If you are anything like me, you have spent most of your life wearing uncomfortable shoes, just to be stylish. Thanks to Neely Woodson Powell, founder of Charleston Shoe Co., there is an amazing alternative that combines style with comfort, resulting in happy feet. Where has this brand been all of my life? Charleston Shoe Co. is the brainchild of Powell, who, as a teenager, saw the need for comfort to marry style in a shoe.
Powell was raised in an entrepreneurial household, with her mother, who founded a wholesale interior furnishings store called, Worlds Away, and her father, who developed Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys. The family had a home in Central Mexico, where Powell’s mother went to furniture markets and brought her teenaged daughter along. Powell noticed how many women were struggling to walk on cobblestones at the market, while wearing uncomfortable high-heeled shoes. She saw that there was a need for practical, versatile footwear, which was also fashionable.
While still in high school, Powell met a shoe cobbler in Mexico, who made stylish, yet very walkable shoes with rubber soles. Later, in college, Powell purchased shoes from the cobbler and started selling them at the furniture markets to the very women she saw teetering on cobblestones in high heels. Throughout her twenties, Powell continued selling shoes, which were extremely popular, but she realized that she needed more training for her business to thrive.
Eventually Powell married, and had a daughter while continuing to juggle motherhood and entrepreneurship. “She grew up on my hip,” said Powell, of her now 16-year-old daughter. In 2009, at age 31, Powell went back to school to study shoe design at the Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, GA. Powell designed her own shoes that had a wedge heel and she collaborated with the cobbler in Mexico to make samples of her design. Once Powell became more knowledgeable about design and the shoe business, she decided to open her first retail store in Savannah. Several months later, Powell opened a second store in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
Along the way, Powell endured some bumps in the road, when she had only eight stores and fifty employees. “I had a bookkeeper steal half a million dollars from me. I literally found out because our factory was calling and saying you haven’t paid us.” Powell’s father told her, “No problem is ever a problem. It’s always an opportunity,” she said. This financial setback turned into an opportunity for Powell to be creative and increase sales of her shoes. “I came up with an idea to get people into my stores. I stood out on the street wearing two different shoes,” said Powell. The plan worked and became a regular sales strategy in all the stores. “I want our stores to be an experience,” Powell said. She believes that her shoes spread joy to her customers.
The popularity of Charleston Shoe Co. exploded, and Powell continued opening retail stores in Florida, and then in 2011, expanded her reach with a wholesale shoe line. There was no stopping Powell from spreading her shoe joy, and she remained as loyal and hands-on as the day she designed her first shoe. “Entrepreneurship is about relationships,” said Powell. She believes in meeting her customers in person, and still frequently spends days working in the stores, while wearing two different shoes. Charleston Shoe Co. has loyal customers who keep Powell on her toes, and she engages with them for ideas on new styles, colors, and fabrics.
Today, Powell’s company boasts sixty female cobblers among its 200 female employees. The shoes are still handmade from cork, rubber, and elastic, and many are also washable. The fact that you can throw these shoes in the washing machine is amazing, and they are also extremely durable. You can find them online, in their own retail stores, and they are also sold in more than 800 boutiques throughout the U.S.
The future of Charleston Shoe Co. knows no bounds, and Powell has already expanded to clothing and accessories that are easy to wear and complement her shoes. As if her plate is not full enough, Powell also finds time for charitable endeavors. She has partnered with the non-profit organization, SOLES4SOULS, and donated over 7,000 pairs of shoes this year, to women in developing countries. Through this initiative, Powell is also creating economic opportunities for women to develop their own businesses. This charitable work is part of the fabric of Charleston Shoe Co., which began during the pandemic, when Powell had to close many of her thirty-two stores and furlough employees. During this time, Powell donated comfortable shoes to doctors and nurses.
Pivoting is Powell’s strength, so look for her to constantly reinvent herself while always spreading shoe joy. You can count on Powell to always come up with new footwear that will, as she says, take you from walking on cobblestones to a night out drinking cocktails. When you come home, just throw your shoes in the washing machine, rinse and repeat for the next time. Now, that is happiness. https://www.charlestonshoeco.com.
