How This Footwear Founder Turned 5 Years of R&D Into 300% Growth

0:00I think it's important that people keep trying to innovate solutions. that we can use in our daily lives to make ourselves more comfortable, grounded, supported, and efficient and effective in what we're doing. Our guest today spent years powering through a fast-paced Wall Street career, but one thing kept slowing her down. Painful high heels. So in 2023, she decided to change that and launch Scarlet Chase, a luxury footwear brand that combines Italian craftsmanship with sneaker-level support. It's not just one element. And it's all of these elements together that really differentiate what we're doing.

0:33After years of R &D with top-tier designers and medical experts, the brand is already seeing over 300 % year-over-year growth and a 50 % customer repurchase rate. The minute the customers put it on our shoe, they get it. The aha moment is instantaneous. Here to walk us through how she's disrupting women's footwear is Sandra Powers Murphy, founder and CEO of Scarlet Chase. And welcome to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and building a business. I'm your host, Serena Smith. Sandra, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you, Serena. I'm excited to be here today. I don't know if it feels as obvious to everyone, but when I started doing research on you, I was like, this feels akin to a quiet revolution because I think for any of us who has ever put on a high heel, I think we've all had that moment of, why does this suck so much?

1:22You know, they start out in the beginning of the day is this like very empowering, confidence building kind of act. And by the end of the day, you're miserable. So what was it for you? You had this fully thriving career in the finance sector. What was it for you that made you feel like, okay, I got to jump ship and do this footwear thing? So I had a fantastic career in finance and marketing consulting, and I loved what I did, and I loved our clients. And one thing plagued me, I had put out a book on marketing consulting, and I would go to do book talks and be networking at events and women would just be talking about this problem.

2:00And I knew I had had this problem because my feet aren't quite the same size. And I had, you know, had a lot of children and really wanted to be more active in able to stay looking really beautiful and empowered around my wardrobe and my sort of finance career, that the same token, I really was struggling in terms of just feeling like I could stay out at events all evening, that I could travel, that I could wear the same shoes and not be ruining my feet. I had friends having bunion surgery. Women were starting to comment on different issues they were having with their feet. And I thought, why is this a problem that we live with?

2:36We have the capacity, we work hard, we need to be thinking about something other than our feet. And there's got to be a way to build beautiful, gorgeous, handmade shoes and still have them support you from the ground up. And that's what I wanted to do. And I've been very passionate about working hard to try to make that happen for our customers. Given that it is a problem that so many of us have faced and have considered, women and some men, you know, there are some other high heel lovers out there also. What was it that then took you from idea and longing into execution? Was there a transitional moment where you thought, okay, this is it?

3:18Yeah. Yeah. There was a huge moment. So I always would try, New York was one of the trips I could do in a day trip from Boston. And I would try to get back to Penn Station to catch one of the last trains. And this was a little bit pre-Uber, if you can believe that, wasn't that many years ago. I was wanting to get to the train. There were no taxis to be found. It was pouring rain. And I ended up having to take my shoes off and run for it barefoot. I get to the top of the escalator and I'm trying to get them back on to just safely go down the escalator thinking, what did I just do? I probably gave myself meningitis.

3:49I don't know what just happened. But there was an eye I was going to make the train. And I sit down in my seat and I call my assistant. I said, this has been such a day. And she said to me, what would you do if you could do anything? And I'd say I would solve this problem for women because I really can't believe that no matter what you have for resources or don't have for resources, You need to put on something on your body that's going to be supportive, that you feel good in, that you look good in, and that you can confidently walk in for not just 10 minutes, but many hours. And so it just started a process.

4:23I reached out to my Women Presidents Organization group and started thinking about incubating and how would I design it and what would be perfect for me as a customer. That's where it came from. And it's just been an incredible journey of trying to solve this problem and I think doing an amazing job. When I get the feedback from women about integrating performance and luxury, which really is our mantra, everything has to perform as well as be luxurious to be in the Scarlet Chase line. I want to talk about that in just a second because I think that intersection is so important to the offering that you have.

4:58First of all, what an assistant to ask you that question. Oh, then you know what she did? She sent me a logo. This is what's weird. that next weekend was maybe towards the end of the week. I was hanging out with my family and I received this text from her. And it's a logo because we had gotten as far as to say, well, what would you call it? And I told her what I would call it because my youngest daughter is Scarlett. And I said, well, I'm going to do Scarletto, which is not, we ended up going with Scarlett Chase. But she sent me a logo. It was the most innocent thing of empowerment for me to say, I'm supposed to be doing this.

5:36This is meaningful. This is going to matter to women who have more important things to do than worry about their feet. You know, we help women that are doing just these amazing things in their careers and their lives and raising families and, you know, out there traveling and they want and deserve to do that in confidence and in support and looking and feeling fabulous about it. So it was the logo, not just the question that really pushed me into it. Wow. It's incredible. The little things that can be the catalysts to give us the courage to jump off the cliff. I hope you give your assistant a good bonus that year.

6:21Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, so talk to me about the science, because I think knowledge of the problem is widespread. There probably isn't somebody on the planet who hasn't put on a high heel and thought, God, I wish there was a better way. But I think for many of us, we assumed, well, there is scientifically no better way. You're at a weird pitch. It's going to be uncomfortable. So talk to me about the science of why high heels are so painful for us and the long-term consequences of that and the work that you did to change it. There's so many elements. I think what I really kept focusing on is I wanted the pitch to be different.

7:02When you stand in a high heel, you're standing up on the ball of your foot and there's so much pressure in the ball of your foot. And it's counterintuitive, but you'll sometimes see a shoe that has memory foam or some sort of padding. They'll actually be padding on top of the heel. And it's actually not what you want. What you want is to lift your forefoot. You want to change it so that your forefoot is elevated and you're sitting back in the shoe, not up in the ball of your foot. And as we age that fatty pad under the ball of our foot, it thins. And so there's real scientific evidence around the need to better support that part of your foot and also to cradle your arch.

7:38We set out on a journey to try to find out, I did, can I create something that truly changes the pitch? I know I can make something beautiful, but lots of people can do that. Can I change what the shoe is actually doing? And that's when we went about an extensive road. We have a patented outsole that has a rubber base and a hidden platform for traction control and forefoot lift. We have an insole that is a true orthotic grade molded contoured part with a type of foam that's non-compression set. Every little one of these details has to be carefully thought of. And I think as a business, there was always a focus on the beauty of a shoe.

8:18I think when you have women design shoes for women, and really do it from the perspective of a performance criteria, first, beauty second, you create a totally different shoe. And somehow we've packaged that in the most gorgeous silhouettes at the same time. And so it's not just one element, it's all of these elements together that really differentiate what we're doing. And it is definitely a labor of love, but one that is really needed and deserved by women. I want to talk to you a little bit about the R &D process, but something you said really sparked something. Like it feels like there's almost like a psychology shift that has to go on.

8:56You know, if we are seeking to buy a sneaker, we're often looking at it from a performance first point of view. If we're looking to buy a high heel of some variety or, you know, an evening shoe or something. We're looking at it through the perspective of beauty and very often not really thinking about the performance, even in a secondary fashion. We're not really thinking about it at all. So I'm curious what that process has been like as the leader in this subcategory to try to shift that consumer psychology to get them thinking about the performance component of this high heel and buy into Scarlet Chase.

9:37Serena, you make a really good point. And actually, as all entrepreneurs, you are your best cheerleader, right? And what you're doing and what you believe matters. What's been fascinating about this is women intuitively get it and understand the question for women is, are they willing to invest in that for themselves? I think they've been disappointed so many times that they think, you know what, I'm just going to go buy the$39.99 pair of heels because what difference does it make? They're all miserable. It doesn't matter from the highest couture on down. And they've never seen anything like what we're doing.

10:12So they can't possibly, you know, construct how we have stretched suede that hug your leg and the boots and we have skived edges and we have heel pads. We have like all the things are built in. And you don't even envision that that can be possible. So from a customer perspective, it's really about helping them understand and educate on the value of having good quality supportive footwear that instead of buying 10 pairs of cheap things that they're not going to use, having the iconic classic pair, which is all of our styles are meant to be that, that you are going to wear on repeat. And it's going to mold to your foot even more.

10:50And you're going to really love it. Like your favorite pair of jeans, right? I mean, I think about it sort of similarly to that. Horrible to shop for. Amazing when you find the right ones that you absolutely love. But the other piece of it for us was getting the production to work. Because marketing is one end of it. The other end of it is that I'm working handcrafted in Italy. The large majority of our line is handcrafted in Italy. We have a little production in Portugal and our insoles are made in Spain. So we're in a lot of places. And in all those places, when they hear women's luxury, they see in their minds a sleek piece of leather that is beautiful, but it's meant to be on a shelf.

11:32Ours are meant to run in. They're meant to jog across the street in. They're meant to dance in. They're meant to work in. And they don't understand, like, what do you mean you want to put this bulky orthotic and this rubber bottom on our gorgeous luxury shoes? So I would say that it's been an equal part working to get the industry, the fashion industry, to meet performance in this sector and to get the factories that are doing handcrafted footwear to appreciate what this could mean for women versus getting the customers to get it. The minute the customers put it on our shoe, they get it. The aha moment is instantaneous.

12:08Well, you spent five years in R &D, which is a long time. First of all, how did that line up with your timeline expectations going in? I think as many entrepreneurs, this was a passion project turned into a must-do project. And by the grace of higher powers, I was kind of pushed into it. And then you get so deep into it that you can't not do it, right? But for me, it was the curiosity of solving the problem and thinking and getting prototypes and saying, oh, my gosh, like this is so much different. I can't even put my foot in another shoe and feel what I feel in the shoe. It's just such a lights out difference.

12:54And I've got to explore that. I've got to figure out how to do that. And then it became, well, it's not just the outsole and the insole, but I want the heel to have a certain amount of thickness that it goes across most of the, you know, New York City that you can walk the streets of New York. Now, I'm not trying to make a moon boot. So it's how do you always balance that beautiful, sleek silhouette with the sturdiness and stability that women really need and want and deserve to walk heel to toe? I mean, typically we're walking on the ball of our feet because we can't put that stiletto heel down.

13:25Where are you going to put it down? It could land anywhere. So in the number of women that showed me beautiful, ridiculously expensive shoes where the whole heel was stripped after one wear because they just went right through. And it's so painful when it happens. Yeah. And it's so painful. So for me, it became this amazing puzzle of how can I get every element, which is why we call it the SC360 system, because it's a surround sound for your foot. It's not just the insole or the outsole. It's the upper too. So I think when you're doing something you're really passionate about and you love, it's not hard.

13:59I was doing it on the side of what I call my day job, which I loved as well. But it wasn't until I really saw women's response of these prototypes that I thought, oh, this has to happen. Like, this has to be brought to market. So I think really solving the problem, you can get passionate about it and the time flies by. Then when you have to commercialize it and figure out how do you get people to really understand your value proposition, that, Serena, I think is certainly the challenge. I think we got the first part correct and now we continue to work really hard to help educate the market. When you were in that first part and you go in to solve one problem, ostensibly the pitch, and as you get deeper in, you're seeing, oh, it's not just about the pitch.

14:48It's actually also about the contouring of the soul and all these other elements are coming forth. How did you find the right production partners who were willing to go on that journey with you and really got it? I think you have to get them as curious and excited as you are to try something different and you have to show up. I think this is always true in work and in life, but we've done 20 production runs in a couple of years. I'm over in Europe pretty much every other month. I want to be there. I want to see it. I'm wanting them to feel part of the process of creating something better. Every little piece to upgrading the type of foam we're using to how a sky edge makes a difference for a woman to how the top lift performs under the heels to where that toe spring is.

15:36And I've had the benefit of having a design person that helps me who worked at Nike and Atrix and has a technical knowledge is just so fantastic. And so for me, it's also like I am the one pushing the envelope. As the entrepreneur, as a business owner, you're always the one saying, we could do better, we could do better, we could do better. But I think having people around you with technical expertise and being willing to be curious and to learn from them and not to keep it all sort of hidden is really valuable to making something better. I will say, too, one thing that's interesting is we did this to solve the nirvana, the high heel problem.

16:14But what I quickly learned is there's a lot of women who said, you know what, I'm just I just wear flats now. I just don't. And then they would be the same women who would say, well, my back hurts. So we decided to create a flat line because there is a need. Women need as much support, maybe even more, in a completely flat shoe. And if you talk to podiatrists, they will not only tell you don't go above three inches. They will also tell you don't go below, you know, probably 20 millimeters. You need to have a little lift, whether it's a wedge or some type of a little heel. you really do need to have that.

16:52It ergonomically is better. I am feeling so vindicated in this moment. This is a conversation that I've had with my girlfriends so many times where I'm like, I'm pretty positive your foot is better off if you've got at least just a little bit of pitch. Yeah. So thank you for that. You are right, Serena. A little bit of pitch. You need that. Don't shy away from that, especially if you have the correct cradling in your arch. You've got some forefoot padding, you've got some good protection underneath your foot. Everybody should have that in every shoe. And you have it in your sneakers. Yeah, that's exactly right.

17:26When you're in R &D that long and new issues keep presenting themselves, it's very easy to get stuck in the phase of just like tinkering indefinitely. Was there a moment where you said to yourself, okay, we've got it. It's ready. Yes and no. I have a close friend who once said to me, related to a very different project, but it stuck with me and has saved me so many times. He said, Sandra, perfect is the enemy of good. And you have a very fine line because women are, as they should be, especially when they're investing in something, they're very particular. And so you want that experience to be good.

18:14But what we have is so far superior and the market is continuing to create components. We have enhanced our foam in terms of a density and durometer. We have added different top covers, as I mentioned. We've changed linings. You have to keep incubating and you have to keep innovating because that's the beauty of bringing something to market that you think really matters for people. And so you can't ever say you're done. You always want to try to make it a little better. And you want to take advantage of as much customer feedback and engagement as you can. Like what worked, what didn't. You know, we do a beautiful black patent shoe.

18:52And our customers love the fact that our suede's are so yummy and soft. And said, hey, like, can you get us a patent? The patent's lovely, but could we get something a little softer? So we went and found a soft version of black patent. And so things like that, that, yeah, you could say, no, that's what the industry forever has had this particular type. And this is what women's shoes are made out of. You know, and I think as entrepreneurs, as business owners, you have to trust your gut. You have to be willing to try new things. And you have to stay active in that process. You are navigating a very particular tension in that, yes, done is better than perfect.

19:31but also your shoes exist at a price point where the expectations are high, right? Your shoes range from around$400 to what, like$925,$950 right now? Yes. You are firmly ensconced in the luxury pantheon, right? You're right up there with like your Louboutin or your Manolo Blahnik. How do you convince people when you don't have that household name recognition, you don't have that brand equity yet, that it's worth it. Well, our VIP customers are phenomenal resources because they talk to me how people will stop them, men and women, and say, where did you get those boots? Where did you get those shoes?

20:13There's something incredibly elegant and beautiful about a woman who is confidently wearing something that they feel good in. And so I think that helps us a lot. The other thing is all of our customers have purchased all of those brands and they're beautifully designed. They're beautifully designed. But there is not one iota of the construction that we have in ours. And so I think the minute someone hears about it from a friend or gives it a chance based on something they see online, they say, you know, yes, it's not an inexpensive shoe, but it's also not as expensive as you might expect when you really understand the construction that goes in it.

20:56And I would rather have, you know, one, two, three, four, ten pairs of your shoes across the seasons than the 50. I mean, most women's closets, let's be honest, how many shoes are in your closet? Most women have a lot of shoes in their closet, right? Too many, according to my husband. Too many. And they buy them and they wear them once. Yeah. And then it was so miserable they're not going to wear them again. And or they're very specific to a type of look. and we are creating classic, classic luxury goods. It's like your classic black blazer, you know, your LBD, your great pair of jeans. That's what I want you to have when you have Scarlet Chase footwear, something that creates a collection where you can take one pair of shoes and go on a trip and feel really confident it's gonna get you where you need to go.

21:46You don't need three others. So it's an investment in you. It's an investment in being supported and having something that really you need. Instead of spending those resources over time on some product that's never going to really support you in the way that you need and deserve. So I think it works because women understand that. And as much as they love the beauty of the couture brand, they say, you know what? Scarlett Chase is looking pretty damn good. And I can actually move in it. So I'm going to actually wear it. So it is a much better use of my dollars. Right. There is something about this price point where it is narrowing the potential market that you can reach, at least in this moment.

22:29To you, is that somewhat by design? Go narrow and niche? I am in it for the best performance luxury footwear collection I can make and delivering that to our customers who can afford it. They need it. They love it. They deserve it. I don't want to cheapen the product in order to broaden the market. I would rather people wait. In ours, by the way, it's also the whole experience. So when you buy from us, the packaging is beautiful. The dust bags are lovely. We make a shim kit that's custom to our brand that goes with the pumps and the bellies. If your feet are slightly different sizes and you need some fit adjustability, those are complementary with it.

23:17We really work with our customers if there's an issue. And so I would say that those things matter. And the more you're able to afford our shoes, the more you care about those things, right? Because you are probably busy in your career, busy in your life, running around and feeling like, you know what, I need this and I want it to work and I want some advice and I want some help. And, you know, Scarlet Shape is going to give us great service along the way. So, yeah, I'm okay making it narrower. And I think as an entrepreneur, this is a really important thing. We all want to have the hugest market we can have.

23:53And I think when you talk to entrepreneurs that are a little further down the path, one of the first things you have to shed is the notion that you can help everybody. I think it is such an incredibly important insight. And it's one that has come up a number of times on this show. And I think it's also just about timing and trajectory. It's like in this present moment, you can't help everyone. And perhaps when you've scaled to a certain point, you may be able to bring that price point down to some degree, but not in this present moment, not with your non-negotiables. You're right, Serena. And I have had some conversations on some interesting things I would love to do if we could come up with some entry-level versions, because if you are committed to the performance piece, you can't help but want to have some more entry-level options.

24:44Because it's the intel inside, it's the chassis of the shoe, that that construction, having that level of support and construction, you could do that and have slightly less expensive materials that you're applying to the uppers, particularly on the outside. I, though, will never compromise on what's going up against your foot. People are worried about what they're putting in their bodies. They should also worry about what they're putting on their bodies. We know a lot about beauty products now and the health and safety of them. I think making sure that you have good natural materials and that you're doing the best you can to have something that is within the ecosystem is important to me.

25:26I'm generally speaking not a huge fan of synthetic. I think that's personal preference. But I would say for sure you have to think about who your target is and how you're going to build your business and how you're going to stay in front of that target and not waste your energies where it's not really helpful to you or the customer. There's another brand that's a better fit for other customers than ours. And when I let go of the notion I could help everybody right away with what we're trying to do, I think we get better because we're able to stay really focused and continue to deliver that value proposition to our key market.

26:03It's such an important component of this. you said something earlier that really struck me, which is that part of the power of your marketing is really in seeing women wearing the shoes and that women who are wearing the shoes move differently, right? Which seems so powerful. And yet you're entirely a D2C brand right now. So what are the challenges that you're having to overcome when you're in a position where customers can't try before they buy and they maybe haven't seen someone gracefully walk in front of them on the street wearing your shoes. It's true. So we do do some events. And again, I think this is a place where entrepreneurs can be very selective.