Lauren Rundquist

Audio transcript

I knew I was a good painter and I knew I liked shoes and particularly TOMS because of the whole charitable aspect of them and I just sort of came up with the idea to start painting TOMS with custom artwork. So, I just posted something on my FB page one day and just said, ‘hey, I’m going to start painting TOMS, if anyone has a pair they’d like me to paint, I’d paint them for free. If you just want to give me the shoes…’ So, I did that. And then I was eventually able to charge money and then just continue to raise prices. Within the first six months, I had sold shoes to customers on six continents and had sold over two hundred pairs and it really just took off on its own.

I’ve gotten to speak with people all across the world and create custom pairs of shoes and their vision, things that are really special to them. Hopefully they’ll share them with others and they’ll bring a smile to other people’s faces as well. I’ve gotten just an outpouring of support from the entrepreneurial community in Columbia and just people in Columbia are just so supportive of a young individual following her passions to create a business. They are willing to go out of their way to share my story and share my product and give me advice and encouragement. And now I’m just looking forward to continuing doing what I’m doing and just grow LaQuist to be as great as I can make it.

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