Ally Shoes (www.ally.nyc) is an innovative fashion brand designed for women by women - creating power heels minus the pain.

With a patent-pending design and inclusive sizing options, our mission is to be an ally in fashion for all women. We re-engineered the statement heel with a podiatric surgeon to create a flexible structure that secures your foot and looks fabulous.

Each shoe is designed to stretch with lightweight cushioning built into the soles to relieve all pressure points, available in inclusive sizes (US 4-12) and four widths (narrow, medium, wide, extra-wide).

What was the inspiration to start this business?

A former management consultant, I always wore heels to work. Then I hurt my feet hiking and couldn’t wear heels without pain.

That’s when it clicked - heels shouldn’t hurt. I made it my mission to find the best in the business to create pain-free heels for women. ALLY Shoes’ founding leadership team includes Podiatric Surgeon, Dr. Roxann Clarke, and acclaimed shoe designer, Sarah Jaramillo.

Our diverse backgrounds and varying professional experiences inspired the overall concept of our unique pain-free heels and shoe design. We each bring our expertise to the table and together we created a heel that can be a woman’s ally.

When you started your business, did you ever envision that you would be where you are now?

No.

When I first had the idea, it seemed impossible to build something that has never been done before - pain-free heels, not to mention

I didn't have any experience in footwear. Luckily, I had support from amazing men and women along the way. I couldn’t build this brand alone and it wasn’t easy to assemble the right team, but we did.

I partnered with two leading women experts in the space Dr. Roxann Clarke, a podiatric surgeon, Sara Jaramillo, an accomplished footwear designer, and Jeff Henderson, former Innovation Director at Cole Hann / Nike.

We also involved real women every step of the way, from designing, sampling, to real-life wear tests. With their feedback and support, we successfully re-engineered the statement heel with long-lasting comfort. Overcoming the challenges led to our innovative, patent pending design.

Was there ever a time that things didn't fall into place, struggles, or challenges? What were they and how did you get past it and grow from the experience?

When COVID 19 hit, we had to shut down all of our offline channels including our showroom, store partners, and trunk shows. It sent a huge shock to our revenue.

However, we quickly pivoted and launched a new “at-home trial box” program that allows customers to try different sizes before buying, aiming to re-create our fitting room experience in the comfort of their homes. In addition, we believe office life will be changed after the recovery as well. Many offices will stay closed in the foreseeable future, and remote work will be more acceptable in the long term.

We are adapting our product line by developing high-quality footwear more suitable for walking outside, including lower kitten heels, block heels, and flats with arch support. This experience, while painful, taught me to be resilient in the face of obstacles.

What was the biggest lesson you learned while starting and growing this business?

It takes a village to build a successful brand and business. When I launched Ally Shoes, I honestly thought that I could do everything on my own.

With the right mixture of coffee and pure willpower, I always thought that starting a business would be about balancing the pressure of doing it all on your own.

Now, I know better and appreciate the reality that I need a team. Everyone has their special brand of expertise and together we are stronger, our company is stronger.

What would you tell a FEM that is struggling in her business and feel like it's too difficult?

I would tell her to stay optimistic while being intellectually honest. As founders, we are all extremely passionate about what we are working on and would love for everything to work out the way we intend them to.

But that’s almost never the case. A startup business is inherently high-risk, fragile, and unproven, and creating something new often leads to many mistakes along the way. When things get hard, true resilience requires optimism based on clear analysis and rapid actions.

What continues to inspire you to keep on growing your business?

I love the process of creating something new and useful, that benefits a lot of people. It’s a joy to lead a mission-driven brand and to experience customer reactions when they first step into our shoes.

Our customers are real women who love heels and style but also appreciate comfort. They inspire us as they take on the world and stride through life in our shoes. They are the inspiration behind our upcoming marketing campaign highlighting real women – our customers and their powerful stories.

ALLY is never just about the shoes - we want to be the brand that represents the qualities of a modern woman - beautiful, strong, and uncompromising.

Final advice for those thinking of starting a business or looking to grow their current business?

Listen to your customers and trust your gut. It’s important for entrepreneurs and creators to listen to those who are actually using/wearing your product.

There will always be naysayers, but all you need is to find the group of people who actually want what you are making.

To connect: Insta: @allyshoes// www.ally.nyc