…to own a business

I am a shoe reseller. I purchase shoes from other retailers and I sell them for a profit. I felt a sense of accomplishment to see my business grow so quickly. I gained 1,000 Instagram followers during my first month of reselling shoes back in October of 2018. This whole experience has been so rewarding and humbling. I never thought I would be so successful at 15.

At first I started selling shoes as a hobby, but it led to so much more. The money I began making started off as overwhelming, but it led to me wanting to become more educated and put more time into my business. At this time, I have over 10,000 followers on Instagram and I can’t believe I have connected with and sold shoes to famous rappers and professional athletes.

Platforms that I use to buy and sell my stock are Goat, Stock X, and the Sneaker Con app. The best way I’ve learned to make a profit on my stock is to purchase shoes in bulk and then sell them individually. Another method I use is purchasing shoes at retail price, which is the original price the brand has set the shoe at. Once the shoe gets on the market and there is limited stock, the price skyrockets, which is when I make money. 

I would say the greatest help for my business would definitely be my dad. My dad really helped me out at the start of my business by giving me $500 to start out with. At the end of that week, I returned him that $500 and made my first 2 purchases and profit of $230. With that $230, I went on to keep buying and selling shoes. He also helped me by driving me to the post office daily and helping me drop off packages while I was at school. I am very grateful for my dad’s help. He has taken me to many sneaker events and even helped me organize 3 of my own events.

The event that I host is called SnkrFest. It’s a convention where people can buy tickets to set up a table and try to sell their items. There’s general admission where people line up and wait to come in at the starting time of the event to buy, sell and trade their sneakers and apparel.

I started it out with a reseller who lived in Naperville, and we hosted our first event at a Naperville church on December 1, 2018 where we only had around 30 vendors who sold shoes  and around 200 attendees. We called it the Naperville Sneaker Convention. Now, our events are at 60-70 vendors who sell anything from shoes to high end clothing with over 1,000 attendees at our 3rd event which was at the Berto Center where the Chicago Bulls practiced for a long time. We changed the name to SnkrFest after I hosted my first event. 

I started this out because there aren’t many events in our area, and whenever there were local events, I found myself to be so successful with selling my shoes. I wanted to have a event around here so resellers in the Chicago area can have a place to sell their shoes and meet up. I also wanted to start this up because it really brings the sneaker community together. The places that I host SnkrFest events vary. My first event was at a church in Naperville, my second event was at Joy of the Game which is in North Brooke and we used their gym. Our last event was at The Berto Center.. 

My family is very proud of me. They never thought my hobby would turn into my very first business. My parents don’t spend that much time on social media so it’s really hard for them to believe that I have grown my business by building relationships through Instagram. They certainly never imagined that I would be able to buy my own car at the age of 15. This was always a goal of mine, I knew I wanted a Jeep when I turned 16, and even more so wanted a new one.

I purchased a Jeep Wrangler Sport 2020 on December 19th with my own money. I felt very accomplished because this was my first big purchase that I bought with my profits from my own business. 

I definitely plan to continue this business in the future. I feel that I have a good start to potentially open a store of my own and resell shoes. I love shoes and I love helping people out. For now, I continue to adver