I was invited to be on a panel at the AAFF and my initial inclination was to turn it down. The first thought was, “I’m killing it right now and selling more sneakers than I’ve sold in the last few years. Taking off a few days requires that I take off a few more days to prepare and at 15000 bucks a week at back to school time, I just can’t justify that trip.
My second thought was that at this point my fight for diversity is a personal struggle that I live on a daily basis and my existence is commentary on the problems in the industry. The outsider in me knows that not a single popular sneaker blog, or brand has ever done anything to assist me in the work I’ve done over the last 15 years. I’ve done everything almost by myself and the difficulties and failures I’ve encountered I wanted and needed help, but no one, Black, Brown or White really helped me. I was isolated not out of a lack of connections, but because no one saw the benefit of riding with me on a journey to starting sneaker companies, websites, or e-commerce businesses.
I paid for my ticket to the AAFF (which will be reimbursed when I arrive) once I realized that the universe grants opportunities for connections. I was invited, it was unexpected and then the universe said, “Let’s see if you take advantage and learn, or if you continue on your path as you always have.” Then yesterday happened. One of my mentors in education, a man I respect so much I patterned my educational style after him when I was a teacher, basketball coach and college professor, posted a picture:
That picture led to an exchange that explains now why it’s important that I attend the AAFF. Here is that exchange:
My Response: This is such a flawed picture. I paid 70,000 dollars for my AA, BA, and MFA. I left San Diego to be a college professor making a base salary of 40,000 a year at 5 classes. I had to pick up adjunct classes to clear 48,000 per year. I quit a tenure track college professor’s position to sell sneakers. The last 18 months I grossed 1 million dollars. I have video evidence if you want to see it. I have kids around me that I have schooled on buying Jordans.
Also most kids who get Jordans understand that if they keep them clean they can resell those Jordans for a lot of money. I get that people love to make light of the sneaker industry, but I’m being flown to Portland to speak at the African American Footwear Forum where we are trying to help diversify an industry where we buy most of the products, but don’t have enough representation. I recognize that kids and families that can’t afford the kicks shouldn’t overspend, but it’s a bit irresponsible to demonize the love of kicks because the industry like any collector’s business also has opportunities when kids are educated on it instead of being shamed because they love or want kicks.
BTW if the kid has all of those shoes in that picture he could easily sell that collection for over 100,000 dollars used. In short his dad could pay for his education and give him 25000 profit.
Educator’s Response: as you have stated, there is more money in sneakers than education, which is very sad.
My Response: it’s not sad at all. I have been able to educate and reach an equal amount of young adults with sneakers as I did with education. Here is the problem with those type of pictures, when kids are passionate about something people fuel that dream by supporting it. Right now there are more millionaire white kids from the sneaker industry because when people see Black kids in sneaker culture they ridicule it.
When white parents see their kids getting into Jordans they support the kid and they teach the kid how to establish side hustles and businesses from it. I’ve written four business books since I left education. They are all centered around the sneaker industry. In doing this it has allowed me to be a guest lecturer at the University of Memphis and at the University of Texas at Austin.
I have sent multiple Black kids to college and White kids on basketball scholarships. A few are head coaches, and a few are working regular jobs now. One kid, a white kid, saw what I was doing and eventually opened his own store. At 27 that kid has made over 3 million dollars gross. No one ridiculed his sneaker collecting. There are opportunities in everything but when we use these type of comparisons it removes the opportunity for educating.
That same picture could say, “My dad bought me 12 pair a year for 18 years. I did a YouTube video for each one and posted articles on my own website. I now have 18 years of content that generates ad revenue and has earned me a sponsorship from a sneaker company which has allowed me to launch my own styling company where I do costumes for movies. My dad invested in my passion for sneakers and that passion enabled me to pay for my AA degree in business which led to working as a manager at Foot Locker. I finished my BA and I’m going to move up to Regional manager because instead of dissing my love for sneakers, my parents supported it.
Those type of pictures kill dreams instead of creating a dialogue around what passion for collecting does. Think about it, no one condemns collecting of baseball cards, or art, both multi-million dollar businesses that black kids don’t usually participate in… but these images are floating around for sneaker collecting. One of the few collectible businesses black kids have an edge in, but they are told it’s a waste.
Educator’s Response: whoa, I did not realize that you were so invested in sneakers and that individuals made so much money; I thought that the money was in the hands of Nike, Addidas, and the other big companies/investors like Michael Jordan. I am glad that you are able to participate in the business.
My Response: it is there with the big brands. The interesting thing is that there are now more startups in the sneaker industry than people understand. Do you know how many Black owned footwear companies there are? Super Heroic owned by Jason Mayden, Q4 made by Quintin Williams, and HEROES owned by Jamien Sills (I don’t make shoes anymore). Most of the new million dollar ventures are owned by White men. This is the forum that I’m on next month. It’s in Portland https://aaff.us
There is a huge rift in the sneaker industry in regard to the executives being hired and people being placed in positions of authority at sneaker companies. The only reason I’m speaking on this is because this type of picture tells a kid not to be invested in something that is multi-billion dollar business with a thousand different job opportunities.
Just a week ago I visited a facility run by biophysicists who are turning harmful algae blooms into cushioning for sneakers. Not a brother in the joint because they (we/Blacks) don’t think sneakers are investment opportunities. (No shade to the company).
I understand a picture like this, but we have to be careful sharing these things because it says that sneakers are a dead end and a hindrance to education and that just isn’t true. It’s clickbait.
I don’t comment on much, but this is in my lane and it’s a fight that is being fought daily by a small amount of people who realize how much Blacks are missing out on in this industry.
Collecting shoes is a passion just like any collecting hobby. Collecting shouldn’t be done by people who can’t afford it, but sometimes that one pair of Jordan’s might get a kid to come to school and be comfortable and any advantage in getting kids in the door is needed.
I know this is a long post, but it’s important. Take a moment to look at the recent investments into businesses in the sneaker industry and the major media outlets around the sneaker industry and you will recognize that almost none of the major sneaker blogs were developed by people of color. Hypebeast is Chinese, but the biggest sneaker sites are primarily White owned (Footwear News, Solecollector, Nice Kicks, Highsnobiety, and a host of others that have major traffic are all white owned). The companies launched as blogs that developed into businesses Campless into StockX for instance, White owned. The sneaker businesses like Stadium Goods and a host of other million dollar sneaker consignment businesses are White owned (Burn Rubber, Leaders and a few other shops are the exceptions). Once again, this is not shade against White guys, it’s a post explaining that while Black kids are given these type of pictures saying that what they love is unimportant and a waste of time, the AAFF is fighting to say that it is important because there are billions of dollars available and we aren’t represented.
These pictures don’t help, they get a lot of traffic and likes, but when you take a moment to think about it, they are really damaging.