Founder of TOMS Shoes speaks here Wednesday

The founder of TOMS Shoes, Blake Mycoskie, will be flying into Gainesville from Africa after spending 16 days there distributing shoes and spreading awareness of the TOMS movement.

He will be speaking at the University of Florida Wednesday at 8. Doors to the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will open at 7.

The title of his talk is "The New Rules for Tomorrow's Business: a Student's Guide to Making a Difference in the World."

The show is free and open to the public and seating is on a first-come basis.

Mycoskie founded the for-profit company in 2006 in Venice, Calif. Its objective is to donate a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes purchased: the One for One model.

Since its inception, the organization has given more than 150,000 pairs of shoes to underprivileged children in countries like Argentina, Ethiopia and South Africa.

By the end of 2009, TOMS Shoes plans to have delivered more than 300,000 pairs of shoes.

The shoe design is simple: canvas, denim, corduroy or suede body, leather or suede insole and rubber or rope sole.

The colors and patterns are wide-ranging: solids, neons, plaids, prints.

TOMS Shoes come in women's, men's and children's sizes. Adult shoes range from $44 to $79, and there are even women's boots available for $98.

Mycoskie was first inspired to start this philanthropic endeavor when he traveled to Argentina in 2006 and saw the children there were barefoot and at risk for sores and disease.

He has spoken at former President Clinton's Global Initiative meeting, was awarded People's Design in 2007 by First Lady Laura Bush and has been featured in a documentary on TOMS Shoes that appeared at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

What's impressive about Mycoskie is that "he has found a way to change the world without the use of government," said Jason Attermann, chairman of ACCENT, UF's speakers bureau, which is co-sponsored Mycoskie's visit.

The Office of Sustainability and ACCENT made a joint decision to have Mycoskie speak at UF, Attermann said.

UF's MBA program is also supportive of Mycoskie's trip to Gainesville because of his entrepreneurial savvy, he said.

Mycoskie has owned four different companies before founding TOMS Shoes.

"It's a smart organization and it's successful," Attermann said.

TOMS Shoes has created a movement in shoes and seems to have a large following in Gainesville, he said.

Attermann said he thinks Mycoskie's talk will benefit students by showing them how to be sustainable while being aware of human issues and running a profitable business.

He said he expects close to 2,000 people to come to the speech.