Meet The Founder

On paper, it’s been four years.

Since the kick-off? It’s been three years and three months.

For the most part, I just wanted to look for amazing deals and show people they could wear great shoes at great prices. I knew what if felt like to want a decent look but have to keep telling yourself NO because you can’t afford them. You’re not asking for much. You just want to look and feel good.

It was 2016 and I had been in corporate banking for about a year. At first, I liked what I was doing and I excelled at it. However, as with everything else, I got tired very quickly. I knew banking wasn’t for me because I had worked with a fashion start-up for a few months and I loved every bit of that.

I was in a fix. What to do?

I was having a conversation with a colleague when I suddenly realized it was time to make the move out of the banking environment. I didn’t have extra baggage so the move was supposed to be easy, but where would I go? Now that I’ve made the decision, what’s the next step?

I told my parents and they thought I had run mad. All the money I had would only last me a few months if no serious expenses come up. What would I do for money?

On March 31st, 2017, I left banking never to look back. The idea for Shoepify had come a few months earlier and I had started. However, things weren’t looking good. Sometime in April, while sleeping, eating, and waiting for my ‘light bulb’ moment, I took the rest of my savings and invested them in shoes. All of it was less than 100,000 naira. (Please do not try this at home.)

I was very active on Twitter at the time and so I began to market again as I had done before. The problem was that I only had a few shoes, but people wanted more. I kept thinking, ‘Why can’t they just buy these ones first and I’ll buy a new set with the money?’

People usually say, “how do you do it?” and when I smile and say, “it is hard”, they think I’m trying to scare them. I took the longest and hardest route because I had to do a lot of learning on the job. Regardless, I’m grateful for all the lessons, even though I made many avoidable mistakes.

What started as serving one or two customers in two weeks has now evolved into serving thousands of customers every year. I’m grateful for the support I get from everyone in all of your little ways, including telling a colleague or two, liking and sharing our social media posts, and bringing out your hard-earned money to make a purchase a two. All of these things are the ways you have been awesome, and I’m immensely grateful for everything.

Is Shoepify where we want to be? Of course not. But we’re definitely still on the way to bring you so much more. I am excited about what the future holds for our brand because a lot is happening behind the scenes and I simply cannot wait for you to see them.

Thank you for coming on this journey with me.

Peace, love, and strutting,

Wunmi

You know I never come empty handed! Click HERE to shop our biggest annual sale. They don't come around twice a year so, hurry!!!