deeFind shoes

The deeFind Story

Do you know the amount of women in the United States who wear a size 11 shoe?  Well, according to Footwear Market Insights, the number may be surprizing: it's 3%— a statistic that I happen to fall in. Upon my research, the number of  designers who accommodate women with this problem is even lower. And the amount of those companies who manufacture eco-friendly or eco-conscious designer shoes is—sadly—even less. The fashion industry is in dire need of replenishing its inventory of hard-to-find, high-fashion, women's shoes with a commitment to sustainable manufacturing. I founded deeFind Shoes partially due to my frustration of being a size 11, with slim to no options of finding desirable shoes.  As a purveyor of fashion, I grew more and more frustrated; rather than complain about my dilemma, I decided to take control and employ my creative energy, passion and desire to solve this problem, while achieving my dream of becoming an entrepreneur.  My vision rapidly began to unfold. I developed a line that focuses on hard-to-find shoes from sizes 6 to 12.  Furthering my thought process of brand development, I knew I had to stay true to my identity and morale. The name deeFind emerged from two subjects: my nickname (people call me Dee) and my created treasures, or 'finds'.  What I really want to accomplish with my brand is to offer these shoes as a tool: wearing a beautiful pair of deeFind Shoes could empower women to stand confident, while ferociously approaching their own dreams, head on. deeFind is much more than another shoe company of utility. It is a growing movement of everyday women stepping into the arena of their big dreams.  And from a company perspective, a solid vision involving eco-conscious manufacturing practices with the intention of raising awareness on everything from where our products originate and who is making them, to contributing to solutions to problems immersed in our community. One of the ways that I believe we can improve our community is by cultivating thoughtful design and introducing more sustainable materials into our products. One of our goals is to—eventually—design a fully recyclable high-heel shoe . . . and we are moving steadily in that direction.  Each season we are adding different material applications to help meet this objective.  For our Spring/Summer 2012 collection, we are so proud to announce that our high heels are constructed from recycled tires, our soles are made from recycling old soles, and our boxes and tissue paper are made from recyclable materials.  Additionally, we use a myriad of breathtaking faux leathers; the treatment and methods of the tanning industry can be pretty brutal. In the upcoming seasons, we plan to introduce more sustainable and up-cycled leathers.  As a startup company, it is exorbitantly expensive to preserve quality, while utilizing sustainable materials, when ordering small quantities. Moreover, larger material orders are sometimes required to access such stunning alternatives, which is nearly impossible with my budget. We are fanatical about the continuation of producing high quality, handmade shoes and expanding on our vision of making a high-fashion high heel that is eco-friendly.  Lastly, deeFind is committed to working within our community. With each season, deeFind takes a percentage of each pair of shoes sold and donates the profits to a special charity. Sleeping sound at night is unachievable without deeFind fulfilling its obligation to return the gift of support to our community, in whatever capacity that may be.  

The Impact Of This Campaign Reaches Many

It's no secret that your investment directly benefits deeFind, though, the secondary benefits greatly impact everyone who is linked to this business. deeFind creates jobs for people who share a similar passion. with closely aligned dreams. My Creative Director—Melina Jones—whose vision, skills, dedication and energy are a crucial in keeping the identity of deeFind thriving and alive.  She works endless hours, more than I can afford to pay, because she is a devout believer in the deeFind dream.  Within my community, I network and contract out for photographers, makeup artists, marketing and PR because I want to support individuals and entrepreneurs just like me, chasing after and fighting for their dreams.  We have created opportunities to guide and mentor others who wish to work within the shoe industry. With my manufacturer in Mexico, I am trying to provide workers with a livable wage in relation to their economy so they can help sustain their families.

The True Definition Of A Sole Proprietor

 I am it.  No additional funding sources or investors, beside myself.  I saved up money over the years to invest in my dream.  I have placed every penny I have into deeFind along with my heart and determination because I have never felt so sure about anything in my life. I will continue to self-fund my business on my own as long as I can sustain, though it would be refreshing not to see the numbers in the red. The objective is to raise $10,000 towards my production run for my Spring/Summer 2012 collection.  This amount does not cover all my expenses but if we raised that amount, it would give me a bit of a buffer where I could put $8,000 towards my production costs and $2,000 towards important expenses such as photo shoots, a look book, public relations and marketing.  If I don't meet my goal I will still allocate 80% towards production and the other 20% to public relations and marketing.  To keep our deeFind 'Dream Team' vision alive, we are depending on you.

 We have some really great perks to offer in return for your contribution. Know your help means the world to all of us here at deeFind! No words can express my gratitude for your support.Truly, from the bottom of my heart and with everything that I have, THANK GOODNESS FOR YOU!

Other Ways You Can Help deeFind

If you are unable to help fiscally at this time, I truly understand.  But, what would be incredible is if you would share the video and Indie GoGo campaign to your loved ones and friends.  Spread the word and make some noise to let people know what deeFind stands for . . . YOU!

 

*deeFind HAS MADE CHANGES TO THIS CAMPAIGN posted March 22, 2012

Beloved contributors,

We would love to thank every single one of you for supporting the efforts of deeFind Shoes. Though we have not made it to our halfway point, we have managed to raise $1160.00 to date. The journey during the past month has been explosively busy and exciting. This includes a monkey wrench with regard to our collection of gorgeous, wearable works of art for Spring/Summer 2012.

About two weeks ago, we learned that there had been a critical manufacturing error that could not be reversed. Further, we received news that the facilities of our manufacturer had been dismantled and with no other manufacturing resources, and were left to do one of two things: either throw in the towel, or work with what had been given to us. We chose the latter.

From the moment of conception, deeFind has been a staunch employer of quality—from the first sketch of ideas to the boxes and tissue paper our shoes are presented in. We have decided to chalk up this hiccup as a test, one which asks, "How badly do you want this?" Let me respond on behalf of all the employees at deeFind: our appetite to succeed by attacking our dreams of deeFind's potential is nothing less than ferocious. We are not letting this stand in our way. We will continue to advance forward in the direction of deeFind's destination and our IndieGoGo campaign—with you all right behind us. What this will mean are a few things. 1) For the most part, the perks will stay the same. Some contributors may see a slight difference in the merchandise they will receive, 2) the Spring/Summer 2012 collection is now cataloged as a Spring/Summer concept shoe, one that will not be launched as a full line, rather available by appointment only sessions, private parties and small wholesale events, and 3) our original description on our IndieGoGo page indicated that the funds raised would be allocated to the manufacturing and marketing & promotions budget, though now, those funds raised will be distributed to the next line of deeFind projects for the remainder of 2012 and Spring/Summer 2013.

We are immensely grateful to everyone for their staunch support and love throughout this time and hope that you continue to contribute as much as you can. If you feel compelled to do so, we would love to get as much attention as possible, so mention our efforts to your friends and loved-ones. We feel so honored to be part of an amazing community. As events occur, we will make certain to keep everyone posted. Until then, stay fierce!

With Feminine Ferocity,


The deeFiind Dream Team