The One-For-One Model of TOMS Shoes- Can It Bring about Social Change?

When he was a child, Mycoskie had aspired to become a professional tennis player. In 1995, he went on to earn a partial tennis scholarship at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he studied finance and philosophy. In his second year, Mycoskie got injured, which made moving around a little difficult for him and also left him with some free time. During that time, he launched a door-to-door campus laundry service aimed at the university students. Speaking about the laundry business, Mycoskie later said, “When I launched my laundry business it was more just a way to pass the time. I had an injury and the reason I did the laundry business was because I couldn’t carry my own laundry so I did it to help other people who couldn’t do their laundry too. But I found very quickly after launching the laundry business that business and entrepreneurship specifically was very similar to being an athlete. It was competitive, you had to train hard, you had to be disciplined – all these things – so I quickly learned that I enjoyed it in similar ways.” ...