Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nick Holden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you manage your own social media?

I manage my own social media. While I don’t consider myself a photographer/videographer, I do like the process of documenting and editing content. It’s also a welcoming challenge learning how to get better at creating and editing content.

Honestly, I tend to nitpick over the smallest details as well when it comes to content (angles, lighting, music, etc.). Because of that, I just prefer managing it myself.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure, my name is Nick Holden and I am the own/sole proprietor of The Sole Clinique, which specializes in’ cleaning and repairing footwear and leather goods.

The Sole Clinique began as a hobby back in 2017 to repair shoes in my personal collection that I had amassed over the years. I always had an obsession with shoes as well as keeping them clean dating back to grade school.

After guinea pigging my own shoes to varying degrees of success, I realized that not only did I enjoy repairing shoes, but I also realized that I could provide a service to the sneaker community.

I continued practicing on my shoes as well as my friends and family’s pairs. Then at the beginning of 2018, I worked on my first official clientele pair, and what started as a hobby quickly snowballed into a small business over the next 4 years due to word of mouth. In 2021, I officially launched “The Sole Clinique” and began running it full-time from there offering full restoration services as well as customs and cleaning products.

I think I’m most proud of being able to challenge myself to do things that seem impossible or atleast extremely difficult at times (making dirty used shoes look as close to brand new as possible). Also, it’s a very satisfying feeling being able to see the joy on someone’s face when I revive a pair of shoes for them that they were originally ready to just toss out.

Lastly, I enjoy being able to discuss sneakers with others. Be it the history, the designs, or even educating people on the process of reconstructing shoes; I just like being able to share/receive knowledge with others.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honestly, I believe the two things that have assisted me the most has been the time/quality I put into projects as well as my transparency.

Any project that I work on, I strive to make it look as close to factory finished as possible. Regardless of if it’s a shoe restoration and making it look as close to brand new as possible, or if it’s a customization and making it look like something that could’ve actually been purchased from a retailer; I really try to put a heavy emphasis on the minor details.

With that though, I’m also fully transparent in what I can do and can’t/wont do. I never want to sell clients a dream or just tell them what they want to hear for the sake of profit. I actually turn down a lot of projects from would be clientele in situations where the shoes are too severely damaged, lack of availability, and/or because of some cases where the client would actually come out better price wise purchasing a new pair instead.

Either way, it all goes a long way in establishing and maintaining trust with clients.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

When I originally started, social media was the best source for sure. I’d say that between 2017-2021, the strategy was as simple as work on a pair of shoes and then post them to Instagram and Facebook. The more I posted, the more inquiries and commissioned projects I received. As time went by, word of mouth spread locally and from there I established more local clientele.

In 2021, when I officially started The Sole Clinique, I launched a website as well. I’d say it’s about 50-50 now as in sourcing clientele via the website vs social media.
While social media is still a vital tool, with the algorithms being finicky at times, having a website definitely helps with building independence and not needing to rely solely on social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesoleclinique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nizzinick/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/TheSoleClinique/
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCbo5V4qLnlZnbMUnCivhC7w