In Summer 2017 ShuEsq participated in a pitch contest that was focused on providing businesses an opportunity to operate a brick and mortar store in a collective marketplace with the idea to learn about running a retail operation and propelling into higher levels. As our very first pitch contest, we were grateful to have been chosen to participate as a retail business at the Grow Desoto Marketplace.
After operating for a year, we are pretty sure some of you may be wondering why we said farewell to our first brick and mortar location that we coined “The Mini Shoe Bar”? Others may be confused and think that we have said farewell to ShuEsq altogether. Well, we have not said farewell to ShuEsq., The Shoe Bar.
Truth is, our lease for The Mini Bar was up for renewal and we had to decide whether we wanted to stay in our former location, or if we wanted to take a risk and prepare ourselves to execute our future goals for ShuEsq through a different avenue. And as you now know, we chose the latter. ShuEsq is still in business, and as of now, will operate online while focusing on various pop-up shops.
It was important for us to remain true to ourselves and ShuEsq. While, The Mini Shoe Bar was a great experience for us, it was time for us to be realistic with ourselves in how we wanted to grow ShuEsq, and in doing so we knew it was best to say farewell and move on. Some may perceive this decision as a sign of failure on our end and others may understand it as just being a part of moving on in life.
But one thing is for sure, as we were preparing to say farewell to the Mini Shoe Bar the phrase “release to receive” continued to come to mind. As we were packing The Mini Shoe Bar, some of our fellow tenants within the Grow Desoto Marketplace reminded us that this was not the end for ShuEsq, and as one door closes another door opens. So again, the underlying message of “as one door closes another door opens” to us is “release to receive.” For us to receive what is next for ShuEsq, we recognized we had to release something, and that something just so happened to be The Mini Shoe Bar.
We will forever be grateful for our time at the Grow Desoto Marketplace. The Mini Shoe Bar taught us so much within this past year. The Mini Shoe Bar forced us to grow as entrepreneurs and exposed us to a new level of entrepreneurship that we might not have experienced if we did not have The Mini Shoe Bar.
It taught us how to face and have uncomfortable, but challenging professional conversations. It also taught us the importance of understanding and knowing who your target audience is, and why it is important to ensure your business’ message is being put in front of the right people. The Mini Shoe Bar challenged us in balancing our careers, family life, and personal lives. The Mini Shoe Bar also showed us what we as a business are capable of as long as we continue to be disciplined, consistent, and have constant communication within ShuEsq.
We will definitely miss the daily interaction and feedback we received from our in-store customers. We will miss the excitement on our customers’ faces after they’ve made their purchase and the details of how they will rock their shoes. We will even miss the customers who were popping in to see what’s new. But, as we have released The Mini Shoe Bar and prepare for what’s next in ShuEsq, we will be sure to take the lessons we’ve learned with us. So dreamers, we encourage you to examine your personal journey, and ask yourself what is it that you need to release so that you can prepare and receive what is next in your journey. Don’t worry about the naysayers or what people may think because of what you released. Instead get excited and embrace what is next. We know ShuEsq will!
We’d love to hear from you Dreamers! Share with us below, or email us at dreaming@shuesq.com to let us know what you will be releasing to receive!
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