What's up rebels- thank you for your open minds.
I love this community which is explorative, fun, and courageous in a lot of ways. Over the years that I've been paying attention, I've noticed that people who are interested in barefoot shoes are generally interested in many other areas of health, and they use the same holistic approach of looking for root causes rather than just quick fixes. I try to do the same. Thank you for leading the way and hope that together we can inspire many more.
I’ve been wearing barefoot shoes exclusively for the last two years, consistently for the last four, but got my first pair about eight years ago (on accident). I know many of you have been wearing barefoot shoes for much longer.
I played professional hockey and came to barefoot shoes in my training. As is common for many of us, as I started wearing them more, my body started craving them more too, and I wore them outside of the gym and in my personal life. Today I have Vivos, Xeros, Feelgrounds, Earthrunners, Altras, Kinis, crappy amazon pairs (lol) , Splay Athletics, Lems, and have tried on Flux.
After years of being disappointed with shoes on the market, I’ve started a company of my own that is in the process of launching. There just aren’t enough good options, and I know many of you agree too, I've seen it on comment sections and had many conversations with like minded folks.
I believe first and foremost, to be a great shoe, it has to be an extremely performant. It must be constructed with quality materials, and be properly shaped. There are actually few barefoot shoe companies, in my opinion, that are not flopping on one or both of these metrics.
Next, I want it to look great, which is easier said than done, but in sampling, we already have a shoe that I would choose over most options on the market.
Because I have a background in athletics, my first shoe will be an athletic shoe. My inspiration is Adidas Ultraboosts, various APL models, Nike Frees (the old ones), and a Salomon trail running shoe. I want the shoe to be something I can wear well with my athleisure clothing, that can perform in the gym and look great casually.
If we can make a shoe that is as versatile as possible, more people will spend more time in it. The more time people spend in barefoot shoes as opposed to traditional shoes on the market, the better off more people will be, IMO.
Lastly, I’d like for them to come in at a reasonable price-point. Vivos are getting very expensive for many people, selling for $150 + tax and shipping that will take a month+. The problem is that nobody is offering a competitive alternative. I’d like to start closer to $100. We just need people to feel what it is like and I want to lower as many barriers as possible.
I hope you will join me on my mission, and will at least follow along so you can offer your feedback. You will never hurt my feelings, and I will always be listening to how I can improve. Tolos are for you, and always will be.
To your health!