Poe, now 39, had long wanted to run her own show. An aerobics fanatic, she also longed for lighter, more comfortable workout shoes. So she left her job as national sales manager for a gift manufacturer to try her hand at high-tech cobbling. Investors were cool. “Because I had no track record in the industry, no financial experience–I never even graduated from college-they laughed at me,” says Poe. “How can you think you can go up against Nike and Reebok?” they asked. One female investment banker in Denver, also a workout buff, took a chance on Poe and helped to take RYKA public before the fledgling company had even shipped its first shoes.
The first shoes, delivered in 1988, didn’t fit. So Poe changed factories, then tried a new model. Still, consumers weren’t impressed-until Oprah. The day after Christmas 1990, Poe was a guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Fourteen million viewers watched as Oprah tossed the new RYKAs into the audience and asked, “Do you believe how light they are?” Says Poe, “Overnight, the shoes sold out.” It took three months before Poe could dispatch more shoes to clamoring retailers. RYKA lost ground to Nike and Reebok, which had quickly jumped into the lightweight aerobics-shoe market. Still, says Poe, retailers were sold on RYKA. Sales jumped 70 percent last year, from $5 million to $8 million, and are running more than 50 percent higher so far this year.
Poe has done some fancy footwork in the marketing department, too. She offered influential aerobics instructors steep discounts. She also started a line of workout togs, letting fans dress in RYKA from head to toe. Another corporate move gives the company a potentially profitable halo. Poe recently created the ROSE Foundation (for Regaining One’s Self-Esteem), which will direct 7 percent of the company’s profits to helping women victims of violent crime. A rape victim herself, Poe says RYKA can be “the athletic-shoe company with a soul.” Retailers like Lady Foot Locker are eager to promote the foundation-and customers seem to like it, too. Kimberly Collier, a fashion model in St. Louis, says, “Even if the shoe wasn’t as good, I’d still buy it because I think it’s a very, very good cause.” Poe might have found a new way to turn pain into gain.
