My family has worked in the shoe service industry since 1920, and I’m proud to continue that tradition. Our family company closed in 2017, but I wasn’t ready to walk away. I started selling shoe repair products out of my car, which eventually led me to Justin Blair & Company. They saw the same opportunity in shoe repair that I did and asked me to lead and build a new shoe repair supply division—helping fill the void left when companies like ours disappeared. In 2022, I joined the Board of Directors for the Shoe Service Institute of America (SSIA), became Secretary in 2023, and in 2024, I became President of an association that has supported this trade since 1904. You might hear that shoe repair is a dying industry. The reality is there are still thousands of shops across the country, and new people are entering the trade every year. The challenge is a lack of formal training and apprenticeship programs, combined with many experienced shop owners preparing to retire. Demand is growing—but the pipeline of trained professionals is not.

SSIA plays a key role in keeping the industry connected and moving forward. Each year, we host the only trade show dedicated to shoe repair—this year marks our 119th annual event. We’re also expanding our digital training video catalog and growing our outreach to help more people enter the trade and succeed. Funds raised through this birthday fundraiser will go toward supporting the SSIA trade show, helping new repair shops attend and get started, expanding training and education resources, and covering essential operating costs to keep these programs running.

Many people have roots in this trade—parents, grandparents, or great grandparents who made a living repairing shoes and serving their communities. That legacy is still here, but it needs support to continue. And if you’ve ever thrown out a pair of shoes you loved because you didn’t know they could be repaired, that’s exactly the problem we’re working to fix.