When people start serving together, they forgot about all their stress, [...] all their own problems. They start focusing on someone else's.
Blake MycoskieGiving builds loyal customers and turns those customers into supporters...You can find passion and profit and meaning all at once, right now.
Blake MycoskieWhen you're buying a pair of TOMS, if you don't feel like you're part of a community, then I've failed.
Blake MycoskieOne day, when I own a house, I'll keep a library full of books. Books are different from other possessions-they're more like friends.
Blake MycoskieThe greatest competitive advantage is to allow your employees to be part of something. Something bigger than what you're doing.
Blake MycoskieWhen you incorporate giving into your business in an authentic and transparent way, your customers become your best marketers.
Blake MycoskieNo matter how convenient it is for us to reach out to people remotely, sometimes the most important task is to show up in person.
Blake MycoskieBe tenacious. One thing that has allowed me to have some level of success is that I am fine with cold-calling people. It doesn't scare me to call someone who has no idea who I am and say I'd love to take you to lunch.
Blake MycoskieI don't think college is for everyone. School is awesome, but for me, I was learning a lot more outside the classroom in the real world than I was in school.
Blake MycoskieFacts are neutral until human beings add their own meaning to those facts. People make their decisions based on what the facts mean to them, not on the facts themselves. The meaning they add to facts depends on their current story โฆ facts are not terribly useful to influencing others. People donโt need new factsโthey need a new story.
Blake MycoskieIf you just go out and try to make money by starting a business, you're going to come up with something that's just like what everyone else has done. But if you look at the world and see opportunities that can be taken more seriously, then you come up with a great idea.
Blake MycoskieMy goal was to go back to Argentina, and give them all-all the shoes-away. Not just to give them away, but to place them on each child's foot.
Blake MycoskiePeople always ask me, when I had the idea for TOMS, did it change my life? As romantic and noble as it is, no it did not change my life. But when I went to Argentina on that first shoe-drop, it did change my life.
Blake MycoskieInstead of squirreling away your earnings early in your career, spend on experiences that will enrich your life - like diving with great white sharks. It can expose you to influential people who could open doors for you.
Blake MycoskieI don't get jet lagged that much. I'm so used to traveling and being in different places every day that I can sleep anywhere.
Blake MycoskieSomedayโ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.โฆ If itโs important to you and you want to do it โeventually,โ just do it and correct course along the way.
Blake MycoskieWho is Tom? There is no Tom. If we sell a pair of shoes today, we give away a pair of shoes tomorrow. Originally we thought of "Tomorrow's Shoes," but I could only fit "TOMS" on the label. I had no idea everybody would want to meet him. There is no Tom; it's an idea for a better tomorrow.
Blake MycoskieThe most important things are actually the easiest to obtain: great friends, good food, and a decent bottle of wine.
Blake MycoskieI surround myself with inspirational quotations. This easy-to-follow piece of advice has played a huge role in my being able to get past my own fears and insecurities throughout my entrepreneurial career.
Blake Mycoskie[People] had never heard about someone giving something away every time they sold something.
Blake MycoskieI did what I think a lot of entrepreneurs do. I started putting up a lot of ads on Craigslist for interns.
Blake MycoskieVogue Magazine does something really interesting here: They make it look like I know exactly what I'm doing. Because Vogue made it look like I knew exactly what I'm doing, stores from all over started calling.
Blake MycoskieIf you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story and then turn your story into something bigger - something that matters.
Blake MycoskieSetbacks and fear are inevitable. The thing that distinguishes the ultimate successes from the ultimate failures is this: What do you do with them?
Blake MycoskieThe most important step of all is the first step. Start something! What if that idea you have in the back of your head is a really good one, one that might end up helping tens of thousands of people? You owe it to the world ot act. Or maybe it will help only a few people: The same advice applies. If you don't do it, you are missing out on something big, and so are the people who could have been helped.
Blake MycoskieAllow your team to incorporate giving into their life through their job. Not only do employees stay around a lot longer, they do a lot more good.
Blake MycoskieGiving does not just feel good, but it's really, really good for business, and it's good for your personal brand.
Blake MycoskieWhen you have a memorable story about who you are and what your mission is, your success no longer depends on how experienced you are or how many degrees you have or who you know. A good story transcends boundaries, breaks barriers, and opens doors.
Blake MycoskieGiving feels good, but it's also good for the bottom line. Charity is a viable growth strategy for a lot of companies. Our customers get excited to be a part of what we're doing. If you ask anyone wearing Toms how they first heard about us, most won't mention an advertisement; they'll say a friend told them our story.
Blake MycoskieWhen you incorporate giving into your business, you attract the most amazing partners.
Blake MycoskieKeep it simple: own as little as you can get away with, schedule everything, keep a notebook, don't let technology enslave you.
Blake MycoskieWhen you don't know the rules, you break them all. It's hard to take big risks when you know the history of an industry and what has worked and what didn't.
Blake Mycoskie