Samuel Bistrian was born in a small impoverished village in Romania and lived there until his family had the opportunity to emigrate to the United States when he was a young boy. One of his fondest memories of his time living in Romania was when he received a pair of rain boots as a gift. These boots were significant to him because of the wet climate of his village and his lack of adequate footwear, but even so, they were more than simply a pair of shoes. They were an agent of life-changing opportunities and an inspiration for all he would do in years to come.
Later in his life, while living in the United States, Bistrian happened to be working in the retail store where Blake Mycoskie launched his first line of Toms shoes. After talking with Mycoskie and hearing more about his “one-for-one” business model, Bistrian decided to do something similar with rain boots. Despite his student loans and credit card debt, Bistrian started his company, Roma Boots, with the $5,000 in his savings account. He adopted Toms’ “one-for-one” model by donating a pair of boots to an impoverished child for every pair sold. However, he also took this redemptive aspect a step farther by using Roma Boots to support schools in impoverished villages by donating funds and reading materials. Bistrian recognized that in order to eliminate poverty, children needed more than a good pair of shoes. They also needed a good education that would empower and encourage them to do great things with their lives.
I think Samuel Bistrian is an incredible example of an entrepreneur who not only created a successful business, but also touched the lives of thousands of children in the process. He focused on his vision and not his circumstance. Though he did not necessarily have the capital and support that he needed at the time when he started his business, he sacrificed his own resources and personally took on the risk because he was determined to make an impact. His company’s motto, “give poverty the boot”, highlights the redemptive purpose of helping children overcome poverty. To this day, Roma Boots has been fighting poverty and empowering children in 26 different countries and donating over 100,000 pairs of rain boots!
Learn more at:
https://romaboots.com/
https://www.romabootspoverty.org/
I think that this topic is so awesome, the fact that he was able to make a profitable business with a cause is awesome. the one-for-one shoe idea is great and the way that he adapted that to help where he’s from is very touching. This was a very good blog post about a very good subject.