Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Neely Woodson Powell of Charleston Shoe Company Is Helping To Change Our World
Keep Persevering: Keep working hard, hustle, and always try something three times. We love new opportunities; we grow from challenges, and we are always pivoting!
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neely Woodson Powell.
Founder of the now iconic national footwear brand Charleston Shoe Company, Neely Powell is the mind behind the ever growing retail brand. Since opening the first store about 25 years ago in Savannah, they have expanded nationwide to dozens of major cities. Charleston Shoe Company’s unique features consist of their treaded soles, elastic straps, washability, and bold designs, which has earned the company a loyal following across the country. Their shoes have been sold in more than 800 boutiques across the U.S., which highlights the mass appeal of their footwear.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career pat
I’m not sure what came first the shoe or my entrepreneurial spirit…but by some wonderful stroke of luck the 2 merged about 26 years ago.
My mother founded a furniture business called Worlds Away and as child I would often go with her to visit her factory in the Mexican village of San Miguel de Allende. In 1996 while on one of these trips, I discovered and fell in love with a pair of charming & magically comfortable shoes with flexible rubber soles and fabric uppers. I made friends with artisan cobbler Santiago who crafted them and shortly after I started importing the shoes. I would sell them at my mother’s furniture shows across the country, where I realized women were walking around with uncomfortable shoes! For a decade I sold shoes at these markets and out of the trunk of my car.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
I think the most interesting would be how it all came together and began.
As I continued to sell these shoes at trade shows and trunk shows across the country. It felt like an obligation to bring this joy to women. You have to realize in the 90’s comfort was a bad word when it came to footwear. People would go crazy show after show…because now they could have both cure and comfort. It was always crazy fun chaos…like Philenes Basement. For 12 years though I had a failing business. I was working at Worlds Away at the same time and I didn’t think about money or margins in the shoe business. I was in my 20s and I got this crazy joy out of watching people’s reactions when they tried on the shoes. I also didn’t have a cell phone and barely a computer. I’d fax orders to Mexico for 60 pairs of black shoes a d receives 100 pairs of yellows one. The problems intensified & I took a break from the business, and it wasn’t until I was in my 30s after having my daughter that I decided I was going to figure out how to make the business work correctly. I also went back to school for shoe design at SCAD. I realized Savannah had 16 million tourists a year and I thought, why don’t I sell shoes in a retail store and name it the Savannah Shoe Co.? My shoes could be a souvenir. Women would love to buy a shoe instead of a coffee mug from Paula Deen. And if I received 100 yellow pairs, I could sell that individually to tourists. The problem became an opportunity for a new way to do this business. And it worked. These customers became the pied pipers of our shoes. The word of mouth was viral. And within the first year I had 3 stores!
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My father always said in business & life there are never problems, there are always opportunities. I have tried very hard to build my business on that premise, as an entrepreneur you must learn and grow from your mistakes to make your business stronger.
In 2015 I had grown my business to about 10 stores. My bookkeeper at the time was my trusted colleague, who ran the business while I was traveling and opening stores. One day I realized my bank account was empty. She had managed to steal around 500,000 in a matter of a year, because I relinquished too much control and trusted her too much. I was determined to fix this and make the company whole again so we got on the road and sold shoes until we could make payroll and rent.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
When COVID struck, I had recently expanded my brick & mortar footprint from 14–32 stores. We were coming into season just when we were forced to close all 32 stores. I had to furlough over 200 employees that were my family. I saw all the hard work that our healthcare and frontline providers were doing, and we coincidentally had just created a line for the medical profession. In an effort to help these women and start bringing my employees back to work, I decided to start donating shoes to all these hospitals around the country. We donated thousands of shoes to nurses and doctors at hospitals across the country so that they would have comfortable shoes while they were tirelessly working on their feet for hours on end. It was rewarding in so many ways as I was also able to bring back many of my furloughed employees by putting them in charge of the donations and sending them out to those in need. My employees were inspired, and we found that nurses during COVID would get free pizza and other nice things, but a woman getting a free pair of shoes is a different reaction, we coined it “Shoe Joy”. They were just so excited to have a gift like that and to have something to take them away from the traumas they were facing daily. We gave half a million dollars’ worth of shoes during COVID when my stores were all closed, and I had no money coming in. We continue to do that because it brings so many people joy. We also team up with an amazing non-profit called Soles4Souls (https://url.emailprotection.link/?bYMQhRwAHh-xYqImjE8YTmm2RmastCtmbGbaCk8LYe1-To-cnCQlLir1imzvDHBdKgIk0hqIQo5TfkuegMk5bwA~~), which gives shoes to entrepreneurs trying to start their own businesses. They’ll sell shoes to make money to start their business. That’s paying it forward and that’s an amazing thing.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I still to this day work in my stores every chance I get because I must know what my customer needs and wants. As a woman who makes shoes for women you have to be able to hear them and see what they need. They are my main inspiration!
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
A) Leadership is showing up and being a positive role model and understanding leader who listens to their employees and works together as a team to find mutual success. I am fortunate to have grown my company to over 180 female employees and 60 cobblers, and I remain involved in every aspect of the business from managing stores, opening new stores, designing shoes, HR, marketing, finance, to taking out the garbage — you name it. The only way to maintain the positive company culture is to be a part of it, and that’s what Leadership is all about. I want everyone to enjoy what they are doing and thrive off those relationships with similar employee’s visions and ideas.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
A) Keep Persevering: Keep working hard, hustle, and always try something three times. We love new opportunities; we grow from challenges, and we are always pivoting!
B) Do What You Love: I always tell my employees this — what we do for work encompasses so much of our daily lives, so make sure that you are doing something that you love. Find that thing that you are both good at and passionate about. By focusing on those key elements for your career, you will find your self-worth and confidence. As an entrepreneur I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world because I get to do what I love. You do this more than half of your life, and life is too short to do something you don’t enjoy.
C) Don’t be afraid to go back to school: As I mentioned earlier, I took time away when I started a family, and then decided to go back to school at Savannah College of Art & Design to really hone in on shoe design and merchandising. I enjoyed my time at SCAD where I learned how to physically make shoes which gives me such an appreciation for the hard work and talent that all our cobblers have. I have so much respect for our artisans, and this is where the true comfort of our line comes from.
D) Don’t Just Follow Trends: While at SCAD I also learned that trends are not the best route to go! Many of my classmates were creating trends in the accessories department and I realized then that the best product was a timeless and classic shoe.
E) Know Your Audience: We are designed and made by women for women. We have been a comfort brand for over 25 years, and we are still stylish when comfort lines were a “bad word” in the industry. It never ceases to amaze me when a customer tries on a shoe for the first time, and they realize how comfortable they really are AND they are machine washable heels! Knowing our audience comes from years of listening to their wants and needs and applying what we learn to the brand itself.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A) I would love to continue to expand upon the work that I do with SOLES4SOULS and supporting women in business. As a female entrepreneur who was lucky to be raised by another female entrepreneur, I know just how impactful women-led businesses can be, but also understand that many women around the world lack the resources and support systems to create opportunity for themselves. Sometimes all we need is someone to believe in you and give you a chance, and that’s what my work with SOLES4SOULS does — we provide the merchandise and opportunity for women to create their own destinies. This year alone we donated over 7,000 pairs of shoes to women in developing countries like Haiti and Honduras so that they can build their own entrepreneurial empowering businesses. The Charleston Shoe Co’s donation of 7,000 shoes can create $64,074 of economic opportunity to families around the world, providing a full year of consistent, quality food, housing and education.
To date we have given over 2 million worth of shoes since 2020!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A) My favorite life quote and one that I apply to my business is that “Success occurs when Opportunity meets Preparation and Hard Work”. My biggest bit of advice to entrepreneurs is to know their audience and network their community. I attribute my success to directly engaging with the brand’s fanbase of wonderful women who love shoes, while also networking and forming mentorships with other entrepreneurs and business owners. I believe that every business is a people’s business, I don’t care what it is, and you’ve got to know how to talk to people and bridge all those gaps. Listening to and designing shoes based on my customer’s and employee’s feedback has been so important. They are my lifeline and together we are constantly creating new things.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can shop our website and find a local store or boutique online here:
as well as follow us on IG here:
https://www.instagram.com/charlestonshoeco
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Neely Woodson Powell of Charleston Shoe Company Is Helping To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.