10 years*… my story

10 years… 3 offices (and a spare room), 19 collections, 52 tradeshows, 8 consumer shows, 110752 pairs of shoes sold. What? Over 100,000 pairs???? I am writing this and feeling euphoric. This is a big number, for a girl who just wanted to design some shoes for herself and her friends.

10 years…. 3 factories, 26 trips to China, 5 trips to Portugal.

10 years…. A husband, 2 children, a postnatal depression and the continuous juggle of a working mum.

10 years…. Many happy customers, lovely messages from people all over the globe. And a deep feeling of satisfaction. There are women out there who understand what I am trying to do, who like it and appreciate it. This is it. This is what I worked for those 10 years. And it’s only today, when I am writing this piece that I have realised it. And it is making me happy.

10 years… not free of bumps I can assure you. 2 distributors went bankrupt, 1 big shop cancelled their order, 16 shops closed down, 7 legal cases… Thousands of pounds owed to me. Bad debt. Written off. Gone…. But I moved on. I survived.

10 years… 110,752 pairs. I am sorry I have to go back to this. This is changing my whole perspective. Assuming some customers bought 2 or 3 pairs over the years, this means that over 40,000 women own or have owned a pair of Esska shoes. Wow. This is amazing. 40,000 women!!!!! Who are they? What are their nationalities? What are their names? Where do they live? Which styles do they like? Did anyone get married in Esska shoes? (I did!!! I wore Esska flat gold boots!!!) Has anyone jumped in a swimming pool with their Esskas on? Where? When?

10 years… and I am still here. Still in love with what I do. Still wanting to do it.

 

This is for another 10 years.

A big ‘THANK YOU’ to all of you. Every single one of you.

An even bigger Thank You to everyone who supported me in my journey. Specially my parents and my husband, who very simply, I could not have done it without.

Happy Birthday Esska!

*On the 23^rd of May 2006, I registered Esska as a business in the UK.