When Lena Phoenix and Steven Sashen began Xero Sneakers, that they had no means of figuring out that their minimalist footwear concept would develop into a number one model, occupying practically 100,000 sq. toes of workplace and warehouse house, with a department in Prague.
In 2009, the husband-and-wife workforce was launching their fledgling firm whereas managing what you would possibly name a furry inner battle. Headquartered within the spare bed room of their Boulder, Colorado, house, “it was me and Steven and a few cats that truly interfered with our capacity to do work as a result of they have been all the time messing issues up,” Phoenix says.
Sixteen years, one life-changing look on Shark Tank and lots of of hundreds of glad clients later, with 2023 income of just about $65 million, Xero and its subsidiaries make use of 87 staff.
Extra importantly, the corporate has modified numerous lives for the higher. “We see ourselves as a well being and wellness firm disguised as a footwear model,” says Phoenix, who works primarily on behind-the-scenes enterprise initiatives. As one of many pioneers of the “barefoot” shoe house, “[the shoe] lets your toes—and due to this fact the remainder of your physique—perform the way in which it’s imagined to,” says Sashen, who thrives on getting in entrance of individuals to promote the model. For Xero’s many devotees, meaning a return to pain-free motion and the power to have interaction in an energetic way of life.
When Xero entered {the marketplace}, their product was aimed primarily at runners, amongst whom the groundbreaking bestseller Born to Run had not too long ago sparked widespread curiosity in barefoot operating. Since then, the concept that minimalist sneakers permit our toes to develop the energy and adaptability required to assist our physique’s pure motion patterns has gained a foothold effectively past the operating neighborhood.
Xero lovers embrace leisure and elite athletes in each sport from pickleball to parkour, informal hikers and basketball professionals like former Denver Nuggets forward-guard Justin Vacation and Detroit Pistons forward-center Isaiah Stewart.
As the corporate has expanded, so has the dimensions of the hurdles going through Phoenix and Sashen. Listed below are a number of of the ideas which have guided them alongside the way in which.
Make It Significant
Initially, the co-founders’ private expertise with the product was all of the motivation they wanted to forge forward; Sashen credit Xero’s prototypical home made huarache operating sandal with eliminating the accidents that plagued him when he returned to sprinting at age 45 following a 30-year hiatus.
Over time, although, private expertise alone couldn’t present ample motivation to drive the quickly rising enterprise ahead. However the steadfast assist of an ever-growing neighborhood of glad clients has offered loads of inspiration to plow ahead.
“As we’ve hit a few of these very robust bumps within the highway, it’s these emails from clients telling us we’ve modified their lives—that’s actually what helps us get away from bed within the morning and face these obstacles and hold going,” Phoenix says.
“That which means additionally has helped us appeal to actually good high quality expertise,” she shares. The youthful generations, specifically, wish to make a distinction, and giving their workforce members an opportunity to just do that units Xero aside, she says.
Know Your Numbers
Whereas a profitable enterprise requires all types of expertise, it’s inconceivable to downplay the significance of understanding your funds. A sustainable enterprise hinges on “figuring out your numbers inside out, backwards, left and proper, and figuring out that all the things you’re going to do goes to price you greater than you count on and make you lower than you count on,” Sashen says.
Meaning growing and sustaining “an exquisitely intimate relationship with each quantity meaning something,” Sashen says. That features promoting prices, the return in your promoting spending, your earnings, your margins and the state of the economic system, to call a number of, he explains. “Lots of people will likely be shocked that they’re making tens of millions of {dollars}. However as a result of they don’t perceive money move, they really find yourself going bankrupt,” he says.
Decide to Creativity
“Within the early days, my job was arising with an excellent concept. Lena’s job was telling me we didn’t have the cash to do it,” Sashen says. This dynamic ended up being the breeding floor for boundless creativity. Sashen and Phoenix agree: Their capacity to see a work-around as a substitute of a useless finish has been crucial to their success.
Sashen feels problem-solving has all the time been one in all his strengths. Sashen, who’s Jewish, recollects a time in his childhood when his dad warned him that antisemitic individuals would possibly attempt to get in his means. He remembers considering, “If somebody will get in my means, I simply discover a completely different means and completely different individuals.”
A dedication to creativity has additionally helped Sashen and Phoenix think about—and plan for—what may go improper. “On the finish of the day, money guidelines the enterprise,” Phoenix says. And the most effective methods to take care of a constructive money move is to arrange for quite a lot of situations. “My contingency plans have contingency plans,” she explains.
Detailed backup plans—and the inventive forethought behind them—have stored Xero afloat by obstacles together with the 2018-2019 commerce conflict, the provision chain disaster and, extra not too long ago, new tariffs.
Thoughts the Competitors
Whereas it may appear counterintuitive to direct your consideration away out of your firm’s imaginative and prescient and towards your competitors, there’s important worth in protecting tabs in your trade rivals.
“Should you suppose you might have none, you may not have an actual enterprise,” Sashen says. Alternatively, “when you have a bit, you have to be very conscious of what they’re doing.” And should you suppose you’re coming into a market with sturdy progress potential, “you must think about what sort of competitors would possibly present up,” he provides.
Sashen notes that previously couple of years, the variety of new minimalist shoe manufacturers has skyrocketed. However what continues to set Xero aside is how they’ve anticipated the methods these manufacturers would possibly try to differentiate themselves and the way Xero has continued to place itself because the superior various.
This text initially appeared within the July/August 2025 challenge of SUCCESS® journal. Picture courtesy of Xero.