Since their humble beginnings, TOMS shoes has given away 60 million pairs of shoes. And guess what? TOMS has only been around for 10 years! How did this all begin?
TOMS Shoes
TOMS shoes founder and chief shoe giver, Blake Mycoskie, was traveling in Argentina in 2006 when he noticed the hardships children faced by not having shoes. As a successful entrepreneur, Blake came up with a business concept to create a for-profit business that would provide children in need shoes all around of the world…without relying on donations.
His idea? For every pair of TOMS shoes bought, a pair would be given away to children in need.
He started his business out of his apartment. Ten years ago, when Blake was being interviewed, he commented on how mobile his business was. He didn’t need to be sitting in his home office. He could be mobile – taking calls, creating shoe concepts and sending them through email, and managing contracts all through his phone.
Blake could truly be traveling the world and still be in tune with his business without missing a step. AT&T saw the interview and decided to create a global commercial highlighting TOMS, their desire to give shoes to kids around the world, and how important mobile access is for Blake’s business (Blake is an AT&T customer).
“A Walk In Their Shoes” VR experience
The commercial resonated with customers and sales took off through the roof. Blake no longer works out of his apartment and his partnership with AT&T has only grown stronger.
Now, ten years later, AT&T is celebrating the TOMS anniversary and using their network and technology to take us on a giving trip to Colombia, which shows an actual TOMS customer seeing the impact of his purchase firsthand. It’s a brilliant idea, really.
To make it feel like you’re there, the video was shot to take advantage of 360 degrees in Virtual Reality (VR). Virtual Reality is an immersive storytelling method that when viewed using VR goggles, it’s as if you are there in the story with them. With AT&T’s fast network, streaming this video will be super easy.
So when you watch it on YouTube on your mobile phone, you have the option of seeing it normally, in 360, or using VR goggles. I watched the video normally and enjoyed how a skateboarder from Southern California got to meet a hardworking deserving child from Colombia . But once I pulled out my cardboard VR goggles, the story became even more fascinating.
I could watch the giving story unfold before me, but I could also look behind me and see kids sitting on the curb watching the boy learn how to skateboard. A door was open to a house, so I peered down the hallway for a glimpse inside. I looked up and saw the blue skies of Colombia . How fascinating!
What an immersive way to watch this video. Now it’s your turn!
How to Watch This Video without VR Goggles
If you don’t have any VR goggles you can still watch the video…
- As long as you watch the video on your phone and press the goggles picture on the YouTube video itself, you can still turn your phone all around you and see the full 360 degree effect of the video. Try it, it’s really cool.
- If you’re watching this video on your PC or Mac, you can click and hold on the video, then move it up, down, right, or left. You can do a complete 360 degrees to see everything going on in the video. Slick.
Free VR Goggles!
Now I know most you don’t own VR viewer, but no worries. TOMS shoes is giving away a cardboard VR viewer free (up to 100,000 of them) with a shoe purchase on their site. So you can get a pair of TOMS shoes, give a pair of TOMS shoes, and score yourself your own VR viewer, that’s cool!
TOMS shoes continues to empower kids worldwide with free shoes…and now even eyeglasses. And AT&T has powered TOMS every step of the way from TOMS small start in Blake’s apartment to its high speed internet in their offices and manufacturing plants.
When I think of Blake’s start, working out of his apartment and traveling around the world while running his business solely using his AT&T mobile service, it makes me pause and realize how I have used technology to allow me to run WellConnectedMom without missing a beat while traveling.
In fact, my phone and tablet are the main reasons why I have grown our social network to over 32,000 followers.
How Technology Empowers My Business
Worldwide Travel
I don’t write about my travels much on Well Connected Mom, but I am an avid traveler. Every summer our family takes a big vacation. If we can swing it, we love to travel overseas.
When I’m gone, I need to ensure that two articles are published every week for The Well Connected Mom. To do this, I write my articles ahead of time and either pre-schedule them to post or publish them while on the road, that way I can make adjustments if need be.
The program I use to write our articles is mobile – I can use my phone, tablet, or laptop to keep up-to-date with our latest articles.
We get tons of email at The Well Connected Mom, but with my mobile phone, I am able to reply to email’s usually within a day or two. I never see the need to post an “out of the office” auto email response, because I can respond back almost as easily in Russia in the early morning (before the family awakes) than I can from my office.
I also love that I can delete unnecessary emails while on the road so I’m not faced with an avalanche of emails upon my return.
Being in the Moment
Being social is one of the fun aspects of being a blogger. In fact, I have the most fun with social media when I’m traveling. I have used my cellphone for years as my main connection to sharing my experiences with my friends and followers.
Since starting on Twitter in 2008 and Facebook in 2009, I have been using my phone to capture moments in time to share what I’ve been up to.
Then came along Pinterest, Google +, Instagram, Periscope, and now Snapchat. All of these mobile apps allow followers to have a more personal glimpse who I am, which is harder to tell from reading the online pages of the Well Connected Mom.
I depend on my mobile phone heavily when reporting on the latest tech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo), and other conventions.
It gives me the ability to give our audience a “live” inside scoop on what new technology or video games are coming out, rather than have to wait until I publish when I get back. I love the expediency social media (and a good reliable mobile network) brings!
I also love the interaction and approachability that social media fosters. In the old days, a letter or phone call was the only way you could get a hold of someone, and if you don’t know the person well, a response was unlikely. But not so with social media. Not only is a response of some sort possible, but it is usually very timely as well.
We have had partnership opportunities present themselves through social media channels, as well as the chance to help readers with tech questions.
I pinch myself now and them to remind me of how fortunate we are to live in a time where you can conduct your business from anywhere in the world. Barriers that once existed to prohibit this are gone. Mobile phones have given people “wings” where they were once held captive to their desks.
TOMS is truly a shining example of how a business can take off with the right amount of heart, determination, and technology backbone that allows for mobility and speed.
If you haven’t already, take a moment to follow this link to the AT&T + TOMS “A Walk in Their Shoes” VR experience – watch it on your phone and move your phone all around you to take advantage of the video’s 360 degrees footage, it’s truly amazing.
Are you an over scheduled mom with little time to figure out technology? Or are you a technology guru who loves sharing tips with others?
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