-Next on "Start Up," we head to Charleston, South Carolina, to meet up with Neely Powell, the owner of Charleston Shoe Company, a business that provides women with comfortable and stylish shoes.

All this and more is next on "Start Up."

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♪♪ ♪♪ -My name is Gary Bredow.

I'm a documentary filmmaker and an entrepreneur.

As the country focuses on recovery, small-business owners everywhere are still fighting to keep their dream alive.

So we set out to talk to a wide range of diverse business owners to better understand how they've learned to adapt, innovate, and even completely reinvent themselves in this ever-changing world.

♪♪ This is "Start Up."

♪♪ Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand by a group of shoemakers, or cobblers.

In the 18th century, dozens of masters, journeymen, and apprentices would work together in a shop, dividing the work into individual tasks.

A customer would come in, get measured, and return to pick up their shoes in as little as a day.

Today, I'm heading to Charleston, South Carolina, to meet up with Neely Powell, the founder of Charleston Shoe Company, a business that employs cobblers to make her custom-designed shoes by hand one at a time.

I'm excited to meet Neely and learn more about how she started this successful business.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Let's walk through the store.

Show me some of your items here that -- some of your favorites.

-I'll show you this item because this is the first shoe that I ever sold 22 years ago.

-First ever?

-First ever.

This shoe was made to walk on the cobblestone streets in San Miguel, Mexico, uphill, downhill.

So it's kind of like a tennis shoe.

-Yeah.

-But it's a sandal.

So we call that the original cobblestones to cocktail shoe.

-Yeah, it looks almost like a combat boot on the bottom.

-Combat cocktail shoe.

-Yeah, you are ready for battle to get the drink.

-Exactly, that's it.

And then I'd say this is probably our best-selling shoe now.

I have it on this foot, but this looks like an espadrille.

-Yes.

-But it's rubber, so it never frays, it lasts forever.

The rubber is great because it's good for your knees and your back.

And then these straps are stretchy, so narrow feet, wide feet, bunions, the works.

-Works for everyone.

-Everyone.

It is the magic shoe.

-What is the price point on the shoes?

-The shoes range from about $75 to $135, and then our boots are $150, so... -And, I mean, they last kind of forever.

-They -- literally have a pair I've had 20 years, so... -Amortize the cost over a 30-year period.

-That's right.

-What are you paying?

-And they're machine washable, so... -I love the design of the store, the full aesthetic in here.

It makes you want to smile.

-Right.

Oh, good.

I love that.

Shoe joy.

-What is Charleston Shoe Company?

-I started this company about 24 years ago out of the backseat of my car, literally importing shoes from Mexico in my suitcases.

It's all about comfort.

It's all about still feeling cute and fun.

And, you know, we like to say that our stores are like your best friend's closet or going into a big, fun shoe party.

The majority of it is all designed by me.

Your favorite shoe comes in 50 colors if you want it.

So it's like Baskin-Robbins for your feet.

-Let's go back to the very early days.

Tell me about yourself.

-So I grew up in the Florida Keys.

When we were living in the Keys, my mom started a furniture business in central Mexico, so we started going there a lot more frequently for work for her.

And I met my cobbler when I was 16.

He was making shoes in about a 50-square-foot space, and we bought shoes.

And every time we went back, we bought more and more, and then we just started filling up suitcases full of shoes.

And when I was in college, I would go to furniture markets with my mother to make extra money, and I would take the shoes with me and sell them out from underneath her tables in the furniture markets.

By the time I got out of college, I probably had about 200 wholesale accounts, and I wholesaled the line for a few years.

I had three other jobs at the time, so this was definitely a side hustle.

And then when I was 31 with my 1-year-old on my side, I went back to school and took shoe design and launched this line in 2011.

-It's always been shoes.

-It's always been shoes.

I mean, pretty much.

I still use the same cobbler today that I've known for 24 years.

-Wow.

-And his family now runs the business, all of his children, who I've grown up with 'cause I've known them my whole life.

-When did this become, like, a real -- you know, a real thing, your own thing?

-This store, I opened in October of 2011.

I borrowed first and last month's rent for my mother.

I had about four styles in four colors.

I put them on the shelves and, you know, I think -- I thought the saying was, "build it, they will come."

Well, that didn't happen down here.

And so I would stand out on the street wearing two different shoes, and either people will walk by and feel sorry for me and come in, or they would say, "This is so much fun," and they'd come in.

So, you know, one by one, I'd sell a pair of shoes and I was like, "Oh, my God, I can pay the light bill today."

So it was it was a daily -- each shoe was a daily progression to the next level.

Okay, we can buy another pair of shoes.

We can -- you know?

And so about four months later, I opened another store.

And then a year later, I opened another store, and then a year later, I opened two more stores and just the momentum just kept going upward.

-Like, what do you contribute to that early success?

Because that's a really rare story to hear.

I contribute it all to my customers.

They would walk out in a pair of shoes.

An hour later, I'd have three new customers that say, "I saw this woman wearing shoes.

She said they're the best thing ever," or "I saw this woman at dinner, she let me try them on."

It really just took off and it just got in the water and things just kept going.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Tell us your name and the first time, I guess, that you stumbled into this beautiful store.

-Well, my name is Kim Clemens.

First time I stumbled in was we had just moved here from the Northeast, and I'm always looking for shoes because I've always had problems with my feet.

And so it took a while, but I finally came in and I bought my first pair and realized I could wear them from morning till night, like all day without my feet hurting.

-How many pairs of shoes do you own from here?

-Well, I randomly skimmed my closets today.

Just under 70, but I probably missed a few.

I'm really on restriction.

My husband, two months back, said I had like 80 pairs of shoes and couldn't buy anymore, but I said, "I don't have that many."

He caught me one day when I was in here with Neely.

Yes.

-Busted.

-Yes.

-What do you say to somebody who's never tried on a pair of these shoes before?

-That they should try them, and that there's all different styles, and I get many compliments on them.

So I take them trav-- I mean, mostly for travel.

So I wear them all day and all night, and -- but people will stop and they'll compliment me.

-Nice.

So at that point, how many stores do you have?

I guess what was it, 13, 14 or something?

Did you just keep adding and adding and adding.

-I did.

I think we opened 14 stores in 2019, which was probably the wrong year to do that.

-When do you know what's the right time?

Do you have to hit a certain revenue mark?

Do you have to, you know, not be able to cater to the existing customers you have, so you need another location?

-I think as an entrepreneur, it's really never about the revenue mark, at least for me.

I mean, it was always just about where can we go next and what new things can we bring new customers in new areas, and I would have a lot of customers.

I mean, we started doing trunk shows and traveling the country, and we'd go to different places and sample different markets.

And if it took off there, we'd open a store there.

And it was really about providing this fun, exciting, different retail experience to that customer in these different places.

Like, we all wear two different shoes in all of our stores because we want people to come in -- -I just -- [ Laughs ] -Yeah, yeah.

-Just noticed.

-We want people to come in and feel at ease.

-Mm-hmm.

-We don't want anyone to feel intimidated.

We don't want them to feel anything less like they're in their best friend's closet.

♪♪ ♪♪ -For people that don't know what it is, explain exactly what a trunk show is.

-When we first started, we were doing a lot of women's events -- Christmas shows, for fundraisers, junior league events.

Basically, we just pop up a table, bring the boxes in, unload the shoes, and women go crazy, so... -Kind of like flea market style.

-It's exactly like a flea market style.

-Shoes -- it's a very crowded, competitive space, right?

What's the hook?

How do you get somebody that walks up, knows nothing about it?

What's the selling point?

-We are more your best friend trying to find a shoe for you to make you happy.

I'm not going to sell you something that -- just to sell it.

I'm going to go through all 60 styles and make you try it on and say, "I like that on your skin tone.

I don't like that on your --" you know?

"I think you look like you're really colorful and this would be perfect for you," or, you know, you get to know them.

So it's more fun in the aspect of you get to -- you're trying to find a shoe for your best friend.

-You're still working with the same family of cobblers in Mexico from the time you were 16 years old, right?

So the big question -- does the cobbler's kids have shoes?

I got to know.

-They do.

They have lots of them.

-Okay, they do.

-They have a lot more than my child.

[ Laughs ] -Talk about visiting there.

Talk about the folks that are actually making these shoes.

-I met our cobbler when I was 16.

Him and his wife, unfortunately, we lost both of them to COVID.

-Oh, my gosh.

-The parents in January.

And so that was obviously hard.

They were my family.

You know, I was the first phone call that the daughter made, to me, because they are like my parents, and we have we've had just an incredible long relationship and really have changed so many things in Mexico for so many people that are there.

I mean, we went from two cobblers to now 80.

You know, we're providing so many jobs and so many creative, fun jobs, as well.

-Yeah.

-And the children, the oldest one is my age.

And, you know, we've had a long, long relationship.

You know, our children are friends, and it is such a relationship.

There is no way to do it any differently.

-Nice.

-And I think that creates such a trust between the two of us to create different things for each other, which really -- which really resonates in the designs of the shoes and the quality of the shoes and what exactly we're selling.

We're not just selling the lifestyle and the family here.

We're selling our our extended family in Mexico.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Tell me about the warehouse.

When did you acquire this?

What happens there?

-This warehouse we've had for about five years.

-Okay.

-We have about 25,000 square feet of shoes and about -- -25,000 square feet of shoes?

-Yes.

-Of inventory?

-Of inventory.

-Amazing.

-And then about 3,000 square feet of offices.

So all of our corporate staff is housed there.

-This is a really big operation you're running, isn't it?

Are you in any stores?

-Yes.

We have about 400 retailers that we also sell to.

-Oh, my gosh.

-We saw the J.Crew.

We do a nice business with QVC.

We actually converted some of the offices during COVID into an outlet, so we... -Nice.

-There's, like, the old marketing office is now size 8, and we had a bunch of us during COVID matching up onesies, which, if you've ever been in the shoe industry, your biggest nightmare of anything is onesies, meaning someone left with a size 7 and size 8 and then they never get matched up with their soul mate again.

-Oh, no.

Lost souls.

-I have boxes and boxes of lost souls.

♪♪ ♪♪ -So, I'm Peri Sheppard, I am the director of sales operations, so I'm kind of the crossover between, like, inventory, but also product development and behind the scenes as far as our stores getting their shoes, our consumers getting their shoes, and keeping our inventory incoming from our factory.

-You have a lot of responsibilities here.

-Yeah.

-Is this something that you always kind of wanted to go into or a role you fell into?

-When I started as just working in the warehouse, I used to unpack our boxes from Mexico as part of my job, and I didn't really know where it was going to go.

But Neely was good about just asking me, like, what did I want?

What did I want to do to grow?

And we just kept kind of building together, and now it's become a career that I didn't really expect.

-So, in terms of sale -- like, monthly sales, where you guys -- I mean, you don't have to expose all your accounting here, but... -Yeah, no, we're getting back to where we were in 2019, which is about a million dollars a month.

-That's insane.

-Yeah, it's nice to see again, because obviously with COVID, it dipped, and now we're growing back up and the customers are coming back out.

-What do you think of Neely as a boss, friend?

-She's awesome.

She's like our mom.

She's our advocate.

-Mm-hmm.

-She wants the best for us.

And she -- you know, she cares about us as people.

-Yeah.

-And she calls us her daughters, and that's how we feel.

So it's nice to come to work every day and know that, you know, you obviously respect her.

She's an amazing role model, but to feel comfortable around her, as well, it's nice.

♪♪ ♪♪ -March 2020.

You know, take us back to then.

-First two weeks of March for the biggest two weeks in the company's 10-year history.

We made the decision to close all 30 stores and furlough over 280 employees, which, you know, my employees were my family.

I mean, they're all my best friends and my family, and that was probably the hardest part of the entire experience.

I permanently closed four stores, two in New York, one in Boston, one in California.

I couldn't find a way to surpass that mound.

But we tried, you know, to come up with new ideas, and we kept talking to all of our managers and our corporate staff.

We'd have weekly, if not more, you know, conference calls, fun Skype parties -- -Try to figure it out.

-Trying to figure it out.

And we started a nonprofit, because I was coming into 2020 with a new line for the medical and hospitality profession.

I had all these shows that we had signed up for and created all these shoes, and then all the shows were canceled.

So I said, "Well, I have all these shoes.

What are we going to do with them?

So we've started sending shoes to all the COVID floors in hospitals around the country.

-Just for free?

Just sending them?

-Just for free.

-What a nice gesture.

Wow.

-So we tagged it "shoe joy."

And that's really what it did.

I mean, the first time we ever donated the shoes here in Charleston, the nurses were like, "We'd get pizza from some people," but when you bring in shoes, it was like, "[ Gasps ] Oh, my gosh, shoes!"

It brought them out of that every day and brought them back to a sense of normalcy that, you know, "I'm a woman again."

Our shoes, these are great.

They're comfortable, they're fun.

So we donated, you know, over $350,000 worth of shoes.

-Wow.

-And while we were all closed.

That was our -- that was our fun.

-You must've gotten incredible feedback.

-It was -- it was great.

It was great.

There were a lot of happy shoe joy tears shed, for sure.

-Tell me about the most difficult call that you had to make when you had to furlough.

-I put that off for a while.

[ Laughs ] -Yeah.

-I didn't have the money to keep putting it off, but that was a hard one because we're all in this together and we've all been building this and we're all excited about it.

And it's been a fun journey.

Telling them that we're all going to get through this and, you know, we're going to make this and we're going to reopen and I'm not going anywhere.

I haven't been building this more than half my life to just vanish, so... -Where are you now?

Is everyone back?

-Everyone's back.

-Wow.

-Everyone's back.

-Yay.

-We're all wearing a lot more hats than we used to.

It really has made us all an even healthier, stronger family.

♪♪ ♪♪ -What do you think makes this company unique, stand out?

-I think it's we're all such a family, you know, and she gives -- Neely gives us faith and lets us saying, "Oh, you want to do this?

Okay, well, you have the reins.

This is your job.

Do it how you want."

She gives a lot of faith in, you know, "This is your company.

Treat it like your own."

And I think it's given everyone a lot of responsibility and a lot of pride in what they do.

-For other aspiring small business owners out there, what could they learn from this company and the way it operates?

-You know, it's all about the top, you know, like, the person in the top.

It's really important to stay connected with your employees, which I think, you know, Neely, the owner of our company, has done an amazing job with.

That's really important for a company, especially a start-up, that your employees are your most important factors in the company.

And you know, that's why I'm still here and will be.

[ Laughs ] -Right.

-It's because, you know, the way that we have been appreciated -- -And valued.

-And, yeah, valued.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Since the business has started, what's been the biggest challenge that you've had to overcome?

-Probably myself.

-Explain.

-I'm just a trusting individual.

And even after many, many slaps on the hand realizing that people aren't good, I still believe people are good.

-Don't give up.

-No, I'm not.

But, you know, I had a bookkeeper that stole half a million dollars from me.

-What?

-And, you know, I've had a lot of -- she got married in my backyard.

I mean, we -- you know, there are a lot of things, and I think there's this sense of a delegation that you want to say, "I can't do it all, and I love that you're here and you're part of this team, and I trust that you're going to add just as much as everyone else here."

And I'm going to delegate certain things, and you can't be everywhere at once.

-No.

-It's impossible.

In building a business, I think it's very -- trust is so important.

-Yeah.

-And those relationships that you build are so important.

And unfortunately, there's just a fine line, and I think that's been my hardest lesson.

-And the other thing is you think that they're over there doing their job, why would you have to monitor?

-Exactly.

-If you have to monitor, what's the point of hiring them?

-Exactly.

And, I mean, there may be red flags, but I think sometimes, in building a business, you're just too busy, and you want to believe if someone gets married in your backyard that that's, you know, not going to be an issue.

-Are you happy?

-Of course.

I'm happier than I was in the last week of February 2020, which should have been my happiest moment.

I feel like we got through this and it made us all stronger, and I love the business more than I've ever loved it in my life, and it put me back in touch with things, and it reminded me of why I started it in the first place, and it's been -- it's been a fun ride.

-What's the future?

How far can this go?

-I used to have these big ideas about how far it would go, and now I kind of like where we are.

I like actually having the time to interact with customers and employees.

And when we were so busy, I lost that.

I lost the interaction.

I lost the relationships.

I lost being in the office every day and laughing and all of that.

So there are a lot of things.

I'm always creating new things and there will be a lot more in the future.

But right now, I'm just enjoying the moment.

-What in your mind does it take to truly be a successful and fulfilled entrepreneur?

-I think you just can't be scared.

You just have to keep the momentum up and keep trying things over and over again.

I mean, if it's something that you believe in and that's what you want to do for the rest of your life, then why would you fail?

I mean, we have this one chance in this one life to do something we love, and what better recipe than to do something you love every day as a job?

So I just think you just have to keep trying.

-It's rare that you meet someone that's knowing exactly what they wanted to do from the time that they're very young, and that actually follows through with it, building a successful business around that original vision.

But Neely is definitely one of those people.

And she didn't just build a business.

She built a family.

I've never met a tighter-knit group of people that are so dedicated and focused on one particular goal -- to make the longest-lasting and most comfortable shoes possible.

It not only makes you want to buy her shoes, which I did, it makes you want to spread the word about her shoes to just about anyone who will listen.

With Neely's incredible drive and ambition, I have a feeling that Charleston shoe company isn't the last brilliant concept that she has up her sleeve.

For more information, visit our website and search episodes for Charleston Shoe Company.

Next time on "Start Up," we meet up with Shane and Beth Faulkner, the owners of End of Days, a distillery that produces small-batch spirits with an opportunity to tour the distillery and experience how it's all made.

Be sure to join us next time on "Start Up."

♪♪ Would you like to learn more about the show, or maybe nominate a business?

Visit our website, at startup-usa.com, and connect with us on social media.

♪♪ -♪ We got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ Got a long road ahead of us ♪ Before we pay our dues ♪ We've got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ Before we pay our ♪ Dues ♪♪ ♪♪ -Spectrum Business partners with small businesses across the country to help them achieve their goals.

With high-speed Internet, phone, TV, and mobile services, Spectrum Business provides the tools to keep you connected with your customers.

Spectrum Business.

No nonsense, just business.

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