Shoebizness friends Tracy Russ and Ally Ulrich….and ME!

The Shoe Show Virgin

I was excited, a bit apprehensive, but mostly consumed with the special kind of curiosity that comes with the knowledge that you know you’re about to experience something wonderful, but you’re not quite sure what’s going to happen.

I didn’t try to pretend I knew what I was doing, as I was with a woman with experience and trusted her to show me what to do.  Instinct would take care of the rest, I felt.

Yes, I was a shoe show virgin.  In New York City.  And there were showrooms and people eager to participate in my deflowering.  Off we went!

I was invited to tag along with a friend (who is, incidentally, the vivid founder of this website) to the show in order to immerse myself in this world so that I could assist her in making a part of her vision for shoebizness.com make the jump from vision to reality.

I’ve built a career in communications and pr, so meeting people, gabbing, chatting, joking and jibing come naturally to me.  Yet, there are very few industries that I’ve had the pleasure to explore that offer the diversity of types of people that the footwear industry showed me.

At one turn we were talking to a “shoe dog” (a term that was new to me, but will never be forgotten) in hushed tones normally reserved for Republican fundraisers and dinner party gossiping, and at another turn, cursing like a sailor and comparing tattoo stories with a young designer from L.A.

In day #1, it was a brand new world to me.  It didn’t hurt.  As a matter of fact, I liked it.  I wanted more, and there was more to be had.

Day #2.  I was more prepared, as I now knew what people were talking about.  No longer a virgin, now was the time to move away from the missionary position and get more bold.  It was on.

Showrooms flew by, models clacked past, business cards flew, elevators groaned and receptionists snarled.  Heels, clogs, soles, clasps, laces, buckles, adornments, leathers, fabrics, collections…men’s…women’s…it was like sipping vodka from a flower vase, and it was a blast!

Shoes are unique in the world as items of both function and form.  They carry attitude, but also carry the weight of a being who only a few thousand generations ago was living in caves and needed a pedicure like Lohan needs rehab.

No other item of clothing says as much about the personality of the wearer than someone’s shoes.  Sadly, sometimes the shoes carry the personality in the arrangement.  Perhaps we all might have more interesting things to say if our lips could wear what our feet have on.

So, it makes sense that those in the industry are personalities themselves, and it will be my role to bring some of those personalities to you in shoebizness.com.

I’m looking forward to my continuing education, and of course, my fashion hormones are now raging as I’ve unlocked their fierce power in the process of losing my virginity.  So, come along my journey with me – it will be an experience worthy of the trip!

– Tracy Russ