#280: Blake Mycoskie, Founder, TOMS Shoes and ENOUGH – Stay connected to your why
How Leaders Lead with David Novak
David Novak Leadership
4.8 • 596 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 65 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of How Leaders Lead with David Novak. |
| 0:04.9 | Today's guest is Blake Mikoski. And you might remember Blake as the founder of Tom's Shoes, |
| 0:10.6 | which is a brand that really helped redefine how people think about business and impact. |
| 0:16.4 | Blake grew Tom's shoes to a $700 million business based on a simple idea, sell a pair of shoes |
| 0:23.2 | and give a pair of shoes away to a child in need. Now that success didn't protect Blake from |
| 0:29.0 | a seven-year battle with depression. And after he sold Tom's, he really lost his sense of purpose |
| 0:35.4 | and nearly lost himself. |
| 0:40.0 | Today, Blake is back with a new mission. |
| 0:43.4 | He's tackling the mental health crisis through his brand, Enough, |
| 0:46.8 | which seeks to empower people to talk about how they're really doing so that everyone in this world feels a little less alone, |
| 0:50.4 | and everybody knows that they are enough. |
| 0:53.4 | For Blake, staying connected to your why |
| 0:55.8 | is absolutely critical in business, |
| 0:58.5 | and it is essential in life. |
| 1:01.3 | Enjoyed this conversation between David and Blake, |
| 1:03.4 | and I will see you at the very end of the episode |
| 1:06.0 | for the debrief. |
| 1:19.5 | Before we get into Tom's, you know, and what you're doing with enough, both fantastic causes, you know, I want to take you back a little bit. What's the story from your childhood |
| 1:25.9 | that shaped the kind of leader you are today? |
| 1:28.5 | I mean, I think it really was just having amazing parents. |
| 1:32.5 | You know, my dad was a doctor and a great leader in his community and the hospitals that he helped, you know, run. |
| 1:41.1 | And my mom wrote a cookbook and sold millions of copies of it and helped people with |
... |
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