Luc Houle (he/him)

My career path took so many odd twists and turns. When I was in high school I expected to be working at Disney or Pixar right now. I went to college to study animation. I worked in the industry for about a year when the company I was working for shut down. My uncle got me a job working with him selling shoes. I didn’t think I’d like it but I found it interesting. Growing up I was into skateboarding. Here, shoes are a big part of the culture!

From there I went on to work in other parts of the clothing industry. I learned to design and I learned about sales. After I designed my first shoe, I continued to learn about design and production. I made contacts in the industry. I also saw that the shoes we buy, wear and then throw away, have a huge impact on the environment. A big impact is that almost all of a shoe is plastic. And plastic takes 1000’s of years to break down. I saw that some manufacturers were using recycled rubber. That is good but I wanted to do something that had more impact. I worked with engineering for a couple of years. I designed a shoe that will last as long as other types. The difference is that when it you discard it, the materials will biodegrade. Each shoe has an apple seed in the sole. If you plant it, each shoe will grow into an apple tree.

Now I am in the process of building my business and getting these shoes to market. I've got a theory that the universe is conspiring for you to succeed. So honestly, as long as you work hard at what you're interested in and you stay curious, the world will find a way to place you where you need to be. Then you will have the greatest impact.