My Life in the Shoe Business

** Speech given at Toastmasters**

                Off and on for about fifteen years I was employed with various shoe companies in a variety of capacities: a salesman, differing levels of management, and as a district trainer.  People employed in this industry are notoriously known as party animals, for acting a little off-center, and, in spite of all this, hard workers and great salespeople.  Because of this, I will offer a glimpse in to my life as a salesman in the wonderful world of footwear.  Hopefully by the conclusion of my speech, I will have provided enough information for you to draw your own conclusions as to who we are.  Are you ready?  Here we go…

                The shoe industry is a tough market to work in dependent on the job capacity of the person involved.  Thankfully each job I held prepared me for the next.  As a result, my skillset was added to constantly and always under the refiner’s fire, getting honed and perfected on an almost daily basis.  As a true salesman, I had risen to the top of the field in the Houston market.  The greatest achievement was building a clientele book with customers who would only shop with me, regardless of which company I worked for.  Many of these customers shopped only one time a year, spending thousands of dollars at a pop.  I was such a great salesman, a friend jokingly told me I could sell shoes to a double amputee.  This gave cause for a laugh until the day it actually happened.  About mid-morning my co-worker and I were standing in front of the store waiting for the next customer.  From a distance I could see this woman walking toward us carrying something rifle-style.  It was her husband’s prosthetic leg.  As she came closer, my co-worker whispered “Good luck!” and walked away chuckling.  Upon greeting her, she asked to have her husband fitted for shoes.  Keep in mind, the only part of her husband present at the moment was his fake leg.  About an hour and three pairs of shoes later, she walked out a very satisfied customer.  Hopefully her husband was too.
                Becoming a great salesman is not easy, it takes a lot of hard work.  This isn’t exclusive of salesmen, it is indicative of most roles in the shoe industry.  As a district trainer, at first I thought more had been bitten off than I could chew.  In addition to my role and responsibilities at the home store in Houston, I was also responsible for nine other stores spread across four states.  Sometimes I would even travel beyond my district to open new stores, such as a store in Green Hills Mall in Nashville, Tennessee.  The great reputation I had spent years cultivating and developing apparently had preceded me as I began traveling to more and more states beyond my area of responsibility.  A paradoxical statement to make is the job began getting easier and tougher at the same time…easier in the sense I found my stride by coming into my own, and tougher due to added responsibilities and trying to balance everything.  The toughest store opening was Northpark Mall in Dallas.  One night in particular, I walked back to the hotel with a six-pack of my favorite beer only to find I had barely popped the top before falling asleep without ever enjoying it.  Not to waste anything, I certainly enjoyed it the next morning before heading in to another brutal day on the job.
                Finally, people working in the shoe industry are notoriously known as party-animals.  On many occasions I would treat my employees with an ice cold brew while on the job, especially for a job well done or simply working on a holiday weekend.  One secret I had was to hide bottles of beer in the shoes of our slowest moving stock.  Whenever I hired someone new, I would ask him to try on a particular shoe in the stockroom and ask for feedback.  It served two purposes: first, he needed to know how the shoes fit, and the second purpose was the particular shoe he was fitting had beer in it.  The intent was for the new guy to enjoy the perks of the job, and the perks were many, not simply enjoying an adult beverage while on the clock.  For many, including myself, working in the shoe industry with the resulting lifestyle had its dark side, and it nearly killed me.
                Certainly the stories are numerous and often inappropriate to relate, especially in mixed company, but I do look back on the years in the business with fondness and nostalgia.  I would not have become the man I am today without the adventure of spending those years in the shoe industry.  In the end, I am thankful the experiences made me into a better man, and not one to remain stuck in the muck and mire of stagnation.  I have taken what was learned and implemented them in my current employment and in life beyond selling shoes.  By the way, watching Al Bundy in Married With Children is not too far from the truth.