Blake Mycoskie: "One for One" and All for All

It's easy to spot the ubiquitous slip-on shoes called TOMS walking around town these days, along with many cheap and largely indistinguishable knockoffs. Though invisible, a huge difference sets apart the originals: for every pair purchased, TOMS donates a pair of shoes to a needy child. This "One-for-One" business model is the trademark of founder and serial entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie.

While studying philosophy and business in college, Mycoskie started an on-campus laundry service that grew to nearly $1 million in sales. He followed that up with initiatives in marketing, cable television and online driver's education, achieving varying degrees of success. In early 2006, suffering from burnout, Mycoskie took a month-long vacation to Argentina and found his calling: using business as a tool for social change.

Seeing Argentinian village children banned from school and nursing sores from a lack of footwear, the young American commissioned shoes that resemble the local farmers' canvas slip-ons. Back in L.A., he sold these through small shops with the goal of funding shoes for 250 children. He called them Shoes for Better Tomorrows, shortened to TOMS. Mycoskie didn't bother with promotion; word-of-mouth advertising catapulted sales to 1 million pairs by 2010.

People typically assume the brand is named after its designer, but no such "Tom" exists. Mycoskie laughs and says the buy-and-gift mode of operation means, "We're all Tom."

布雷克．麥考斯基：TOMS 潮鞋王國的慈善企業家

現在很容易看到無所不在的 TOMS 懶人鞋在市區裡趴趴走，連同許多廉價且外型真假難辨的仿製品也是。雖然不顯眼，但一個讓原版 TOMS 鞋與眾不同的點就在於：有人購買一雙鞋，TOMS 就會捐一雙鞋給貧困的兒童。這個「賣一捐一」的商業模式是創辦人暨連續創業家布雷克．麥考斯基的招牌特色。
在大學修讀哲學與商業期間，麥考斯基創辦了一項校園洗衣服務，業績成長至將近一百萬美元。他接著又建立行銷、有線電視與線上駕駛訓練等事業，取得程度不一的成功。在 2006 年初，由於感到筋疲力竭，麥考斯基到阿根廷休了一個月的長假，因而找到了自己的使命：利用企業來做為改變社會的工具。
看見阿根廷村莊的兒童不能上學，且因為沒鞋穿而得照料腳傷，這名美國青年委製跟當地農民所穿的帆布便鞋類似的鞋子。回到洛杉磯之後，他透過小商店販售這些鞋子，目標在為 250 名兒童籌集買鞋資金。他將這些鞋子稱為「明日更好鞋」，簡稱為 TOMS。麥考斯基並沒有花費心力宣傳；口耳相傳的廣告使銷量在 2010 年就達到一百萬雙。
一般人通常以為這個品牌是以其設計師為名，但實際上沒有這麼一個名叫「Tom」的人。麥考斯基笑著說，買鞋捐鞋的營運方式就代表「我們都是 Tom」。