Disrupting the Cycle with Soles4Souls

Abstract

            This report presents information on my recent trip to Nashville, TN where I was invited to participate in the AIB-SE Symposium for 2019. To be invited to this event one had to perform well in the semester-long X-Culture project for the International Business class. Me alongside Tyler Williams were amongst the top students and were invited to participate. The AIB-SE was working alongside Soles4Souls where they presented the six different groups with three challenges. One of which the groups had to choose to try to find a solution for it. I was placed in a group consisting of me and other international students from Mexico, Belgium, Canada, and other students from the US. We presented our solution to one of the issues facing Soles4Souls in front of their CEO, Buddy Teaster. The issue was of the potential lost opportunity of the thousands of discarded shoes during mud runs that they could add to their inventory or let them end up in landfills.

            The symposium also consisted of several workshops where professors from the other participating universities presented on several topics within the International Business sector. But mostly it was an opportunity for everyone to network with people from all over the world. I was able to form connections with not only my groupmates but also others from Italy, China, and Colombia. Also, I was quite fortunate to experience the stadium for the Tennessee Titans, which adds to my many experiences towards my future career in Sports Management.

             

My team #SoleyMud from left to right: Max from Mexico, myself, Catherine from Canada, Paige from Houston, Arnaud from Belgium, and Jessica from Philadelphia  

Background Information of Project

            We were invited to participate in the X-Culture AIB-SE Soles4Souls Challenge after having performed well in Dr. Rottig’s International Business class where we had to work on an International group project alongside students from all over the world. This project was assigned by AIB-SE, the Academy of International Business U.S. Southeast Chapter. We first had to take a placement test for us to be placed in international teams based on our results of the test. The test mostly covered subjects such as cultural intelligence and other international business topics. My group consisted of myself and members from Thailand, Italy, Ecuador, Colombia, and North Carolina, US. We chose to take on the challenge proposed by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with AIB-SE. Our challenge was to find new markets for the city of Nashville to attract and we made a report on how they should focus on attracting automotive companies towards creating electric and hybrid vehicles within the US. Based on our performance, the top teams of the semester were invited to the X-Culture Symposium in Nashville, TN. My team was invited but only I was able to attend due to travel complications for the rest of my team members. 

The Nashville Symposium

            We arrived in Nashville into a welcome reception held by AIB-SE followed by a comprehensive tour of the Soles4Souls headquarters led by their main staff. We had an interview session with their CEO, CFO, and CMO where they were available to answer questions the groups had come across during their research. We were also able to help them out through the sorting process of donations to get a better understanding of their daily business activities.

Two images of our work can be seen on the back of this report. Afterwards, we were all invited to a welcome session at a recording studio where many Country Music legends once recorded their songs. The following days consisted of opportunities for everyone to attend workshops and other sessions held by the professors from the participating universities and time for the groups to finalize their solutions. 

            During the last day, we presented in from of Soles4Souls’ CEO Buddy Teaster. He congratulated us on the creativity of our solutions and was very impressed with our idea of creating the initial donation idea into the minds of the participants during their registration process. He mentioned that he was also interested in discussing more in depth with his staff on how it would be possible for them to implement the sponsored racer solution we came up with. In the end, there was another group who won the prize for best solution. They came up with the idea of freezing the shoes for shipment which eliminated the risk of decomposition and I was quite impressed with their presentation. 

            I was also lucky to be able to get to know the city of Nashville specifically its most popular areas as well as the stadium for the Tennessee Titans and their professional hockey team. As a student hoping to work in the Professional Sports Management industry, I was quite happy to be able to observe the stadium in person. I thought about how they control entry and exit during games and how they create a sense of pride for the people of Tennessee in their organization. I was able to use the content I have learned throughout the several Sports Management classes I took at FGCU to get a first-hand experience of their facilities. As well as how they did so on their hockey stadium on the other side of the bridge.

The Soles4Souls Challenge

            Once accepted in the Symposium, I was placed once again in an international group. This time consisting of myself, one from Mexico, one from Belgium, one from Canada, and two other US students. This time our challenge was from the company Soles4Souls (S4S). They presented each group with three challenges, one of which we had to try to solve. S4S’s vision is “to disrupt the cycle of poverty by creating sustainable jobs and provide relief through the distribution of shoes and clothing around the world.” They have three main issues that they are currently facing. The first is the challenge of taking advantage of the factory surplus big companies are experiencing. The second is an exploration into European expansion. The third being the finding of a solution of the millions of discarded shoes that occur during mud runs. 

Organizing donated shoes at the Soles4Souls headquarters.

            My team, named #SoleyMud, chose to take on the mud run issue and we came up with a marketing solution that would help them save money on cleaning and shipping the dirty and discarded shoes from the mud runs. Mud runs happen all over the world ranging from Europe to South Africa and from Australia to Brazil. Estimates show that 30-50% of participants discard their shoes after the runs which creates thousands of discarded shoes every year in landfills. S4S decided to collect these shoes and clean them to sell to local entrepreneurs in impoverished areas, such as Haiti, for them to be able to make a living out of the shoes. The issues S4S came across was that the shoes are too dirty to clean, even with industrial washers, by the time they arrive, and the dirt creates a lot of weight which adds to shipping expenses. 

            My team’s solution was to have S4S sponsor a few of the runners participating in the events and have them lead the donors into cleaning their no longer desired shoes mostly to get rid of the heavy mud that will reduce the shipping expenses significantly. The industrial washers and dryers would take care of the rest. These sponsors are a low-cost solution because their compensation would be the entrance fee for the race, which can cost up to $500, and food and beverage during the day. An efficient way for S4S to have manpower at all races. Donors would me incentivized to clean their shoes so that they can show off their collected dirt to their friends. Also, a collaboration with the mud run organizers to place donation information during registration would entice more people to donate their shoes. 

            

Students: Tyler Williams & Marcelo Taborga

Mentor: Daniel Rottig

Department of Management