Meet Shoechainz | Footwear Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shoechainz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shoechainz, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started my business just because of a need to stand out. I was in college at an HBCU and I noticed that everyone had the same sense of taste and style in shoes as I did. I would get dressed to go to class and I would notice that almost everyday someone else was wearing the same shoes I had on.. and/or they had almost the same outfit as I had on. This prompted me to start customizing my shoes so that they stood out! I customized my shoes and it started to get others attention an this is where a business was born. Little by little my classmates would ask me to customize their shoes and I would charge them. Once I noticed an opportunity to create and make money the “Shoechainz Brand” was born.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I look at myself as an all around artist/creator. I started painting on shoes first to change them then realized I wanted and could do more. This opened my brain to deconstructing and reconstructing shoes. After I learned how to deconstruct and reconstruct, the next step was creating my own shoe from scratch! I started going down a journey of learning how to make shoes from scratch which opened up another avenue of making clothes, bags and more. While learning to make shoes from scratch I had to find the correct compounds to make the outsole, midsoles and other accessories you’ll see on a shoe or bag. I learned most of this from going to school at SCAD in Savannah GA and Youtube. This is what sets me apart from other creators, I go above and beyond the creation of sneakers, bags, clothes and all around art. I am proud of how I can create just about anything I want from the comfort of my own home. I’ve learned how to make foam molds, plastics, glow in the dark and sun reactive materials. It wasn’t easy to learn what ive learned, the 10,000 hour of mastery was a factor of growth and a lot of money from school and personal purchases. This journey took a lot of time away from my family and friends and of course it set me back financially. I ran into alot of issues while testing different sewing patterns and mold creations. A lesson I learned along the way is that you don’t have to limit yourself! We are so afraid of the unknown and we tend to limit new opportunity and experiences for fear of not being good enough or having imposter syndrome. This will hold you back from your next path to success, I learned to take any opportunity I felt would get me to the next level and not be closed minded. I want the world to know that I am a creator looking to make products that tells the stories of our people around the world and this is only the beginning.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to some of my favorite Thai, Vietnamese soup places and Caribbean cuisines. We would play some video games and we catch up, go to the gym and get a great workout with the sauna and some heavy weights, possibly play some basketball if we can find a good run, come back and shower and get some high protein foods to feed the muscles, then find some spots to go out. These places will most likely be somewhere in the city depending on what we’re in the mood for. This could involve us going to a prime location like Atlantic Station or a delicious hole in the wall restaurant.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give credit to the creator, to my family, to my mentors and to the culture. God and my family set the foundation of who I am and my mentors and culture helped guide me to my next steps. Having a strong foundation allowed me to not be moved by other people because it is easy to get lost in the worlds opinions. My mentors help give me tips on what to avoid based off of the mistakes they made or mistakes that I might encounter.

Website: https://www.leshoechainz.com

Instagram: Le_Shoechainz

Youtube: Le_Shoechainz

Other: Twitch: Le_Shoechainz

Image Credits
All those images are my images.