Letters from Friends
Finding the soul in soles:
Special education student brings shoes to barefoot children
Nicole Lee (right), a senior in special education, got fellow interns at TOMS Shoes to spell O-H-I-O with her on a California beach.
Nicole Lee, a senior from Chicago, is preparing to be an early childhood special education teacher. She is president of Kappa Phi Kappa, the education honorary, a Mount Scholar with the university's Mount Leadership Society, and this year, she received the McNeil-Siegrist Endowed Scholarship for Special Education. She writes about an exciting experience she had this past summer as an intern on the West Coast.
As I walk down a side street of Santa Monica, California, with three fellow interns by my side, I almost miss the narrow alleyway that would lead me to the many adventures to come. I walk up the small but clean alley toward an open warehouse door and step inside a dim, hot space.
This is TOMS Shoes' headquarters.
It's not flashy. Subtle. In fact, most passersby would completely miss it.
The non-air-conditioned warehouse space with plywood sheets as cubicle dividers is what TOMS calls home. This space captures the heart of TOMS.
TOMS is simple. The company operates on a straightforward business model: "With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One." That's it. No complicated business terms. No gimmicks.
It is this simple business model that marries business values and nonprofit charity work that drew my attention. Many say that TOMS is a for-profit company with a nonprofit soul. Corny? Perhaps. But completely true.
When submitting my application for the internship at the beginning of February 2010, I honestly did not expect to be accepted. My only experience directly related to the internship position for which I applied was serving as a campus representative for TOMS at Ohio State. Passionate about their cause, I worked on the Columbus campus to share the TOMS story throughout my entire fourth year.
In mid-April, I received a call from TOMS telling me that I had been passed through to the phone interview process. Several phone interviews later, I received a call in mid-May saying I was chosen from over 13,000 applicants to fill one of the 14 internship positions for the summer. I would be the alternative sales intern.
I had only a few weeks to find a place to live, book my flight to Los Angeles, and arrange to take my finals early (the internship started the week of finals). TOMS will do that do you -- throw your life into a complete frenzy.
Three weeks later, I found myself in Santa Monica living with seven other interns.
My special education background, on the surface, had little relevance to my internship position. Yet throughout the summer, my special education courses proved to be much more relevant than I had anticipated.
The program faculty, especially the program head, Diane Sainato, consistently reminds us to meet the needs of the children we work with to the best of our abilities as well as to be ready and willing to adapt.
I applied these two ideas throughout the entire summer. As the alternative sales intern focused on community outreach, I constantly had to think about ways to best meet the needs of the communities we work with as well as how these communities can most effectively share the TOMS story with others. I also did a lot of event planning, organized data, managed collaborative work with music artists and Nordstrom and did basic public relations work. I even developed a program for kids meant to motivate them to find their own way to make a difference in the world using the TOMS story as inspiration.
Needless to say, things got a bit chaotic at times, especially since TOMS was about to give away its ONE MILLIONTH pair of shoes. But at all times, I remained calm and adapted, as my special education faculty taught me. During hectic moments, it helped that I worked alongside the most amazing, supportive and inspiring individuals. Together, we worked toward a shared goal: to bring new shoes to children in need all over the world.
The two questions I consistently get from people about my experience last summer are:
- What was the coolest thing about your internship?
- Did you meet any celebrities?
Yes, I met celebrities this summer; TOMS is quite connected. No, it was not the coolest part of my summer. The coolest part was that I was able to directly contribute to a company -- a movement -- that has helped change the lives of thousands and thousands of children. I got to share with others that by doing something as simple as purchasing a pair of shoes, one can change a child's life. That, my friend, was the coolest part of my summer.
I walked away from this summer more mature and holding so much more knowledge than I had walking in. I learned two very big things about myself:
- I possess far more capabilities than I give myself credit for.
- My drive to help children does not, and should not, be limited to my aspirations to become a special education teacher. I can apply my love for helping children through education and beyond. By day, I can be a teacher, and by night, an ambassador for TOMS.
I encourage you to seek your passion and use it to bring about positive change in this world. I am passionate about helping children. I chose special education and TOMS. What do you choose?
Carpe diem,
Mademoiselle SOLEiel (my shoe name at TOMS)
P.S. For more about what a TOMS campus rep does and special offers to those associated with Ohio State, contact me at tomsohiostate@gmail.com.
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