Interview with Lisa Nesmith

I drove to Parkville to visit the tiny shoe boutique "Lisa Knows Shoes." When we were doing peer editing in class, Emily, who sits next to me, suggested that I move away from just including older businesses in my project to including a newer store. She also mentioned that her former coworker at Provident Bank, Lisa Nesmith had recently opened a small shoe boutique and the business was doing quite well.

When I walked into the tiny store, the first thing I noticed were the bright purple walls adorned with shoes and matching handbags. As a girl who loves shoes, I was in heaven. Lisa was incredible inviting and as agreed previously through e-mail, sat down and chatted with me for about 20 minutes. I found out that she initially started her company online; she would attend designers shows and conferences, order the footwear, send out advertisements on cars and other places and would mail the shoes directly to respondents. She further described that she eventually moved into her current building because she was always taking packages to the post office across the street to be mailed out to customers. When her building went up for leasing, she thought it was the perfect place.

Lisa and I also discussed how small businesses need to have truly outstanding characteristics in order to succeed against corporate chains. She said the designs and color choices make her shoes desirable against those of her competitors. By attending the shoe shows and galleries, Lisa is able to get a sense of which shoes are in style for the season. She also studies which colors department and chain stores may order and will get the opposite to have a different variety. I thought that the most interesting anecdote was a tale about how a woman drove from Washington D.C. to get a specific style and color of shoe that only she ordered, according to the designer.

I loved interviewing Lisa and I felt that this was a worthwhile interviewer. Not only did Lisa answer all of my questions with great detail, but I was able to really sense that she loved her job as a small business owner.

Her website is currently being worked on to update shoes for the spring and summer, but when it is completed, the following link will take you there: http://www.lisaknowsshoes.com/.