Steve Madden, the owner of his self-named shoe empire, is the type of hustler we can take notes from. With a grind like no other, he’s authentic, innovative, and inspirational. But his journey to the top was not always easy. His successes are undoubtedly due to his unparalleled drive, and now he is the face of the raw and authentic entrepreneurial struggle. At Pure Grind, we take inspiration from the life of this self-made entrepreneur.

Humble Beginnings

In an episode of The Lonely Entrepreneur’s podcast titled “Self-Made Entrepreneurs,” Madden said, “I wanted to have my line, but most importantly I wanted to survive.” This is a shared story among many business owners: They just wanted to make a living. He fell in love with shoes in the 1970s, when he made platform shoes famous at a local store in his hometown on Long Island, New York. He was just a high schooler. His company was launched in 1990 when he released the Marilyn with only $1,100 in the bank. By the mid-1990s, his business was bringing in more than $38 million in sales. By 2000, the company opened its 50th store and those numbers climbed to more than $200 million. Now, his name is a $3 billion brand.

The Industry Doesn’t Like Him

In the shoe world, Madden isn’t well liked. He didn’t hail from some shoe capital, like Milan or Paris, nor does he have a background in design. He just loves designing and selling shoes. He also didn’t go to business school. In fact, he dropped out of college in Miami, where he spent most of his time getting high and going to the beach. Madden started selling shoes out of the trunk of a car. Despite these — what people would describe as setbacks, there are very few designers in history that are this successful. He made it big when he released the Mary Lou, then became a household name.

Fear Over Failure

Madden has spoken in interviews about how people are often too afraid to try new things because they worry they will fail. On NPR’s How I Built This podcast hosted by Guy Raz, Madden — always being authentically himself — dives in to the trials and tribulations of being a businessman and trying to be successful. But his big takeaway he said, "You know, so there were some mistakes that we made, but we did so many great things. And the thing about that is if you start getting gun-shy and start being afraid to make a mistake, you'll never have the brilliant ideas." 

If you let fear lead you on your path, you’re never going to make it anywhere. Madden has not let his setbacks, like lack of education, stop him from selling shoes. His former boss, Jan Friedman was once quoted saying, “[Madden is] one of the most natural-born salesmen I’ve ever seen. He could sell anything to anybody.” This confidence and grind that Madden so uniquely possesses is what made him one of the most powerful figures in the shoe industry.

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