Blake Mycoskie: Founder of Toms Shoes
Business Owner · Fashion & Apparel
Blake Mycoskie sold his first business, EZ Laundry, in 1999, sold a Nashville billboard company to Clear Channel after nine months, finished third on The Amazing Race, and founded Toms Shoes.
About Blake Mycoskie: Founder of Toms Shoes
Blake Mycoskie (born August 26, 1976, in Arlington, Texas) is an American entrepreneur, author and philanthropist, the founder of Toms Shoes and co-founder of Madefor. He is the son of orthopaedic surgeon Mike Mycoskie and author Pam Mycoskie, and graduated from St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin in 1995. He began playing tennis at ten and attended Southern Methodist University on a partial tennis scholarship, with a dual major in philosophy and business. After an Achilles tendon injury in his sophomore year effectively ended his tennis career, he left SMU and launched his first business, EZ Laundry. EZ Laundry began by serving SMU, which had no on-campus dry cleaning, and grew to employ more than 40 people, serve three universities and generate about $1 million in sales; Mycoskie sold it to his partner in 1999. He then moved to Nashville and founded Mycoskie Media, an outdoor billboard company focused mainly on marketing country music. It was quickly profitable and Clear Channel bought it nine months after launch. In 2001 Mycoskie and his sister Paige applied for the cast of Survivor; a production team member told them about The Amazing Race, which had yet to debut, and they competed in its second season, finishing third and missing the million-dollar prize by four minutes. He moved to Los Angeles later that year and went on to found Toms Shoes. Sources: English Wikipedia (Blake Mycoskie, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Founder, Toms Shoes; co-founder, Madefor
Company Details
Toms Shoes / Madefor
Footwear, Social Enterprise, Wellness
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