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WOMEN WHO MEAN BUSINESS

WOMEN WHOMEAN BUSINESS

A Letter from Angela Scott

October 1, 2021

WOMEN WHOMEAN BUSINESS

A Letter from Angela Scott

October 1, 2021

Angela Scott is a luxury shoe designer and a female founder who means business. After working in the construction business and realizing how impractical it was to wear heels, she founded the bespoke footwear brand, The Office of Angela Scott, in 2012 in hopes to create shoes that will empower women. Her shoes highlight the craftsmanship of traditional shoe-making by using high-quality Italian leather and textiles. These handcrafted shoes are manufactured by a family-owned factory in Portugal using the Goodyear welt construction, the most traditional method of shoemaking.In addition to Scott's signature aesthetic in her designs, she has a strong leadership strategy and philosophy based on her multifaceted career experience. Her approach to design and inspiring story has made her a go-to brand for numerous high profile celebrity clients including Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift, Cate Blanchett & Julia Roberts. And just like Ultimate Ears, she takes design and comfort to another level. Read more of our conversation below!

Who are you?Who am I? I'm a woman who means business. If I wanted to put it into true form, my nickname is cutthroat. It sounds harsh and cutthroat is a heavy term, but I think it's because I'm sort of a straight shooter. I'm as real as it is, what you see is what you get. There's no circumstance, there's no pretense. When I want something I'll go after it. I'm kind of scrappy. I was a foster kid my whole life, so I've had to work really hard to get what I want.But I also have huge empathy. Whatever I'm going to do, there has to be a level of pay-it-forward involved with that too. My pay-it-forward started first with the footwear by paying it forward to the craftsmanship of floor making. There are a lot of men's brands that still do Goodyear welted shoes, which are shoes that are hand constructed and that are sewn rather than glued together, but there weren't many offerings for women. So, my pay-it-forward first was really getting to know those factories and the art, watching it die, and knowing that if I produce footwear for women who consume a lot more footwear than men usually, then I can open up that world of hand craftsmanship to women and Goodyear welt craftsmanship to women that might inspire other brands to do the same.What do you think your superpower is?My superpower is that I know people really well. I think it's that empathy factor. When you grow up as a foster kid and when you grow up kind of knowing that you've got to figure it out yourself, that as much as I'm loved, I have a great family, I have awesome brothers, I've got a good community of people, but deep down there are sort of these characteristic in me that know that you've got to do it yourself, you've got to figure it out yourself. It’s survival of the fittest basically, right?I think my superpower is having empathy. I can read people really well. I have an ability to look at what's deeper in people versus just what's on the surface. I think that is why our loyalty was so strong because it wasn't about selling products for me, at least for our brand in the beginning. It was about getting to know the women buying the product, honestly. Truly knowing who they were, not just as a figure, and going, "Donna is X amount of dollars a year, or this person is X amount of dollar a year." It was more about, what does she do? What is she interested in? What's her superpower? I think my superpower is having the ability to be open and to know other people's superpower.

Tell me the name of your company and tell me why it's called that.The brand is called The Office of Angela Scott and the Office of Angela Scott is really about all women. I didn't want to name the brand after me, and it wasn't my name to begin with. My name was a different last name until I got married, which I got married after I started the brand. The brand wasn't namesake when I started it, it became namesake after I started it because my husband's name is Scott Milden and I didn't want to be one letter shy of Mildew, which is Milden. It just smelt, the last name smells bad and I didn't want to be Angela Milden, so I took his first name.The Office of Angela Scott represents all women. It is named the Office of Angela Scott because it represents mothers and lawyers and doctors. I like to say that we are all the office, and that's why it's the Office of Angela Scott. It's not about me, it's about all of us. It's about The Office of Angela Scott.Tell us about your career trajectory getting into the world of shoes.Normally, you would go the fashion route then fashion intern and take that pathway, but I didn't know that there was access to the fashion world when I was younger. When I went to college, I got into the construction world and I worked for Ty Warner in his asset management company and did a lot of project management. I love construction. I love the idea of building something from scratch, from seeing something go from a drawing to the framework, to then the actual finished product. That really was a big part of why I chose the way we do make the shoes.The trajectory went from college, being an intern at UGG, getting really interested in footwear, then moving into construction, really understanding and having an appreciation for the art and the craftsmanship of things. Then working for Neiman Marcus and understanding that that ability to start a brand was possible. I thought it was such a far reach having not gone through the fashion route, that it wouldn't be accessible to me. So, when I went to Neiman Marcus and I started meeting designers and realizing that the design world was quite small and these big luxury brands that you think are so big are actually two people hustling in the garage. That was a real reality.

I started meeting designers and realizing that the design world was quite small and these big luxury brands that you think are so big are actually two people hustling in the garage.

So, I took the leap and started looking for a factory. That was the biggest, that was like the intro into footwear was me meeting and getting introduced to various different factories and how they build shoes. So, I took the leap and started looking for a factory. That was the biggest, that was like the intro into footwear was me meeting and getting introduced to various different factories and how they build shoes.

This is a segment that we call “Best in Craft.” Can you describe what is Goodyear welted and why it's so unique for us?

Goodyear welting is a type of craftsmanship. I would say that is the best form of craftsmanship and footwear. The reason being is that before there were factories that could just glue uppers of a shoe to a sole, shoes were welted because you didn't buy 20 pairs of shoes, you bought one and then you had to have it re-soled because that's what you could afford. It's also the best way to have something sustainable.

Goodyear welt craftsmanship is where the upper of the shoe is actually sewn on to the welt of a shoe and it's a leather rand that goes around the side of the shoe. This allows the shoe to be resoled and repaired and it's really a testament to craftsmanship. It takes a lot longer than gluing and stitching a shoe or just gluing a shoe together.

This is a segment that we call “Best in Craft.” Can you describe what is Goodyear welted and why it's so unique for us?

Goodyear welting is a type of craftsmanship. I would say that is the best form of craftsmanship and footwear. The reason being is that before there were factories that could just glue uppers of a shoe to a sole, shoes were welted because you didn't buy 20 pairs of shoes, you bought one and then you had to have it re-soled because that's what you could afford. It's also the best way to have something sustainable.

Goodyear welt craftsmanship is where the upper of the shoe is actually sewn on to the welt of a shoe and it's a leather rand that goes around the side of the shoe. This allows the shoe to be resoled and repaired and it's really a testament to craftsmanship. It takes a lot longer than gluing and stitching a shoe or just gluing a shoe together.

Like I said, this series is called best in craft. So, what does best in craft mean to you? To me, “Best in Craft” means offering somebody something that is crafted in such a way that it allows it to last longer than a moment. It's not something you're going to throw away. Craft is all about the art of something. I think the best in craft is really about creating an art form that is to be appreciated. It's not just even just the building of the product, but it's also the longevity that product has. Also, the meaning behind it. Craft is doing something by hand. It's tactile.Does it seem strange to you that an earphone company is trying to do a series called “Best in Craft?” I think it's unique. I have to say I loved the whole process of it. I think that there's something about craft in music and in sound and it even goes back to nostalgia. Think about it, when you hear something, when you hear a song or a sound or a moment, it brings you back to a time and I think that the fact that a company that does sound is doing craft makes total sense because they're tied.

Well, I'm not packing boxes in my garage anymore. I remember the very first time I got my first order, my first production that came in, it was just me. I was the only employee and person in the company. I had gotten really lucky in the start and I was delivering orders to Saks and Jefferies. I got big orders with big department stores and they send you this bible of regulations that you have to go through. As one individual to have to go through all those regulations, there were just so many specifications involved in that process and it was just me.Being an individual person in the beginning to nine years later, we have 13 people now. It is so cool to see and it's such a journey but it also shows you what you're capable of. The first two years, it was just me and then from two to seven years, it was only two of us. Then, from seven to nine years, that's where we got our biggest growth. It just shows you how resilient you are. You can be scrappy. People can get it done.