START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS

Blake Mycoskie, the 33-year-old charismatic young founder and "chief shoe giver" of TOMS Shoes (TOMS.com), shares his transformation from a "regular business guy," motivated primarily by profit, into one of the emerging leaders in a new movement toward Conscious Capitalism. His transformative "One for One" philosophy offers a new way of thinking about success, defined by creating work that simultaneously fulfills our hunger for material success, philanthropic impact, and personal meaning.

TOMS Shoes was born out of a journey Blake took in 2006. The young entrepreneur was feeling burnt out, and took two months off to relax and explore South America. While in Argentina, he discovered a comfy canvas shoe called the alpargata; he was also heartbroken to discover children too poor to afford shoes. Rather than start a charity, Blake went against conventional wisdom and created a for-profit business to help the children that he met. He called his creation TOMS Shoes (short for Tomorrow's Shoes) and promised to give a pair of new shoes to a child in need for every pair that he sold. There'd be no percentages or formulas, just simple "One for One" giving. Now, in a time when retail businesses are fighting to stay alive, TOMS is thriving. In START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS, Blake takes readers through the story of TOMS and uses it to extract deeper lessons about how to live the most meaningful life possible. The core idea is that we shouldn't segregate our lives into work, play, and "meaning," but that our work can be our play, and at the same time advance the causes and ideas we cherish. In a well-designed life, every act can simultaneously bring pleasure, meaning, and profit into our lives. The book is organized around the six key principles of the "One for One" philosophy and provides tools that readers can use to put the philosophy into action. The dramatic story of TOMS, a great entrepreneurial and philanthropic narrative, is the thread that holds it together: readers will not only learn about the company's founding, various reversals of fortune, and eventual success, but also the story of Blake's missions around the world, giving away shoes to kids in need not just at home in the US, but further afield too, from Latin America to Central Africa. Blake is one of the leading figures in a new generation of Conscious Capitalists who eschew the division between doing good and doing well. He is tremendously promotable and media-savvy, with a solid online fanbase (over 600,000 Facebook fans and over 500,000 followers on Twitter); he's been a reality show contestant (on The Amazing Race), at the centre of a popular American Express ad campaign, and is an in-demand speaker on the college lecture circuit. Bill Clinton has called him "one of the most interesting entrepreneurs" he has ever met. START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS is the inspiring story of a movement, a manifesto for the next stage of entrepreneurialism, and a blueprint for anyone who wants to live a meaningful and successful life.