Book Review
Jodie Fox, founder of Shoes of Prey, launched her business in 2009. It allowed people to design their dream shoes online, get them expertly manufactured, and have them shipped to anywhere in the world within two weeks. The startup broke even at two months, hit multi-million dollar revenues in under two years, raised tens of millions in funding from top-tier investors and shipped to more than 100 countries. It sounds like a fairytale business story, but that’s not where it ended. Her new book, Reboot, Jodie shares her very personal entrepreneurial journey.
For entrepreneur Jodie Fox, founder of Shoes of Prey, an innovative niche startup business in the shoe manufacturing space, all the metrics pointed to huge scalability. To a huge business. To a huge success. But it didn’t succeed. In 2018, the business failed. And this is that story. Reboot tells the truth of what it is like to be at the helm of a global business. From the high highs of besting Karl Lagerfeld on global awards, to the low lows of closing the doors on your dream. Join author Jodie Fox on a raw journey as she reveals for the first time the story behind the story of fashion darling, Shoes of Prey.
This incredible ride will share lessons on raising capital, building a brand, finding suppliers, doing business in China and, most importantly, how to learn and grow from your successes and your mistakes and be ready every day to reboot for the next challenge.
Author quotes
Most stories of entrepreneur and business successes are reflections with 20/20 hindsight and rose-coloured glasses. They’re written when success is a sure thing, when every decision, it turns out, was the right one. Or, if not, a perfect lesson that leads to ultimate success. I think that would be an interesting book. But I don’t think it’s actually that helpful. And, Shoes of Prey was not that business. It didn’t work out.
This book shares what it felt like at ground zero. Which is probably more than you wanted to know about starting a global business. It shares the frameworks I worked out to make decisions rather than stagnate.
I love pretty much everything about being a businesswoman. I love the independence, the responsibility, the challenge of finding an answer to something that’s never been answered before. I love the rallying of friends around ideas and possibilities I’m thinking of. And at the end of the day, I love when it all comes together and hits the target. Then, it’s time to focus on the next one.
About the Author
Jodie Fox was a co-founder and the creative director of Shoes of Prey. A banking and finance lawyer by trade and a dedicated creative, Jodie created a perfect nexus of the corporate and creative worlds when she co-founded Shoes of Prey. Identifying and serving a gap in the market for custom-made shoes at non-luxury prices, Shoes of Prey was considered a global leader and innovator in mass-customization and on-demand manufacturing. A vertically integrated business that raised over US$ 27million in funding, and with more than six million shoes designed, Shoes of Prey changed the way the retail industry thoughts about product and manufacturing. Shoes of Prey ceased trading in August 2018. Now Jodie Fox is rebooting herself for her next venture.
In recognition of her work at Shoes of Prey, Jodie was a judge at the World Retail Awards (2016, 2017, 2018), lectures at the Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA Class (2016, 2017, 2018) and regularly keynotes events including the National Retail Federation conference (2017), Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (alongside Renzo Rosso, Nicola Formichetti and Fern Mallis) and the American Apparel and Footwear Association Executive Summit (2016). Accolades collected by Jodie personally include two Ten Women in Footwear Industry Impact Awards - Inaugurual WIFI Influencer Award (2018); listed as Number 6 in the Top 50 Australian and New Zealand Women in Tech (2016); Elle Magazine Style Awards Fashion Innovator of the Year Australia (2015); Top 30 Most Influential Women in Australian Retail (2014); Top 10 Australian Female Entrepreneurs (2014); Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Top 30 Women Awards (2013); and Telstra Businesswoman of the Year Award (Australia) - Private and Corporate Sector.
Why LoA loves it….
It’s sometimes all too easy to get caught up in the supposed ‘glamour’ of being an entrepreneur and launching a business. We see uber successful women entrepreneurs and their scaling businesses and we think that for them it must have been an easy journey. However, that is rarely the case, and everyone has a story that inevitably speaks of heartaches as well as celebrations. Jodie’s new book provides a rare insight into the genuine rollercoaster ride that is behind building a global successful business, and provides some real lessons for others to learn. This is such an insightful and heartfelt read and a must for any woman entrepreneur on her own tough journey. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo of Lionesses of Africa