So these shoes came out last year on August 21st and, when I saw them, I automatically fell in love.
The color was something I’ve never seen before, the design of the shoe was what you’d call futuristic; the mint color Nike swoosh sign and speckles surrounding it glowed in the dark – yes, it glowed in the dark, I swear! Like I said, it was love at first sight.
Now NOBODY in Stamford had these at the time and I don’t like getting shoes that everybody else has. I like to be different, so to get these shoes would be an all-time high. I left school during lunch to walk all the way to the mall and into Footlocker where I spent $137 on the shoes. They were finally in my possession and I was the happiest kid in the world. I had timed it perfectly. I got back to school as soon as lunch ended. “Where were you during lunch?” they asked. I didn’t say anything. I just opened my bag and their eyes just glittered up, as if they’d seen something magnificent. Which they had. “Yooooooooooo! Those joints are clean,” they all said.
When I wore them to school the next day, everybody was staring, whispering to one another. People even tried to make deals with me, but it was a no go. I wasn’t giving my shoes up for nothing. Better still, I was the only student with the shoes until the day before Thanksgiving. Then I saw three people wearing them, but was I mad? No! Why would I be? I had just started a sneaker trend.
The definition of a sneaker-head is a person who spends about everything on sneakers, staying up with the new releases, etc. And I sort of am. But for me it’s just as much about the hunt, the research, the homework. And how each step I take to broaden and deepen my knowledge brings me closer to becoming an entrepreneur, where the payoff is even higher – how I can parlay my unarguable instincts into profit. Rare shoes can go for upwards to five, even ten grand.
So here’s my next area to research: how to own a business. I could open an Internet storefront, and sell rare sneakers out of my bedroom and pay nothing for overhead. But I’d rather own a brick and mortar underground sneaker store, the type with no address where you have to know the password to get in. Out front, they look like a regular shoe store, but they’ve got an inner sanctum that’s full of the rarest shoes you can’t find in the US.
But I don’t want to rush into something fueled solely by my enthusiasm. My instincts tell me to go to college first and major in business. That way, I’ll have an in depth understanding of accounting, finance, marketing, and business management as well as strategies essential for making a profit. It makes the most sense for me to start out at either Norwalk or Housatonic Community College and earn my associate’s degree with the free FAFSA grants for which I’m eligible. They will make sure my credits transfer to a four-year program for a full degree in business. And after that, who knows? An MBA is a definite possibility. And so, of course, is my ultimate goal of entrepreneurship – owning my own sneaker store. I already know I have what it takes to succeed. My proven research skills, drive, and those unerring instincts can and will be translated to anything I undertake.
