How Kendall Reynolds Had a Bad Breakup and Created a Celebrity-Loved Shoe Brand

Reynolds explains that his shoe game flourished before Kendall Miles put down roots. Her interest was piqued in the same place where many young fashionistas begin their love affair with style: her mother’s wardrobe. “My mom was a great shoemaker,” she says, “I always played in her closet. I’m a size bigger than her, so I would put her feet in hers Manolo Blahniks and hers Louboutins.” But Reynolds’ mother saw the brand’s potential from the beginning. Once the budding designer began to distance herself from a career in finance, she began to dive into the creative outlet that would lead her to designing luxury shoes. She started with a few drawing classes here and there, some introductory Italian language classes and finally ended up in a shoe design program in Milan in Arsutoria. with the blessing and financial backing of her mother, and her pre-existing business background, he focused his final year at USC on getting his business off the ground and into the hands of shoe lovers around the world.

“Everyone asks, ‘Where are you going to work and what jobs are you applying for?’ I just couldn’t see myself working for anyone at that time. I was so hell-bent on doing my own thing, building my own path and finding my own way,” Reynolds explains of his journey starting his business in college. “Here we are nine years later. And during that time you see your friends get married and have families. You’re watching your friends get raises and promotions,” but his decision to follow a different path also raised some questions along the way, wondering if he should have followed that same structure.