Maurice “Moe” Parisien shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Maurice, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
So often, people who have never heard of our nonprofit agency’s work, once explained, quickly commented that I never heard of a nonprofit providing new, high-quality, brand-name sneakers at no cost to the children of families being served. Nor is there a fee paid by our social service agency partners or the school districts that help the process work seamlessly by identifying the under-resourced children and youth who receive a new pair of sneakers. Frequently, individuals who hear the story of Sneakers with Soul think that our agency solicits contributions of either new or slightly used sneakers, which we then distribute. As I’ve shared with so many people over the past 16 years of doing this work, if we don’t begin the process of first identifying the child or youth in grades K-12 in need of new sneakers, and measure their feet, how are we ever going to know that we have provided a pair of properly fitted sneakers to the intended child/youth in need? When first soliciting the public, footwear manufacturers or retailers for new or lightly used sneakers (to say nothing of the range of quality that can occur when soliciting used sneakers), the process can be undermined from the start. By first identifying the child/youth being provided new sneakers, then measuring their feet, purchasing the sneakers, and ultimately delivering the shoes, at the end of the day, our kids can walk away from the process enjoying their new pair of sneakers, feeling good about themselves, and a bit more proud of their appearance.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
After spending a 40+ year career in sales and marketing with both Fortune 100 companies, as well as small to mid-size privately held companies, in 2017, following my retirement, I decided to take what was initially a mission outreach program of my church to form a standalone 501(c)(3) organization. The mission of our organization is to provide high-quality, brand-name sneakers to under-resourced children and youth enrolled in grades K-12 and do so in a manner that honors the dignity and worth of every child and family served. In the early years, Sneakers with Soul would serve approximately 1,000 children and youth a year. Over the past five years, our agency has served over 5,000 kids annually. For eight straight years beginning in 2014, Sneakers with Soul worked with Adidas to purchase sneakers at a discount. Following a change in management policy at Adidas, it became increasingly important for organizations like Sneakers with Soul to focus on individual and large corporate resellers of their product. With this change in strategy, Sneakers with Soul quickly needed to find a respected footwear manufacturer to fill the needs of our organization and the kids being served.
When asked what makes Sneakers with Soul so unique, I always come back to the beginning, and that is keeping an eye on the children and families being served. At the end of the day, the kids being served are truly no different than the two daughters that my wife and I raised. Every kid wants to feel good about themselves and their appearance, particularly as they age into their teenage years, and a big part of feeling good about themselves is the clothes and footwear that they wear.
Of late, our agency and members of our board of directors are working on plans for further market expansion. This expansion will take place in our home city of St. Louis, MO, and expand to other major cities in the Midwest, and then reach out to both eastern and western markets in the U.S. The funding of this expansion hinges on garnering foundation and individual financial support.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
After graduating from college, I was quickly employed by a Fortune 100 company that recruited senior graduates. I, like many of my peers, worked hard, kept an open mind, and learned a lot. After 13 years of climbing the corporate ladder, I decided that this life was not for me, that there had to be more to life than this. I decided to leave the company and form a small marketing communications agency. Through some smart and not-so-smart moves, I ended up closing the doors of the business after 3 years, at a time when our economy was falling into a recession. After holding several different jobs in the next couple of decades, I was fortunate to co-own a small digital marketing services agency, focusing much of my time on marketing strategy development for our clients and implementing numerous integrated online and traditional marketing programs. Although I enjoyed the work that our team and I were doing, I still failed to realize a true, deep sense of satisfaction. At that point, I decided that it was time to retire from the world of for-profit enterprise to turn to what then was the small mission outreach program that I began fostering back in 2010 to move out and form a standalone nonprofit agency that is focused on making a difference in the lives of families living in poverty. I never thought that I would find myself in my retirement years feeling so good about myself by helping to lighten the load of others less fortunate.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
Thinking back over my forty-plus years in business, I’d have to say that the incident would have to be my very first business start-up. The business was a marketing and communications agency. The lesson learned is something that I had taken for granted. Early business success in the sector where I operated relies heavily on tapping into existing business relationships. Our agency was relying heavily on my partner, who had supposedly developed over the prior five to seven years a significant book of business. These relationships were to be critical to early project ‘wins’. On top of this key success factor was the expectation that my partner would be contributing an equal share of the needed working capital to launch the business. Unfortunately, I had placed a lot of faith in my partner coming through with his capital infusion when the business doors were set to open. He never came through with his investment. This turn of events resulted in a major scramble to bring new clients in the door to meet the demands of salaries, rent, business loans, and overhead. This failure in the business caused me to think long and hard about how I would approach new business opportunities in the future. Suffice to say, I tend to be more cautious and conduct thorough research and analysis before jumping into making significant business decisions in the future.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
When it comes to the matter of values, the one person who comes immediately to mind is no longer with us. It is a civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis from Alabama. For John Lewis, seeking power was never the motivation, but rather, how he might make use of his experience in the early sixties in playing a key role in the movement. John Lewis was keenly aware of and focused on the pathway to justice for all. As one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Mr. Lewis helped to organize sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and played a significant role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington. Throughout his early civil justice work, he seemed to me to always be about the self-imposed responsibility that caused John Lewis to get into ‘good trouble’ to help make a difference for Black and Brown people in America. I can think of no one person in modern history (outside of Dr. King) who stands taller than John Lewis in dedicating oneself to doing selfless acts that over time would lead to the betterment of the lives of others.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I had 10 years left on this earth, There is one thing that I’d want to quickly put behind me. That is to leave behind feelings of ‘would da’ ‘could da’ ‘should da’, and live for today to make every minute left in this world count.
Contact Info:
- Website: Https://sneakerswithsoul.org
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/mauriceparisien?igsh=YzN3ZnoyNzdhZ2Fr&ut-m_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/mparisien
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/share/1AtNM7ZSrj/?mibextid=Xlfr
- Other: BlueSky – http://bsky.app/profile/moegood.bsky.socialFor photo images of the work of Sneakers with Soul, please click the following link:https://mauriceparisien.smugmug.com/Beyond-the-Backpack-2024
