Navigating the Chapters of Challenge with Tele

When Your Setback Becomes Your Strength

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Aramide Adebayo's personal struggle with finding stylish shoes for her size 10 feet didn't just remain a frustration it became the catalyst for a successful niche business serving women with plus-size feet. In this captivating conversation, Aramide shares the remarkable journey behind Long Feet Boutique and her second venture, The Avenue.

What began with just six pairs of shoes has grown into a thriving enterprise celebrating its 12th anniversary. Aramide reveals her entrepreneurial philosophy summed up in three powerful words: "Just Do It." Rather than waiting for perfect conditions or overthinking potential obstacles, she champions taking immediate action on ideas while enthusiasm is high. This mindset, coupled with her unwavering positivity, has carried her through manufacturing mishaps, capital challenges, and the demanding 24/7 reality of business ownership.

Perhaps most fascinating is Aramide's strategic decision to "stay in her lane" by focusing exclusively on larger shoe sizes. This specialization has made her brand memorable in a crowded marketplace and fostered a genuine community among her customers. Many have become friends who volunteer at her events and participate in her WhatsApp community, "Soul Confidence." Her commitment to exceptional customer service like personally calling customers for feedback and replacing defective products – demonstrates how turning negative experiences into positive ones builds lasting loyalty.

The conversation also explores how Aramide's primary business naturally evolved into The Avenue, a pop-up marketplace now featuring 50+ businesses and attracting over 500 attendees. This unexpected growth illustrates how being attentive to customer needs can reveal exciting new business opportunities.

For anyone feeling stuck in the planning phase of entrepreneurship, Aramide offers this powerful advice: "If you wait for the perfect moment, you're not going to do anything." Her journey from selling personal jewelery to fund her startup to now requiring external storage facilities for her inventory proves that starting small with passionate determination can lead to remarkable business success.

For more info check out the Instagram page; you can contact Aramide there as well -The_Avenue_UK

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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to Navigating the Chapters of Challenge with Tele. Today I've got my friend, Aramide Adebayo in the house with us and it's going to be an interesting conversation. I'm going to ask Aramide to introduce herself briefly and then we'll go into today's topic. So, Aramide, say hello to everybody and tell us who you are, what you do.

Speaker 2:

Okay, hello, and I just want to say thank you Tele my very good friend of a long time ago for inviting me onto your program. Yeah, so, as Tele said, my name is Aramide Adebayo and um I I can't remember how long I've known you, Tele. I think I was actually at your wedding yes, 33 years ago yes, I met um Tele through my husband and her husband Fela. They went to uni together yeah.

Speaker 2:

They went to uni together and by default, they became my friends as well and we do have some other common friends as well.

Speaker 1:

We do have a few friends in common, we do have quite a few friends.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, I'm really inspired by what Tele does. But Tele says she's inspired by what I do.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I am.

Speaker 2:

I'm an accountant. I also have a business that I do on the side and, at the end of the day, um, it's all about entrepreneurship. So I still work as an accountant. But I have, um a business called Long Feet Boutique that I established, I'm trying, I think I'm losing count of when I started it, probably about 12 years ago now. 12 years ago, I started Long Feet Boutique and, um, I also have another business that I do.

Speaker 2:

We'll talk about that later, hopefully it is called The Avenue yeah it's a platform where other businesses um come together, and yeah, so I'll talk about that later um later on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that's me in a nutshell, okay all right, thank you for that lovely introduction, and so today's episode is basically about business entrepreneurship, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, the lessons learned, the setbacks and stuff like that. And, like Aramide said, she she runs two. She's a very busy woman. She has two businesses alongside her day job, so she has the Longfeet Boutique and she's got the Avenue which she runs, and so I'm going to ask questions in relation to both businesses and just to talk us through how she's been able to achieve all of this success that she's achieved with this business and the road so far, you know. So my first question around me is this um, if your entrepreneurship journey was the title of a movie or of a book, what would I call it?

Speaker 2:

um, um, I would just call it, just do it. Why don't overthink it, okay. Why, um, you know, I think the reason why I would say that is when, if you overthink anything, you find every excuse not to do it and say I'm not yet ready. But with me, when I have an idea, I just swing into action and I get all excited about it. Sometimes I get so excited with these ideas and I say, oh, I'm going to do this, do that and.

Speaker 2:

But the point is, if you don't run with it at the time when you're excited, you might lose interest and you start to say, oh, maybe I'm not ready, but I get so excited and I always like encouraging myself and I just and I make sure that everybody around me gets that I kind of make them want to feel that, oh, this is a good idea, yeah, so so I, once I want to do something, I put my all, I give it 150%. I think what's really helped me is I always see good in everything. You know, some people will see something negative, but I will try and look at the positive that's come out of it. Yeah, and, and I think that's what's really helped me, rather than reflect on the negatives, I just focus on the positives. The positives, yeah, and that's what's really, really, um, that's what motivates me to do what I do okay.

Speaker 1:

So has there ever been a time where you felt like actually just quitting? Because I know you, you focus on the positives and all of that, but I'm sure there must have been a time where you felt like, oh my god, what am I doing? So has there ever been a time like that, where you felt like you know what, I just want to give up. And what did you do to prevent yourself from giving up? If you've had that To?

Speaker 2:

be honest, because I've invested so much time and energy into this one, I haven't really thought about giving up. Okay, I know there's been some time. Yeah, so I know I'm because it's been, because basically when I started, um, long people tick, I'll talk about, let me focus on long people, then maybe later on I'll talk about the avenue, because that was, um, that wasn't the initial plan I, it just happened as a result of me having long feet to take.

Speaker 1:

So when I started, long feet to take right yeah, I started and it's a niche.

Speaker 2:

I focus on the niche markets for ladies who have plus size feet like who have big feet in short, and the reason why I ventured into it is because of the challenge. I've had my personal challenge. I've always had big feet. Since I was young, I used to struggle to get shoes, so, and as long as my feet are long, I think that's the, that's what motivates me to continue this business um and um I. There are challenge challenges in the sense that it's very capital intensive.

Speaker 2:

I've had some bad manufacturers who produce some goods that really really could have shot me down because of the, because of the um, because of the manufacturing defects, but I didn't let that um, I just put that aside and what really helped me was when I was going venturing into the business. I went with a mindset look, I need to give it my best shot. The first five years I wasn't expecting to get any massive gains. Let me see how the company is going to grow and, um, to God be the glory, it has been growing since then. I have no reason not to continue on this journey because, um, the feedback I'm getting from people and you know everybody says it's a very good idea.

Speaker 2:

And going back to what I said um earlier on, because I always see the positive things, even when there's a negative, I'll just take it. Look, you know what. That's just part of the whole um. You know the challenges you're going to face. You just need to every business go through through a rough patch and all that. But you just have to, you know, continue, just do what you need to do to make it happen. So I just don't let that I I motivate myself. I don't let it pull me down the business. Continue as long as you can pick yourself up yeah, you know.

Speaker 2:

They say sometimes you know. In the bible says that even you know if you fall you just need seven times you pick yourself up again, yeah, you rise up. So yeah, so I would say the challenges are there, but I um, I don't mind taking a licking and keep on ticking.

Speaker 1:

Keep on ticking. Yes, that's, I think that's just. That's just the way to look at it. You said something earlier on, just now. You said that when you started the business, you gave yourself like a five year time range within which to see, like some, some progress or something positive. To see like some, some progress or something positive. Yeah, but I wanted to ask you know a lot of people start a business and they expect to see results immediately. Could you talk on that a bit, why people should be a bit more um, or how people should look at their business?

Speaker 2:

okay. So, yes, I understand some people because maybe, um, they feel it should they, they want they, they want their investment, they want to see straight away. But it doesn't work like that. Rome wasn't built in a day yeah and most of the successful businesses. They started something and it probably didn't work out. I think um henry ford, if I'm not mistaken, was it that he had seven failed businesses before he started ford motos.

Speaker 1:

I I'm not sure.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I think he had so many failed businesses before. He had ford motos and you know some. So when you want to start a business, it's it. It could be that you you've made some mistakes and you learn as you go along. So, um, when you're in a business, you just have to be patient.

Speaker 2:

There has to be some and um some, like in some businesses, the first few years it's just research and well, you do your research and development before um you start embark on the business. But part of that process is developing business when I first started. Let me give you a typical example. Yeah, when I first launched my business the website, when the date went live, I was so excited and I thought, as soon as I sent messages out or communicated that my business is gone live, that the orders would be rolling in it doesn't happen that way.

Speaker 2:

I could have been very disappointed, oh dear, but I haven't. I hadn't built Poo's Trust. I'm doing the shoes, making the shoes, and I know myself, I've put all my all into it but nobody else knows that what's your track record?

Speaker 2:

how are people going to? How are they going to? They need testimonials. They need to. They need testimonials. They need to know. You know if the issues is worth everything they're paying. I'll give you a typical example.

Speaker 2:

When I first started, the people that I thought would patronize me were close family and friends. They're the ones who don't close family and friends. They're the ones who don't friends. Yeah, maybe a couple of family, but some other people that I felt would you know be my customers and they had large feet. They, they didn't, they were not interested. Yeah, but a couple.

Speaker 2:

Maybe one or two years down the line they saw some people wearing my shoes and um and um, they said, oh, I didn't realize that your shoes were a nice, were as nice as this, and that's how I converted them to be my customer, because they actually looked at the shoes and saw the shoes. Yeah, and that's why they decided to be um, to buy into long feet boutique, okay, so, so it takes a while. It takes a while before your business builds the type of database and customer base I have now. I can't compare it to when I first started. I think in the space of the community that I'm in. I'm well known. A lot of people refer people to me because I stayed in my lane.

Speaker 2:

I just specialise in large sizes, not. I'm not doing what every other shoe seller does um, I'm just doing the large sizes. So people remember me, but if I was doing all sizes.

Speaker 1:

People would probably not remember me yeah, yeah, and I think what you've just said about staying in your lane is very important, because I think a lot of business people want to go with what is trending. They start off their business, they business, they're doing what they're doing and then they see that something else is working somewhere else and they jump onto that. Absolutely yeah, and so staying in your lane is actually very, very important. So is there any behind-the-scenes reality to business running a business that you'd like to share?

Speaker 1:

Something that people need to actually pay attention to when they're running a business.

Speaker 2:

When you're running a business.

Speaker 1:

From your own perspective, from your business, it's 24 hours, around the clock, around the clock.

Speaker 2:

You have to be intentional about switching off, because yeah, yeah yeah, so when you're running a business, you are the ceo, you are this, you're that until business? Can you know? Until you, it's sustainable that you can employ extra hands to do what you need to do and pay people to do some of the work that you used to do, like, for instance, now, um, before, I used to do the copywriting, like description of the shoes, but now I've outsourced that to someone to do that for me. Um, I pay someone to do this copywriting of the shoes before they go onto the website. Yeah, so, so there's a lot involved, um, there's a lot of planning, there's a lot of costs you incur, and you know you need to just be, stay focused and listen, listen, go with your heart as well and listen to what the customers are saying. Listen to what they're saying as well, but don't go with it, just what you like. You have to know what the customers want, because they are the ones who are going to be buying this. Your product.

Speaker 2:

So there's a lot of work behind the scenes. People don't see what you see, and another thing you need to be aware of is you need to be confident in what you're selling. I'll give you a typical example. When I first started, because of fear of the unknown and everybody has fear I wasn't sure what pricing points known and everybody has fear, I wasn't sure what pricing points. So when I was selling the shoes, I just put a little bit of margin on it, just to say, okay, let's see how people would embrace this.

Speaker 2:

Some people will come and say, oh, it's expensive. Some people say it's okay, but after a while I was confident enough to put the margins that were right for the shoes still not too expensive. Because obviously I, what I've done, my business model, is because I don't have, um, I don't have a front shop, I don't pay business rates, but I it's an online business, but I do have other costs that I have to pay for as well. So, um, I try and keep my prices reasonable, yeah and yeah. So, and one thing I've come to realize, like behind the scenes, is your product is not for everybody. Your product is not for everybody.

Speaker 2:

Some people will come to you and say oh, ramadey, um, I really love what you're doing. The prices are fantastic compared. Some people come to you and say why are your shoes expensive? Oh, I hope your shoes are not expensive. The truth of the matter is and I tell you this, it's not that your product. People place value on what you know. They'll place on value on what they feel they will pay for it. They will pay anything for it. The mere fact that some people said it's expensive doesn't mean it's expensive. The truth of the matter is they can't afford it, yeah, yeah, and they make you feel as if your product is, and they're always waiting for sale. When are you having sale? And I'm thinking, if everybody was selling sale, so how Well, how?

Speaker 1:

do you make a profit?

Speaker 2:

How would you make a profit? So most shoe products that you sell are products that you feel that are not moving. And sometimes you have a particular style and you find out that people are not really liking it. But in order for you to get your money back, you reduce the cost so that you can invest it in a product that is moving yeah, a line that is moving. So that's important as well. So there's a lot of behind the scenes. You know um other scenes you have to be in like do exhibitions and I have to prep myself, sometimes 10 days before the exhibition, because you have to make sure that you're packing the boxes with the stock and the actual display shoe, making sure you're putting the sizes, because when you want to go for an exhibition somebody might want a different size in the same style. You want to make sure that you've got all the sizes available. So there's a lot of hard work and moving things about having to hire a van, you know just.

Speaker 2:

There's just so many things involved and it could be very tiring, but it's quite rewarding when you get um the feedback from customers yeah so there's a lot of behind the scenes that people don't see, and when you want to pay yourself for that, obviously it has to be worth your while.

Speaker 1:

Hence the price shoes, yeah, yeah. So, um, you've just mentioned feedback. What was one feedback that you, that one of your customers gave to you, that you really, that you were very happy about that. You thought, oh okay, this is worth it. Can you share one or two?

Speaker 2:

it's like I've had so many feedbacks, I've had referrals. People come back and say, oh, your, your shoes are beautiful and they are comfortable, and to the extent that people with small feet are asking me that why are you not making shoes for us? And I'm thinking, look, you can go to the mainstream, yeah you can get your shoes easily.

Speaker 2:

You can get your, but they said, no, we'd actually like what you're making and it, it. It gives me so much joy because once upon a time it's like, even if you do get your size in big sizes, the shoes were horrible, they were not pretty, so so one thing I do get is the shoes are fashionable. Yeah, they're trendy, and I do colors. It's not just brown and black, I do various colours and you can get all different colours all year round. It's not that during the winter, any shoe you can get, because what happens is you get people who travel on holiday. They want to go for a wedding somewhere, and it might be winter in the UK, but there it's summer and they want bright colors. So you just have to make sure that you have all the colors.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I can attest. I can attest to the fact that your shoes are really comfortable. I have got, I have, a few of them, so they are really good. So anybody who's listening? Longfeet Boutique.

Speaker 2:

I know you, I'm not sure what next question you're going to ask, but I also want to give you um some feedback on some negative feedback okay, yeah, go on, you want me to share that?

Speaker 2:

yes, go ahead so, basically, this is um, a couple, um, very. One of them was not too long when I started the business, maybe two years after I started the business. Yeah, so a customer bought some shoes online. So I just thought I did some random cold calling, ringing up some customers to say, ok, I noticed you bought shoes from us about maybe two or three months ago. This is just a call to find out how you found the shoes. And for one of the customers I rang said, oh, the shoes we bought from you, um, I'm never going to come back and buy shoes from you again. Wow, because, um, one of the shoes, the day she wore it, the heel came off, okay, came off. And I was like, why did you not contact me? Um, they said, well, I just couldn't be bothered. And I, I was really taken aback by that. And, um, if you recall, I told you that there was one.

Speaker 2:

I had some challenges with the business where I had a manufacturer where the shoes were yeah, they the. The production wasn't that great. So what I did is I I apologized to the lady and I said, look, I'm gonna arrange to have the shoes collected and I'm going to have them. I'm going to make groups. This you know your experience people. So I did that replace the shoes with another pair of shoes for her, and I also gave her a discount and and she was particularly impressed with me.

Speaker 2:

Okay, that she's one of my very good customers and, if I'm not mistaken, she's placed an order yesterday. If I'm not, yeah, I've seen another order, so so so. So the point is one thing I've noticed when you have a business, you have to make sure you look after every customer, even the one that gives you negative feedback. You need to go back and let them know that, oh, you're gonna make, you know, make good, whatever experience they've had, experience, yes, try and um, you know, get get on their side and make them. You know, because now and she's this particular customer has actually recommended other customers. If I hadn't made that phone call to find out, you know how she got on with the shoes I would never I would never have known yeah yeah, so it's important in business.

Speaker 2:

You do have some cases whereby you have bad manufacturers, but there's, you can always go back and make good. You know all those um errors that have happened.

Speaker 1:

I thank god for the, for the wisdom that he gave me and intuition that he gave me to bring that particular client at the time and I think that's what a lot of small business people lack that discernment and that customer service making sure that they go the extra mile, Because if you hadn't gone the extra mile, you wouldn't have known what the issues were. Extra mile because if you hadn't gone the extra mile, you wouldn't have known what the issues were and there probably would have been more people who would have been complaining and you wouldn't have known that there was an issue with those shoes that you ordered.

Speaker 1:

So I think that's a yeah that's a good thing that you did yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

One other thing I would like to mention is when you're in the business, if you need to be passionate about it and I think that's the reason why I'm so passionate about it that even all my customers that I've met, I actually forget that a lot of them I have a community um, I'm not sure if you're aware. Okay, I think I must have mentioned this to you I recently set up a whatsapp community called soul confidence. Yes, and a lot of the ladies there are my, most of them are my customers, and I can probably count how many people I knew before I started the business. But they don't see me as their customers. They see me as my, my friend or sister, because we've kind of developed that relationship with them so yeah.

Speaker 2:

So they see, you know, you know, even now some of them come and help me when I have events. Some of my customers have become my very good friends that when I have events, they actually offer to come and help me set up and do things, because you know, so, yeah, so I think, I think I'm building a tribe and a community of ladies with big feet.

Speaker 1:

Big feet. Who would have thought that having big feet was a fun thing? I think.

Speaker 2:

God allowed me to have big feet, because if I didn't have my big feet, I don't think I would be this passionate about it so every disappointment, it was like a challenge for me. I used to cry looking for shoes, I have my money, I wouldn't find shoes. You know things like that. Um, getting married, it was a challenge. Family weddings it was a challenge to find the right colors of shoes. But now, um, I'm spoke for choice yeah, that's good.

Speaker 1:

I think I can relate to that as well finding, because my case was kind of different in the sense that I started off with um normal size feet. I was size six and you could easily find um size six shoes. But then, after having my daughter I don't know how that happened and I don't know if it's happened to anybody else my feet grew to a size eight and then I began to struggle and I'm thinking how, what do you do to get a nice pair of shoes? Because, like you said, you go looking for shoes, it's all the ugly shoes that are in the big sizes, all the pretty shoes are in the smaller sizes and you couldn't find anything that could fit you, and that was really a struggle.

Speaker 2:

It is a struggle. I that was really a struggle. It is a struggle. I'm a size 10. And what you said is so true Because, when I remember, I think I was a size 42.

Speaker 1:

But now.

Speaker 2:

I'm a size 44. So what it was is, I think, with time, when you do put on weight, I think your feet I wouldn't say the length, maybe the width, I think it's the width more it's the width of the width, I think it's the width more.

Speaker 2:

It's the width of the foot, yeah yeah, because sometimes when you lose weight, your feet shrink a bit. They do shrink a bit, yeah. So I, most ladies have um had to increase their shoe size after having children. Yeah, their shoes, their feet get bigger when they have their children. And, um, because I remember I think I used to be able to wear shoes from rosswell and bromley, but, um, I can't I can't um wear them anymore that was so many years ago. No, I can't then.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay as you mean. You met someone today who wanted to start the same kind of business that you're doing. How would you advise them? Is there any unconventional advice you would give, other than the normal advice you get for business? Is there any unconventional advice you would give to that person?

Speaker 2:

What I would say to them is they'll do their market research. They'll do their market research. Like, for instance, when I went into um, went into this. I didn't really have a lot of information, but I can, I can give them information. They don't need to reinvent the wheel if they were going to do something like this. So, basically, um were going to do something like this. So basically, um, I, I remember I I looked at the high streets because the way fashion has really changed a lot in the last 20 years.

Speaker 2:

Before um, most of the shoes were made in europe, in the uk. Here they were made in either italy, spain or made in the UK. You didn't have, like, shoes made coming from Asia. But most of the high streets have all their shoes, all the big departmental stores they get their shoes in from Asia. So I, my first thing was let me go to China. Yeah, I went to China before to and I was kind of disappointed because, um, why? Um? The MOQs, the minimum order quantity, because of the type of business I'm in and they reckon not so many people. They they produce in quantities.

Speaker 2:

And the high streets. The reason why the high streets don't really stop the the biggest sizes is because that's not where the bulk of their market share is. Okay, we seem to be our. Our shoe size seems to be the rare ones that are not that so they don't really want to invest in lust that would make those type of shoes. Some of them are beginning to catch up now, but it's not like, for instance, I could go up to size 12, which is a size 46. You wouldn't get that in the mainstream shops. Yeah, they so. Yeah, there are some specialist shoes and businesses that do, um, big sizes but um, yeah, so you need to do your research. I went there and I was quite disappointed, but in a way it was an eye-opener for me. At least I've gone through that, I went through that part of my research. Then I know I wouldn't need to go to China again to source for my shoes from Italy and Spain, yeah, and France and France, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So what's been your biggest win so far in this business, in the Longfeet Boutique business? What's been your biggest win? What are you most proud of, apart from the fact that you've got good feedback from your customers? What else are you most proud of, apart from the fact that you've got good feedback from your customers? What else are you most proud of?

Speaker 2:

I'm proud that I've been running the business for the past 12 years and I'm still here. I'm still here despite all the challenges. A lot of businesses start off and they don't last up to five years, but I'm still standing and I'm, I'm getting bigger now I'm going strong, yeah, so, um, that's what I'm proud of.

Speaker 2:

And people, um, I get a lot of people saying, oh, they've heard about my brand. Like I was somewhere on Sunday and someone said, oh, yeah, I've heard about your brand. And I think I was speaking to someone yesterday and, um, I was speaking to a company that deals with ladies who, um, who want to go into work, who, um, um, it's a charity that helps people going into work. And the CEO said, oh, I think I've heard about your company before, which was like, oh, wow, that's nice. Yeah, yeah, so, um, I'm getting the name of the business out there. There's still a lot of you know, work to do, but, um, there's still a lot of ground to cover, but, um, I'm getting there, yeah, so let's talk about the avenue.

Speaker 1:

So what made you think about doing the avenue and getting other business people together? Tell us a bit more about the avenue. What, what exactly it is for people?

Speaker 2:

who are listening. So so the avenue is like um, a pop-up for different businesses, like an exhibition where you can showcase your products, your brand. So what started this was it was about? Was it just about, maybe nine years ago? Nine years ago I noticed, because my business long people tickets online and because of the type of um, um business I'm in the ladies some of them they want to try on the shoes and because I don't have a physical shop, what I decided to do is to um, arrange and organize like um a pop-up for my customers, telling them look, um, I mean maybe once or twice a year, I would, I wish you can come to a particular place to try on the shoes. So, like, I would exhibit the shoes. So basically, what I did is um, I hired um a room, a meeting room, in one of the hotels in westfield, in stratford, and I advertised it on social media to all people, all my followers, to say look, longfeet Boutique is going to be at Westfield, stratford, in this location, I'm going to bring my entire stock there. You can come and try on the shoes. Even if you don't want to buy, you can come and have a feel, see what you know.

Speaker 2:

So, and when I did that, it was a huge success and obviously I put the videos and the pictures and people came posted it on social media. So a lot some other businesses who saw it said oh wow, I would really like to be part of this, your pop next time when you're doing it. Can you invite, could you let me come along? So I said, okay, I'll let you know. Some business contacted me. So the next one I did, I invited a couple of more, two or three, um, maybe four or five businesses and at the end of the day, I think before I left that hotel, I, I hired up all their meeting rooms for my events and I had about 20 different businesses and we ran out of the space and I had to find another location and the last one I had, um, was, um, about 50 different businesses.

Speaker 2:

So just to explain, the avenue is like um, a one-stop shopping experience where different businesses come together which I, I, I organize them, I organize and they sell their goods and people come. You know most of them don't have a physical shop, they sell online and but this particular one will give them an experience to see the actual products and buy, and now we even have food people coming there, so people who sell food, and it draws a lot of people. It helps with the food. The last event I had was in June and I had over 500 people there and we also had a sip and paint and that drew people to that. Yeah, so I just put the fun factor into it. So it's a day out. People come to the avenue and it's like a day out for them. Yeah, they spend the whole day there, they eat and they have fun. It's just like, um, a nice place to hang out you put while you're buying. It's like going to a big departmental store and, yeah, that's what it's like.

Speaker 1:

I was at the last one in June and I actually enjoyed it. That's my first one, actually, and I'm looking forward to the next one. So how often do you have this um pop-up event?

Speaker 2:

um, I think in one year I've had it three times a year. Okay, last year.

Speaker 1:

I had it twice.

Speaker 2:

Okay, I would normally have one in October for the Black History Month, but this year I've got so many things lined up so I don't think I have the capacity to do one game this year, but definitely next year. I'll start working on next year's one as soon as possible. I'll probably be doing two next year or probably three.

Speaker 2:

If I could do three I would, but I'll see how things are. I just want to make sure that I'm doing it within, because when I want to do an event like that, I put all my heart into it. I want to make sure it runs really well and I'm doing it properly. So if I don't have the capacity to do it, because I have a lot of things lined up towards the end'm doing it properly. So if I don't have the capacity to do it, because I have a lot of things lined up towards the end of the year, in October, so I don't think I can commit to it. But yeah, I'll definitely let um, my um, visit. Those who follow us know when the next one's going to be. But definitely I will have another one in June, because June really worked out well for us this last June, I think, because it was a summer month as well. So, yeah, I'll definitely have one again next year.

Speaker 1:

June. Okay, so if somebody wanted to somebody's listening now and thinking, oh, I'd like to be part of that how would they find the information and how they get a slot in the avenue.

Speaker 2:

Well, we normally announce it on our Instagram page. So if you're listening to this, our Instagram handle is the that's thehe__avenue__uk, so it's the Avenue UK. So if you follow us on Instagram, we normally post our information out there. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1:

So if they wanted to know the cost and all of that, of getting a slot, everything will be on the yeah, there's a link in there, because what I?

Speaker 2:

I actually outsource the selling of the stands to another company, so that company's details will be on the instagram page and we also have it in the link in our bio on the link. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they can go in and click on the link and the link will take you to where, um, you can book um a stand. Okay, the stands go really. Some ones go the very first day it's released, but some categories go really quickly okay, because it's like it's gold dust, so a lot very popular.

Speaker 1:

It's very popular, yeah um, can I ask why the name the avenue? Why did you decide the avenue? Why? Why not the marketplace or why avenue?

Speaker 2:

um, I don't know, you know what, when it comes to giving things names, I, I don't know God has just given me, I don't know, because, okay, what happened is when I remember going to America. You know, the Avenue of the Americans. Are you in New York? I haven't been to New York yet. Oh yeah, yeah, I think there's something. Oh yeah, yeah, I think there's something. I've been there before and it's something that really inspired me and it's I kind of. So that's how I was inspired by the name, the Avenue, and I thought, oh, that's a nice name to use, because the avenue is a place where an avenue is, where it's a route that you take to go somewhere. So people kind of, I don't know, I was just inspired and I said the avenue and it kind of stuck and that's how it is. But what do you think of that name, which is was it?

Speaker 1:

um, it's all right, I like it I like it.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's. I just wanted to know what the inspiration was yeah, that was the inspiration that you know. It's a place where people can come and they can, you know, buy, buy whatever they needed to buy. And that's the same idea behind the name of the business Long Feet Boutique. A lot of people tell me, oh, how I was inspired. But I asked some people what do you think about this name Long, this Long? And it came out and it kind of rhymes so Long Feet Boutique and it's like LFB.

Speaker 1:

LFB and LFB is easy to just say LFB yeah.

Speaker 2:

LFB, but obviously it's Long Feet for Tick. So, yeah, I think it's important when you are having a business, be very intentional to make sure that the name is relevant to what you do as well. Yeah, for instance, I don't really need to tell people what Long Feet for Tick stands for, because you say Long Feet for Tick, yeah, straight away, yeah, straight away. And the avenue is like you know what. It's become so much of a name that people say, oh, is that the avenue? When is the avenue Like it's become? Everybody knows the avenue now that it's kind of a household name when it comes to pop-ups. The avenue now that it's kind of a household name when it comes to pop-ups. And, yeah, I'm actually I I'm really humbled by how people are talking about it's like when they're talking about, I'm looking behind are they talking about?

Speaker 1:

yeah, so yes, I thank god.

Speaker 2:

I think god has been very gracious to me and I should not take it for granted. I think if it went because of God. And I just want to say one thing here for um, for any Christian listening to this, the last avenue that I did two weeks ago, on the 28th, for no, it's almost three weeks, it's good on three weeks now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, that I did was the best one ever. And what made it even the best one ever was I decided look, I'm going to start doing prayers with the vendors. I put on a Zoom and I said because obviously it's not every vendor who is a Christian, so I didn't want to make it feel as if it was it's a circular event, but it's not a Christian event, but it's Christians behind it. It's a circular event, but it's not a christian event, but christians behind it. And I said I'm going to be doing the prayers. Yeah, you know that a lot of them signed up for it and I said, even if it's just one or two people, about nearly every day, about 18 people were joining me in prayers and we prayed every day for about 20 minutes in the mornings, from 7.30 in the morning. Yeah, people joined me and it was just for 20 minutes and they all joined in. And after the event, I said I was going to do a Thanksgiving prayer and they joined as well.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that just shows the power of prayer and praying together as well.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

Praying with people. It's really good. Oh, thank you so much. We've come so. The time goes so quickly. We've nearly come to the end of the show and before we go, I always like to end the show on a note of hope. So I wanted to share something with people listening out there who are thinking I want to start a business, I don't know where to start, I don't know what to do. I know that businesses sometimes are up and down. What can I do? Just give them some kind of hope, some share something that will leave them okay I'm not sure if I said this earlier on you.

Speaker 2:

You see, white ageism. Some people, when they want to start their business, they want everything to be in place, perfect. If you wait for the perfect moment, you're not going to do anything. I didn't have any money stacked away to start. Starting a shoe business is very capital intensive and I was thinking where am I going to get the money from? It's not that I had any money stacked up, but when there's a will, there's a way.

Speaker 2:

The first thing I did was I set up the company. As soon as I thought out the name of the company Long Peat Boutique I quickly set it up and registered on company's house. Okay, the very day I registered it on company's house, the same day I went to the um, the, the web page, yeah, I, I bought it. The two web pages, longfevertickcouk, and I bought the com as well. I registered so that nobody else would take that name. I did that so that was in place.

Speaker 2:

Then what I did is I did the business card. I did the business card and everything to say this is the business. But I didn't have any products. I didn't have anything. But I took that business card with me when I went to China giving out my cards to all these manufacturers and doing that, but you just need to get on with it. Start small. I didn't have the money. I sold some of my jewelry to raise the capital. Okay, yeah, my gold jewelry. I sold some of that and but my very first delivery of shoes was from a manufacturer that had, um, overproduced some shoes and they had some spare shoes in big sizes and there were six pairs of shoes.

Speaker 1:

You won't imagine that first delivery was six shoes six pairs of shoes and I took it on they delivered it to me.

Speaker 2:

Was it six pairs? Yeah, maybe six or twelve. I was so excited I said those six pairs of shoes, but afterwards other shoes came. But that was the first delivery I got. But when I look at the stock room now even sometimes some people buy at least 10 pairs at the same time for me and when I look at how much stock I've got and when I don't stop the shoes before I used to stop the shoes. We converted one of my room of the rooms in the house to a stock room, but now the shoes are no longer stocked here. I have to hire out um a storage where I got the shoes, and if I look at how much stock I've bought and where I've come from, I can't believe it.

Speaker 2:

But if I had waited and said, oh, until I have all the money, you would not do it. There's no perfect time. Just don't overthink it. Do it's afraid? You need to take calculated risk. If everything is a risk, doing business is a risk. I could have said okay after that manufacturer, let me down. I had a bad, you know, production of shoes. I could have said no, I'm not doing this anymore. But I just continued. I didn't let it stop me, because I had a lot of shoes that I had to count my losses because that manufacturer I couldn't get my money back. Yeah, so, so, so I would just say, when you're doing business, go with the mindset that the first three, four years let me give it my best shot, until if it's not working, then you need to revisit your your business plan to see why it's not working.

Speaker 2:

But that's my advice if you want to do anything, just get on. If you know what you're doing, it's something that you are really passionate and there's a need for it. I would say just go for it.

Speaker 1:

Just go for it okay and um, finally, I just remembered, I think you have an event coming up soon for the Longfeet Boutique. Oh, yes, do you want to talk us through that?

Speaker 2:

So basically, I have a shoe party. Ok, shoe party that sounds fun.

Speaker 1:

I had it last year.

Speaker 2:

I've done something like that before, so many years ago, but now I have a large customer base and last year was it was my birthday, so I actually invited a number of my customers not I didn't open it to a lot of the customers, but customers who were close to me, who were like my friends and family that they should come for the event and I'll be launching my new collection of shoes, so it was just mainly for ladies with big feet. I didn't even invite my regular friends who were small sizes, maybe just one or two of them, and the only reason why they were there is because they were coming to help me, yeah, and so yeah, so yeah, well, it was a huge success.

Speaker 2:

Everybody really had a lovely time. You were there telling I was there, I was there it was it was an amazing time.

Speaker 2:

people really loved it and they said to me look, you have to be having this every year, we can't. So I'm having another one this year, and this time around I've, because I did it at home last year but now I found a venue just a walking distance from me so I can open it up to more people, just a little bit more. But yeah, so I'm looking forward to it and, yes, I'll be unveiling my new collection at this event. Yeah, so people, the ladies you know, when you gather to, when women gather together with a common interest, everybody there has long feet, so it's like everybody can relate. Yeah, the thing is, people who have smaller feet, they don't know the chance, they don't know they don't know what we go through, go through.

Speaker 2:

They will. Just you know, when we see, oh you don't, don't buy that, they're expensive, they'll. You know they discourage you, but they don't know that able to get your size is a nightmare, yeah, so so the women are so excited. I remember last year some people were even hiding shoes in corners so that nobody else there was a bit of a stampede at one point everybody yeah it was funny. Yeah, so I'm looking for, I'm very, I'm very much looking forward to that. Um, it's coming up on the 9th of august.

Speaker 1:

Yes, okay so if anybody who's listening wants to attend, how do they? Where do they find the details and how? How do they?

Speaker 2:

you know, because on the invite I don't normally disclose because it's a private event, but if anyone's listening, is this going to be aired before the 9th of august? It will be aired before the 9th of august.

Speaker 1:

It will be aired before the 9th of august so we can get some people to patronize your business. We will make sure we air before that time.

Speaker 2:

Yes, definitely, just to support you in our own way what they could do is, if they can go on to, um, our instagram page and I must confess that the page has not. I'm going to kind of revive that page because I haven't really posted on that instagram page. But they can send us a dm or we also have a whatsapp number. Do you want me to call out the whatsapp business?

Speaker 1:

um no, you can send me the whatsapp details and I'll put it on the show notes yes, and I would share.

Speaker 2:

If they send a message there and say they want to come to this event, then I would extend the invite to them, to them, yeah, yeah, I will extend it to them. Yeah, so, um, yeah, but it's a, it's a lovely buzz, it's a lovely environment on the day. I, I'm, I'm, so happy, I, and I love to see the smile on the ladies faces, faces when they see their shoes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh. Thank you so much for coming on. I really really have enjoyed this conversation and I hope that the people who've listened or who will listen to this will enjoy this conversation and learn something from it as well. Thank you really so much for coming on, and God bless you.

Speaker 2:

All right. Thank you so much, tele, and well done for what you're doing as well. Thank you, um I. I pray that, um you know, your program would, um you know, would grow in leaps and bounds and it's just the beginning of great things that you'll be doing. So navigating the chapters of challenge with tele is going to be a household name amen amen thank you so much, thank you so much, thank you, thank you bye.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for joining me today on navigating the chapters of challenge. Your time means the world to me and I hope today's episode inspired and encouraged you. If you enjoyed this episode, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with your friends, family or anyone who could use a little hope and encouragement. You can find our podcast on Spotify, buzzsprout, apple Podcasts, youtube and wherever you love listening to podcasts. Want to support the show? It's easy Just click the support button on Buzzsprout, and any contribution, big or small, helps us keep bringing you stories and insights that matter. And don't forget to check out our latest book, navigating the Chapters of Challenge from Trials to Triumph, available now on Amazon. It's packed with inspiration and practical wisdom to help you navigate life's storms. We'd also love to hear from you If you have a story to share, an idea or just want to say hi. Feel free to reach out. Your voice matters and, who knows, your story might just inspire our next episode. Thanks again for listening. Stay strong, stay inspired and I'll see you on the next episode.