My customers are the best

When I started GlamRockChic, it was always a mission to really try to strive all the way to make the shoes as comfortable as I could. By comfortable, I mean after wearing the shoes, one's feet does not get blistered or chuffed at the back of the heel, or cramps when walking. This means ensuring the shoe is padded, certain cuts are made to either not fall on the sensitive heel part or a slingback shootie type of cut like Heart & Soul and Roxanne, which holds the feet well enough but don't cut into your back heel (where the strap sits). And some other things that I am not at liberty to tell as that would be giving my unique selling secrets away.

Not all of my shoes are as comfortable as I wish for them to be. Some are really soft and comfy, some are a bit more stiff and hard, esp around the toes. Certain times, it was indeed a struggle to get my factory to understand why I want to cut this shoe a certain way, why I want an extra extended material here or there. It's always hard to convince a shoe master who's been making shoes before I was even born to do things out of his norm, especially when I don't have the technical skill. But at times, something in me feel that it's possible to do things out of the comfort zone. And i truly believe that while the shoemaker does shoes for 30 over years, I am the woman wearing it day and night, almost everyday in my working life. I know and recognize pain when I see certain cuts. But it has been a struggle to get to what I want.

Plus my husband who is ever supportive used to say "You do fashionable shoes, who's ever said fashion is comfortable? Don't exhaust yourself going against that grain, nobody cares". Something like that.

When I am feeling down due to exhaustion, I always think, yea, why bother. Why work so stubbornly hard to always remind my factory that I want this and that, for the sake of comfort. Would anyone care? We are all trained to accept that nice fashionable shoes are painful. Why fight it? I should just forget trying so hard to balance my designs with comfort, just focus on the design, screw the comfort. After all, it is well known that famous designer shoes (let's not name any) are not made for comfort. They are made to torture at the expense of beauty and fame.

But then, the other day, a customer replied to my email and it was so sincere and kind, it made me misty. Just the way she wrote it and the simplicity of the words she used was so touching. I feel like this is one of my best endorsement to share here. There have been other touching emails as well but I can't post them all here. This is what she wrote, completely unedited :

Hi Sarah,

I love everything about your shoes. I am far more "glam" than "chic" and very barely "rock" (think Review Australia dresses, rarely pants and same barely-there accessories most days - watch, ring, necklace).

The shoes are amazingly comfortable, first and foremostly (very important - I'm a physiotherapist, so I'll get grief from my colleagues if I don't look after myself). I love the versatility of them. Between the black and the beige heart and soul, I can wear them with everything in my wardrobe. I love the vermillion heel - it's a way for me to wear colourful shoes without committing to an entire coloured shoe. Your fuschia Harlow is my first fully coloured shoe that I'll be having fun experimenting with.

I love a cool story, and I like sharing the story of your businesses. Your courage to do something you believe in, and fulfill your dreams is inspiring. Your product sells itself, but your story makes owning the shoes even more special, because you wanted to make a difference and fought many obstacles to do so, believe in excellence and quality, which is sadly lacking these days. Wishing you all the best for the future of GlamRockChic.

You are welcome to use the above on your facebook wall. I don't have a facebook account. Keeping life simple!

Kindest Regards,

Leslie

Thank you Leslie, your email was the highlight of my day. As I said, my shoes are not faultless (believe me, there has been some horror cases), there has been some that are not that great but your kind words of encouragement will continue to motivate and drive me to improve and continue to make better shoes for women. If this means fighting all the way with the factory to get things done a certain way, then I would. Because all my customers are an extension of me - we all want to look good and not cry over foot blisters.

I am deeply grateful for all my awesome customers.