to buy a new pair of shoes for a conference. The customer associate told me with pity that they had never stocked shoes in my size!

I believe shoes are an essential part of clothing. They complement our dress code and say a lot about who we are and our lifestyle.

And that is when I decided to make shoes for women just like me. I believe there are millions of hardworking professional women who want comfortable AND fashionable shoes. Vivianni is a brand for these women and I.

Vivianni’s shoes are not for everyone. I believe shoes are an essential part of clothing. They complement our dress code and say a lot about who we are and our lifestyle. But they are not collectors’ items either. I do not need more than a dozen good pairs of shoes at any time. I am also not in a hectic race to sell cheap shoes just to meet every passing fashion trend or to make quick profits. I care about where and how Vivianni’s shoes will be made. It is important to me that the workers make a decent living wage to support their families. I care about the impact the process of making our shoes makes on the environment today and long into the future.

So here are a number of guiding principles Vivianni is built on:

1. We will use as much natural and breathable materials as possible. We will get better every year as we know better and better materials are tested and become commercially available.
2. We will partner with manufacturers who pay living wages to their workers.
3. Small is beautiful. Our team will grow only as our customers grow in number but we will remain a small company at heart. I want to know my team by their first names. I don’t want business to consume our lives till we have nothing of value left but a bank account.

I will pour everything I have learned in 30 years of my professional career into Vivianni. I expect that I will succeed in some ways and fail in others. Every month, I will record a 5-minute podcast on Spotify sharing what worked, what didn’t and what I learned in the process. I hope some of you will be on the same entrepreneurial journey with me. Let’s learn from each other’s successes and failures as we go along.