Raaja Nemani grew up knowing he wanted work for himself, while positively impacting the world.  However, after he graduated from college, Nemani began to move away from his entrepreneurial goals when he accepted a job in the finance industry.  After working in finance for several years, Nemani decided to quit his job and travel around the world for two years – without any safety net or set plan.  One day, while Nemani was volunteering in Argentina, he befriended an artist named Aaron Firestein.  Firestein doodled on a pair of shoes and gave them to Nemani, who wore them throughout his travels.  Everywhere that Nemani traveled, he received compliments on the shoes Firestein had decorated, allowing him to make friends and connect with fellow travelers.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Nemani and Firestein are now the co-founders of a multi-million dollar shoe company called BucketFeet.  BucketFeet differs from your typical shoe company because any artist can submit a shoe design or pattern.  BucketFeet then features each selected print and artist as a limited edition shoe design.  BucketFeet’s stylish and trendy shoes are currently being sold around the world through their website, pop-up stores, and department stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.
When asked about developing the idea for BucketFeet, Nemani says he never had a single ‘light bulb’ moment.  Rather, he says it was a series of different, smaller ‘light bulb’ moments that led him and Firestein to start BucketFeet.  Mainly, he says it was Firestein’s first artwork that really inspired him.  Through the shoes Firestein designed for him, Nemani was able to connect with people around the world.  Nemani wanted to share this connection through art with others, and that is the main goal of BucketFeet.